Harlequins coach Brian McDermott says his first pre-season as a coach has been an eye-opening experience. "I had all these plans but, as the season grew closer, I thought as long as it goes well and no-one's hurt I'll be happy," he told BBC London 94.9.
"Big pie-in-the-sky goals went out the window, but we avoided injuries and covered all the aspects we needed to."
The 2006 season was the first for the re-branded London Broncos, but it ultimately ended in disappointment.
Despite the early optimism generated by the move to the Twickenham Stoop, they finished seventh in the Super League table.
Not even the arrival of McDermott, who replaced Tony Rea as head coach in July, could spark a surge into the play-off positions, although at least they avoided the dreaded drop.
 | We're looking to bring in bodies, but at this stage I'm not too concerned |
They might not be so lucky in 2007, if you believe a lot of what is being said and written.
Many pundits are tipping Harlequins to struggle after they lost two of their key forwards prior to Christmas.
The unexpected retirement of Solomon Haumono coupled with Sione Faumuina's shock decision to turn his back on Quins just weeks after joining them were two major setbacks.
However, McDermott is refusing to be too downcast, preferring to concentrate on who he has at his disposal rather than who is missing.
"We have Danny Orr, Scott Hill, Julien Rinaldi, Rob Purdham, who is England captain, and two or three London boys coming through, so I'm excited about our squad," said the former Leeds Rhinos assistant coach.
| A good start doesn't necessarily mean a win, that's one thing I'd like to stress |
"If you look at teams with bigger squads, they'd be first to admit there are some in there who aren't quite ready for first team yet.
"Yes, we're looking to bring in bodies, but at this stage I'm not too concerned.
"Everyone's salary-capped up so we'll look at what gets shaken out of the tree in the first month of Super League."
That first month could have a massive say in the season's final outcome, and they could hardly have a more difficult opening game than a trip to all-conquering St Helens.
"A good start doesn't necessarily mean a win, that's one thing I'd like to stress," said McDermott.
"We play Saints, then Salford the week after and I want to put on as good a show for their coaching staff when they watch the DVD of the game. I don't want them to see any frailities in our defence.
"We need a good start as most teams do, but that doesn't mean winning by 50 points, it means putting things in place that we talked about pre-season and trying to see those things pay dividends."
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