Easy decision for Perkins to re-sign

The powerful second-row player, who had a stand-out campaign last season, will be staying on for his second season at Roundstone Lane.

In a season that culminated in team disappointment with relegation back into National 2 South, Perkins personally had a fine campaign, despite missing the first four games recovering from a broken leg.

The former Ealing man, who was recognised as the supporters’ player of the season, said: “It was a very easy decision for me to make. From a personal point of view, it was a good season for me and I got plenty of games under my belt. Unfortunately, we got relegated but we are confident we can bounce back up.

“I really enjoyed last year with all the lads playing here. It is a great community club and the guys are great and the support is, too, it’s a club I can see myself staying at for a while.

“I had a broken leg at the start of the season, so it was tough recovering from that and forcing my way into the side as we have a competitive second row, so I was really pleased to play so much.”

On his player-of-the-season gong, Perkins added: “It was brilliant. Like I said, the support is fantastic every week and to be recognised as the fans’ player of the season is brilliant and a big achievement. I definitely want to pick up from last year from a personal view and, as a team, bounce straight back up.

“It was the first season in that league for Worthing and not many had played at that level before. Maybe it was a bit of naïvety as a lot of the boys and coaches have said that at times. But now we have some experience at that level of seeing out games when we get back up there and have showed we can compete.”

Perkins, who lives in Havant, touched down nine tries last season, but also missed three games owing to a ban for stamping. He added: “It was quite frustrating as I am not that sort of player.

“It was a tough one to take as the team were struggling in the league and I felt me being out could have affected the team’s chances, but it’s just something that happens sometimes in rugby.”