RUGBY LEAGUE: The Saints are coming!

10:11am Friday 9th May 2008

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A FORMER Wigan Warrior will lead the revitalised Swindon St George into battle this season, 10 years after barking out his last orders with the Bulldogs.

Geoff Norris, who enjoyed a successful playing career with rugby league giants Wigan, has again agreed to be Swindon's man on the touchline for their summer of sport.

A player-coach with the Bulldogs more than a decade ago, Norris has left West Midlands rivals Oxford Cavaliers to fly the flag for St George.

"I really enjoyed my time with Oxford, but once Swindon said they were re-forming, I jumped at the chance to come back," said Norris.

"The structure of everything surrounding the game has improved 100 per cent since I was last here.

"There was a lot of travelling involved in the old league. We went as far south as Plymouth and as far north as Crewe, but this league is very much Midlands-based.

"The big plus this time around is the organisation. It's exciting times for rugby league."

Having steered the Bulldogs through some choppy waters until their untimely capsize in the late 1990s, Norris knows it will take both time and patience to make St George into a success.

But the Warrington-born coach is determined to make Swindon's second coming a lasting one, whatever it takes.

He said: "It was so frustrating and it was a shame when Bulldogs folded. We had a really good set of players but the structure was not there to support us. We didn't have enough fixtures, so people drifted away.

"Then, when we started to get a few more fixtures, we didn't have a big enough squad to fulfil them. It was like a vicious circle.

"The standard of rugby league has been raised since we were the Bulldogs, so it will be interesting to see how we do."

Norris is refusing to set his new set of troops any targets for the coming season.

His primary focus will be on the development of coaching and giving the young players a chance to blossom at the highest possible level.

"I think the boys will be excited and apprehensive in equal measures before the opening game," he said.

"We need to get our first game out of the way first and see how it goes, then we will assess things from there.

"Our main aim is to form a youth side here in future, but that may take a few years to come to fruition.

"We've got some really exciting young lads at the club and we want to be responsible for producing more."

n Kick-off in tomorrow's match against Coventry at Supermarine is at 2.30pm