BILLERICAY Rugby Club are already planning for next season in London Three North East.

The Stock Road-based club have only just brought their Essex One title-winning campaign to an end.

But their head coach Dave Hyett insists his thoughts are now set on building on the success when they kick off again in September.

“We’re really happy to have won the league and we enjoyed the celebrations too but when they ended we immediately started to think about next season,” said Hyett.

“There’s quite a big step up between Essex One and London Three North East, so we need to make sure we’re ready for it.

“We need to make sure the squad are in the right physical condition and we also know that we need to recruit the right kind of players to make sure we can compete and don’t just come straight back down.”

Billericay were beaten just three times in 16 outings and finished 11 points clear of their closest rivals, Clacton.

They also ended the season with a convincing 52-7 triumph against Ilford Wanderers.

And Hyett was thrilled to end a successful season in style.

“We’ve had some younger players coming in this year after a few of the older lads decided to retire and it’s been great to see them doing so well,” said Hyett.

“We had been down in this league for a couple of years, so it’s been great to finally get back up and it’s exactly what we set out to achieve.”

Harry Beck led the scoring charts for Billericay with 185 points, while winger Dafydd Mugford bagged 12 tries to lead the way in that department.

However, plans are now also being made to ensure more youngsters begin to follow in their footsteps.

“We had been missing out to other teams in the area when it came to young players but we’re working hard to change that,” said Hyett.

“We have a youth system in place now which goes up to the age of 14, so we still have a few years of hard work to go.

“But hopefully it won’t be long before we will also be able to produce our own players for the first team as that will also definitely help to freshen things up.”