MERRION

Captain: Seán Stanton
Head Coach: Dom Joyce
Overseas player: Corne Botha
Players in: Oisín Bhoja back from college in England and Thomas Ford - Ireland u19
Players Out: Connor Blaxall-Hill, Max Sorensen, Tom Stanton.
Young players to watch - Seb Dijkstra and Thomas Ford

Merrion have been one of the strongest teams in Leinster and Ireland over the past two decades and there's no reason to think that this will be any different in 2026.

There are a few personnel changes though with Seán Stanton taking over the captaincy reins. There is a new overseas player with Corne Botha in for Connor Blaxall-Hill. Botha comes with an excellent pedigree and reputation, his quality evident by the fact he has played recently for South Africa in the Under-19 World Cup.

Tom Ford arrives from CSNI via England, and he too played in the recent World Cup, for Ireland. Oisín Bhoja is also expected to feature having finished his college studies in England.

On the flip side, Max Sorensen has hung up the boots, while Tom Stanton may not feature at all due to work and nuptials commitments.

There is always a healthy production line of youth talent at Anglesea Road and with Ford arriving plus international youth team mate Seb Dijkstra also in the squad, that appears to still be a priority at the club.

"We are really looking forward to pushing our young players through," said Head Coach Dom Joyce. "We are really hoping that they grow, improve in the team and enjoy it and have fun.

"We hope that everyone enjoys the cricket and the season ahead of us. I'm looking forward to working with Sean as the new captain and we also have Hussein Manack coming back as our High Performance Coach and helping me as assistant coach."

Merrion will no doubt be there or thereabouts once again in what is a very competitive cut-throat league. While the Premiership may be beyond them, you wouldn't rule out a tilt at one of the major cups.