The Cornish Pirates are making plenty of progress both on and off the pitch as the new Championship season approaches.

Cornwall's premier rugby club recently announced they will move back to their former home in Penzance at the Mennaye Field, bringing a four-year stay at Camborne RFC's Recreation Ground to an end.

A failure to reach an agreement over the usage of a hospitality marquee at the Recreation Ground prompted the decision and now the club are hard at work ensuring the Mennaye is ready for the 2009-10 Championship season.

However, the drama behind the scenes has had no ill effects on the players' preparations according to high performance manager Chris Stirling.

The Kiwi coach (pictured) said: "We're watching the preparation and everything that goes into getting the ground ready – it's quite exciting – and from our perspective it's easier because everything we need is at the Mennaye.

"Our coaching offices, all our computer analysis equipment is at the Mennaye whereas sometimes I would leave Camborne at six o'clock, travel to the Mennaye and do some analysis there. Now I don't have to make the trip.

"The whole thing is going to be a positive really, there's a really exciting feeling and the ground itself is going to feel so close. Three or four thousand people at the Mennaye is going to seem like the British & Irish Cup final crowd every week."

That British and Irish Cup atmosphere that Stirling refers to was the Pirates' glorious swansong to their time at Camborne when they beat Munster in the final. It was also a fantastic way for Stirling to conclude his first season with the club alongside fellow coaches Ian Davies and Harvey Biljon.

Building upon that success will be a challenge, but Stirling already knows where his side need to improve.

He said: "Consistency in performance is going to be our goal and that will bring satisfactory results in terms of where we finish in the table. Nothing's really changed in that our first goal is to get into the top eight in the league to reach the play-offs, then we'll try to finish in the top two of your pool so we can get a semi-final spot.

"It's pretty much the same beliefs and ideals as last season but we've adapted it to where the players are at. Our pre-season programme has been four weeks shorter than last year because the length of the season last year – finishing later – and this year we start a week earlier."

With their first pre-season fixture taking place at the new-look Mennaye on August 14, it has been reassuring for Stirling and his staff to find the players in superb condition after their summer break.

"Pre-season training is going really well. We've had a big strength and power focus over the last month and now we've given them a week off. We'll get into a lot of field work ahead of the game against the Newport-Gwent Dragons on the 14th.

"Our fitness test results that we did in the first week back exceeded our third stage tests last year. The guys are a lot fitter, a lot stronger and I'm confident that we've moved forward as a team and we will be better than we were last year."

Supporters will get their first opportunity to take a proper look at developments at the Mennaye at the club's open day on Friday, August 6.

Stirling said: "I'm sure a lot of supporters will be interested to come down and have a look. It won't be completely up to spec by then but they will be able to meet the new players."