WHARFEDALE head coach, Jon Feeley believes the future is looking good for the club, both on and off the pitch.

Earlier in the month, the Rugby Football Union finalised the position of teams in the community game by using a mathematical formula which meant the Green Machine finished ninth in the National 2 North.

Therefore, another season at step four beckons for Wharfedale's young squad who are set to come on leaps and bounds with the experience they have acquired over the last campaign.

Financially, clubs in the league have been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, with many starting pages to try make up the missing funds that they would have achieved through matchdays.

However, Feeley thinks Wharfedale will be fine, saying they even have extra sponsors in the pipeline.

He said: "We are very confident with the strategy that the club has got in place that we will come through this in a good position.

"I did see clubs struggling in our league who are already putting pleas out for benefactors to come forward which is a very sad state of affairs.

"The one thing Wharfedale has always had is our sound financial base which does not rely on just one or two big benefactors, it is based on a large number of smaller benefactors.

"Therefore, if you lose one or two you can absorb the loss a lot easier. We are also gaining one or two sponsors so we are looking at a bright future, we will be able to keep investing the money.

Feeley added: "We can only evaluate what has taken place. Considering the average age of our squad and the number of injuries we have had, I have been impressed by the resilience of the club and the players who have come in and taken their opportunity.

"We had a number of Colts, coming up from last year as National Champions, nine of that team made an appearance at some point for the first team.

"That is nine 18 and 19 year olds playing their first senior games and that bodes really well for the future."

It is full speed ahead for Feeley and his men who are already preparing for whenever the 2020/21 campaign begins.

He said: "I am already looking at what we need to improve from last year. There are aspects of our game play that we can improve on.

"You have got to be ready because you don’t know when the season is going to start. It might be a minimal pre season. They might say you have got a month and then we are into it.

"Myself, Rob Baldwin, Jon Skurr, and Chris Black are already talking to see how we can best prepare the players to make sure they are fit enough to withstand the impact of the collisions having had such a lengthy period out.

"We want to develop our young squad so they can more consistently compete with those teams at the top.

"We want to start targeting firstly the top half and then get amongst the top six where it is usually the same names because they have got that consistency and experience."