'Close ties benefitting Bears men and women' - Madigan

Head coaches Pat Lam and Kim Oliver worked closely throughout the summer as the teams prepared for their respective top-flight campaigns, while the men’s players have also spent time at Shaftesbury Park, coaching and sharing ideas with the women’s players.

And Madigan says the close ties have proved beneficial to both parties.

“The more the men and women’s team work together, the better,” he said. “We’ve been able to use their – and Dings Crusaders – home at Shaftesbury Park when we’re preparing to play on a synthetic surface like Saracens a few weeks ago, or the Worcester and Newcastle games we’ll have later this season. The flip-side of that is some of them have come down and sat in on our meetings and watched us training.

“A few of the players have been to some of their training sessions and worked with their coaches and the leaders in their team, just assisting in some of their drills and some of the technical aspects.

“But, generally the guys who have gone up there have found that there is only so much input we can give, because they are already at such a high level themselves. So, the feeling in our dressing room is a real respect of the quality and the skills of the training and condition of the Bristol Bears Women’s team.

“We’re really looking forward to sharing Ashton Gate with Bristol Bears Women on Saturday and hopefully, both sides can leave with wins.”

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