For Randwick skipper Mitch Short the plan is simple - have a stand out season for the Galloping Greens that sees them go deep into the Shute Shield playoffs and from there the “professional rugby thing” will take care of itself.

The 25-year-old former Australian Schoolboy representative was off contract at the Waratahs at the end of last year and hoping to pick up a deal at one of the Aussie Super Rugby franchises or overseas, but the pieces of the jigsaw just didn’t fall for him.

“It’s pretty disappointing but it is what it is,” Short told Rugby News.

“But it has motivated me to perform well for Randwick at Shute Shield level which here in Australia is the next best thing to the professional level.