Pirates stalwarts aim to end careers on a high
Cornish Pirates coach Louie Tonkin says a number of the club's players want to end their careers on a high by finishing second in the Championship.
Pirates will secure second spot if they win at London Scottish on Saturday. It would be the club's highest-ever finish.
A host of players will leave in the summer, with some such as Kyle Moyle, Jack Andrew and Marlen Walker retiring from the sport after long spells at the Mennaye.
"There's a lot of emotion behind it because there's quite a few of the old guard that are finishing and retiring from the professional game, so everybody wants to do well," said Tonkin, who is himself leaving to join Ealing's coaching staff.
"The atmosphere in the group this week has been excellent, really surprising, so the guys seem bang up for it.
"It's always difficult to motivate players at the end of the year when they haven't got a championship or that first-place finish into fight for," Tonkin told BBC Radio Cornwall.
"But we place so much value on that second position, and the guys have been here for a long, long time like Jack Andrew, Marlen Walker, Kyle Moyle, they really want to finish strongly.
"It would be such a shame if we didn't do that on Saturday after the season we've had."
Tonkin feels the achievement is all the more remarkable considering the build-up the club had to the season.
Finances in the second tier have been stretched for a number of years amidst talk of a new plan for the professional game in future seasons, and Pirates benefactor Dicky Evans' funding for the club will cease at the end of 2024.
"The nature of the beast at the moment is finance is difficult," said Tonkin.
"If you had told us in August, September that we would be fighting for second place come the end of the season, we would have bitten your hand off.
"We had to put a group together quite late, some retention but pretty much a whole new back line, and the guys have just been awesome.
"What they've done on the pitch every single week has been commendable and they should be really proud of that.
"It won't tarnish the season if we don't get the outcome on Saturday, because it's been a great season regardless of that, but it would be a fantastic way to finish."
