HENLEY Hawks chairman Mike Trethewey believes the club will be better prepared for life in National League 1 than they were last year.

Saturday’s 66-17 win over Shelford, saw Hawks make history by becoming the first club in National League 2 South to win the title with three games still to play.

It blew away any lingering disappointment of last year’s relegation from rugby’s third tier, where they were demoted despite picking up 11 wins and 61 points.

Having won the league so early, Trethewey is relishing the opportunity of making full use of the extra time to ensure Hawks are fully prepared for life in a higher division.

“The real advantage is we can already start planning for next season,”he said.

“Last time we got promoted it was not until the last game of the season and that made planning for the following year difficult.”

  • Sport
    Latest Sport news

Trethewey added: “This squad is more streetwise than the previous one, but it is quite a step up.

“The difference between this league and the one above is if you make a mistake, you will get punished.”

Head coach Pete Davies had been desperate to wrap up promotion and was full of praise for the club’s work ethic.

He said: “Everyone is delighted, but it was a real team effort – the playing side, strength and conditioning, the second team, medics, logistics.

“I think we have got as strong a team as we did last time but we have got more players, which is critical because it is really tough.

“I have every confidence we will stay in the league this time.”

Hawks have led the way since the third week of the season and are 15 points ahead of second-placed Bishop’s Stortford.

Director of rugby Nigel Dudding said setting promotion as a clear goal was of benefit to the club.

“We wanted to be back in National League 1 and if you state these things early people start to believe,” he added.

“There was a real determination to make sure we did it.

“We felt we were better than getting relegated.”

Hawks will be presented with the trophy at their last game of the season on April 25 against Dorking at Dry Leas.