12:00a.m. 30th October 2007

| By Mitchell Dale

Sunshine Coast Stingrays coach Glenn Panoho was a nervous man on Saturday morning.

The palms were sweaty and the butterflies were swarming in his stomach.

The first official meeting for players interested in playing Premier Rugby in 2008 was held at 10am and Panoho was anxious to see how many would turn up.

He had issued invitations to around 50 players, including members of last year’s squad and players who impressed in the Hyatt Regency Cup.

By midday, Panoho was a happy man, with nearly every player he had targeted turning up to the orientation meeting or ringing him to say they were unable to attend but still interested in wearing Stingrays colours next season.

“I’m rapt with the turn out,” he said.

“To see the core group of the Stingrays that had been through such a tough year this year was very pleasing.

“And seeing the likes of Gareth Jones, the Nambour captain, and Ben Tennant coming back from Cairns, at least to just listen to what we have to say was very encouraging.”

Panoho said the group of players at the meeting were “pretty much” the best 40-odd players on the Coast.

“They are the ones we’ve targeted and that’s who we have to work with,” he said.

“Now it’s a matter of making sure the program gets off paper and becomes a reality.

“The big challenge for us is to keep them involved. They have shown that expression of interest.

“It’s now up to us to make that program work for them.

“These 40 or 50 odd players are the best on the Coast and they have showed up to listen to what we have to say. It’s just a matter of making it work.

“Now the talking is over, we have to put our plan into action.”