With less than a week now until the Swindon Wildcats season kicks off with the Season Launch on Sunday, we caught up with Floyd Taylor about his thoughts on how the upcoming season will go.
How have preparations for the upcoming season gone?
It’s been a busy summer, I’ve been going to the gym as much as I can alongside studying for exams and I’ve had a hectic summer through work. However, on the whole, preparations are coming along nicely for the new campaign. The summer has had a better feel to it knowing the successes we had last year. Aaron has signed pretty much the same team and we know if we perform to our best then next year we should be able to emulate what we did last year. We just must work hard as a team again.
A team of few changes, but one that will not feature Phil Hill, how do you think the team will adapt to that?
Aaron has signed a good team, there a few new faces but the big loss was losing Hilly. He’s got to do what he has to do and hockey in the UK will never pay the mortgage, so his work must come first. We’re going to miss him but with the faces, Aaron has added I think we’ll be just fine. We all have that extra bit of winning experience now as well which is going to help.
Obviously, your brother, Loris, will be joining the team again this season. How good will it be to have your brother back on the team?
Having Loris on the team, to be honest, doesn’t make much of a difference to how I’ll approach the season. He’s here to do a job, and I’m here to do a job. It’s nice to be playing with him again, but it won’t change anything really. Whatever Aaron has planned for us both we’ll do, we aren’t one person, so it will be important we both play the roles we’re needed to night in, night out.
Which team stands out to you from what you’ve seen elsewhere in the NIHL?
The team that stands out to be will be Bracknell, I know a lot of the boys have said it already, but they look such a strong team. With all the changes happening between both sides, it will be interesting to see where Bracknell and Basingstoke finish come the end of the season. I’m looking forward to matching up against the Bees in the first week of pre-season. The results aren’t the important thing, but we’ll still be looking to win both games.
It will be an eye-opener to see how we get on against them and vice-versa. If we’re able to get good results against Bracknell, then our confidence will grow as I think they’ll be up there with the best teams next year.
What personal goals have you set yourself ahead of the new season?
Personally, I want to carry on from where I left off last year. My yearly goal is to beat the points totals I got the year before. It will be a lot harder than it has been before, but I think I’m ready to try and achieve that and push on again. It’d be great to win some more trophies and who knows maybe I’ll be able to pick up the most improved player for the third year in a row?
As a team we must pull together, one player will never win the league or the cups by themselves. It will take a full squad of players all singing from the same song sheet night in night out. Whichever team does that the best will be the ones celebrating with some cups at the end of the season. It’s important we look at what worked well for us last year and then carry that forward into the 2018/19 season. I’m looking forward to another season, they all come by so quickly, but it will be fun again and I just cannot wait to get started and see everyone at the season launch on Sunday!
Don’t forget you’ll have the chance to meet the team on Sunday in our annual Season Launch. As well as this, we’ll have one more player interview to bring you as we get ever closer to the Bank Holiday weekend with some Sunday hockey action at the Better Link Centre!
