Will Simonds appears well set to excel at Wasps this season with John Mitchell now joining a coaching group that puts expectations on the up at the Ricoh Arena.
After honing his skills under the watchful eye of new England attack coach Martin Gleeson and spending time in the Championship at Nottingham, Simonds graduated from the academy into Lee Blackett's plans at the same time as Alfie Barbeary and is pinning his hopes on making an impact in the club's midfield.
But where Barbeary experienced a breakthrough 2020, the former England U18 back had the high of his Premiership debut, a 28-18 win away at Saracens last year, cut down by tearing his hamstring in the match.
Now back to full fitness ahead of the new season, Simonds says he would revel in forming a centre partnership with Paolo Odogwu.
“I would love that,” the 21-year-old told TRP.
“That would be pretty cool to play with Paolo, I have just got to keep working hard to get more regular minutes.
“I had a great time at Nottingham, it was great getting game-time there and getting more minutes in the men's game under my belt. The physicality of the league made me take a step forward.
“That side of the game as a centre can be ugly in the Championship, you have to put your head in some uncomfortable places but that helped when I came back to Wasps and worked more with Gleese (Martin Gleeson) and Lee (Blackett). They have both been a massive help to me over the last year.
“I was lucky to get in a lot of work with Gleese just before he left. He has improved various areas of my game that I think you can see elsewhere in the backline, because they were ripping it up last season.
“Guys like Malakai (Fekitoa) and Jimmy (Gopperth) have been a massive help to me over the last year, I am lucky to have them at the club in that respect. Ryan Mills is a quality player as well.”
Mitchell's return to Wasps, with whom he worked as an assistant coach back in 1999- 2000, is nearing the end of its second week following his exit from Eddie Jones' staff.
And Simonds revealed the Kiwi has already made an early assessment of the backs with a couple of pointers expressed by Mitchell.
“He just adds another string to what Lee and Gleese have given me,” added Simonds, who has been at Wasps since the age of 13. “He has already been dropping bits of advice and given me a note or two to consider. I am excited to see what I can take away from being coached by him.
“You could see with Gleese how Rugby League had helped him coach skills, and running lines was one thing that he was great on, and it was different from anything I have experienced before.
You can tell those guys do things slightly differently and it works well.”
