It was decided at the September meeting that the three remaining committee would not meet again until November, missing the October meeting so they could all concentrate on getting some much needed equipment together for the following season. It was fortunate that new Director of Rugby, Lee Kirkman had many rugby league contacts in the North, including his father Vinny who just happened to be the kitman for six times rugby league champions, Swinton Lions. This vital link was to prove to be a major part in the future of Devon Sharks, there is no doubt that without the Lions, Devon Sharks would have not made it to the New Year. It can never be underestimated what Vinny Kirkman and Swinton did at that time.

At the November meeting, Lee and Chris had an important announcement, Swinton had promised to donate one of their old kits to the Sharks, which although well used was still in a good condition. The shirt was one they picked up cheap from the manufacturers, in fact it was an Oldham shirt that had the wrong collar on it so it wasn’t any use to them. Swinton ended up buying it for their Academy side who played in it for one season before passing it on to another Swinton run team, summer conference club Bolton le Moors. That shirt was Royal Blue and White Hoops, coincidently Royal Blue has been the Lions colours since 1866, over 140 years before the Sharks came to be. Added to the Shirts, Swinton also promised to provide a number of match and training balls, all of this Lee and Chris would pick up in January. This proved to be a major point in the Sharks turnaround and for that the Lions deserve to take a lot of credit. If you ever feel at a loose end, then I recommend you get yourself a copy of ‘The Lions Of Swinton’ a complete history of the Lions and an inspiration for these writings.     
So now the club were starting to get things into place as far as equipment was concerned. With the Christmas holidays on the way it was decided to meet again in January. This would give the current committee of Darren, Chris and Lee, much needed time to ‘relax’. It had been hard work running the club and they all had full time jobs to fit around Sharks. It also can not be forgotten, the part these three pioneers played in the developement of Rugby League in South Devon.
Around this time , Kirkman  recieved an e-mail from a young lad in Yorkshire who had  played for both Keigthley Cougarrs and Bradford Bulls academy sides. He was moving to Paignton with his parents, and despite having a career threatening back injury he would be keen to help out in any way he could. His name was James Sharples and he went on to join the coaching  staff.
Christmas came and went and all the committee reconvened, with the addition of Sharples to help boost the committees number to a grand total of four. Also the missing Barry Whittle arrived back on the scene and Sharks suddenly had  five people who were now fighting  the Great Whites cause.
The next task was to try and pull some players in, it was never going  to be an easy job, especially after the difficulties of the previous summer, but as was the determination of the committee, they pushed an advertising  campaign.
Director of Rugby, Lee Kirkman phoned up all the previous seasons players and assured them that they would be in the new South West Conference, therefore the games would be guaranteed. Kirkman had always been full of optimism, some of it blind, but he believed that if the players come, then they would love the game. How could they not? Rugby League is the greatest game in the World.

All the previous seasons’ players, with the exception of the injured Chris Rudd and our union professional committed to the club for the 2007 season. Of course this wouldn’t be enough, but it was still a few months to the season and Kirkman didn’t envisage any problems in recruitment. February came, as did March and the committee decided to concentrate on sponsorship in those months. Sharks really did hit a brick wall in this department, although the committee knew what they had to sell, it would appear that local businesses could not see the product on offer. It really did appear that the previous seasons debacles had played a big factor in the ability of Sharks to sell their name.

At the end of March, Sharks held a signing session at Rackerhayes, It was hoped that the interest that had been shown over the last couple of months would come to fruition, since the clubs press campaign many players had said they would come over. The 2006 Captain Stuart Kingsley took on the Head Coaches role, with him he fetched two players from Paignton RUFC, Adam Hocutt and Jarrett Harris. Kirkman, Whittle, Baker  and Hammond re-signed. James Sharples signed in the hope that his back problems would clear up, as did a young Zimbabwean, Kevin Smith. Several others signed up and the player numbers were steadily climbing.

At the April meeting Sharks were still struggling to raise any sponsorship, but this had to be put on the back burner, as the South West 9s tournament was fast approaching. Although they still didn’t have enough players for a full thirteen, they had a nines team. Training resumed and this was when yet another pivotal moment happened for Sharks, at the first session of 2007 a player appeared who would not only become one of the main lynchpins of the team, but would go on to prove to be one of the most vital cogs in the machine. That player was Phillip Maddick,  he was to become probably the most influential signing in the clubs short but distinguished history.

On the day of the 9s tournament, Sharks were once again plagued by all the problems that they suffered with the year before. Many of the