Mama believes Warriors have helped to up his game - The Worcester Observer

Mama believes Warriors have helped to up his game

Worcester Editorial 13th Jan, 2016 Updated: 19th Oct, 2016   0

WARRIORS Marco Mama believes stepping up from the Championship to the Premiership has exposed some of the areas he needs to work on.

But the 24-year-old Nigerian-born flanker, who joined Warriors on loan from Bristol in August 2015, believes the Sixways environment, coaches and experienced players can help him develop his game.

The back-row has developed vastly over the last two years, having also played in the Championship XV side which defeated Canada at Sixways in November 2014.

Mama believes the Worcester side he competed against last season has ‘come on leaps and bounds’, with the influence of experienced and talented players coming in.




“Life in the Premiership has been good so far. It’s been challenging as a team and individually,” said Mama.

“I’ve noticed many differences in stepping up to the Premiership from the Championship, the main one being based around a lot of the unseen work. The nitty-gritty work. Mainly around the breakdown and set piece plays as that’s the development you can’t afford to switch off.


“In the Championship I think you can sometimes get away with that, but the Premiership will expose you. As a player you want to be in that sort of environment so you know exactly what to work on.

“My game time this campaign has been fantastic, especially being my first season with the club. “Every player wants to be playing well, but it hasn’t all be plain sailing and a few of the coaches have helped me develop my game.

“It’s a positive environment where I can pick the brains of some of the older guys here to help me progress too.

“Worcester was on a developing year last season and we’re still developing now, but hopefully we’re cementing our Premiership status which allows us to offer deals to very strong players. We’ve already got players like James Johnston and Ben T’eo coming in and we hope to keep bringing in that level of class.

“I feel like the team is growing together everyday. We’re a relatively new group of players, but hopefully entering the latter stage of the season we can be challenging some of the big boys,” he added.

Mama recalls having many highlights since joining Dean Ryan’s men, but still has close links to Bristol and hopes their fortune can change this year.

“One of my favourite moments since joining the club was beating Northampton in our first match.

“There was quite a bit of uncertainty and we didn’t know where we’d fit into the Premiership, so to win against one of Europe’s best clubs really put a marker down and said to the whole squad if we play well enough, we can take on anyone.

“I still keep an eye on Bristol, I’ve got a lot of friends their. It’s been my club for six years so there’s a strong following and I’ve got to go back to play in the play-offs if they make it.

“Hopefully they can finally reach the Premiership this time,” he added.

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