Perhaps more than any other club in the Championship, Worcester are able to view events from August to March as little more than an elongated pre-season.
After all, their campaign will be determined by how well they fare in their final nine games – and in truth probably only the last three – as they look to bounce back from a most bitter of relegations.
And having reached the midway point top of the table and with clear Blue and Gold water between themselves and the chasing pack, they are on course to do just that.
Indeed they could have achieved their first objective and qualified for the promotion play-offs by the end of the year, although the timing of that is pretty academic.
What has not been academic, however, has been their progress so far. Only twice have they managed to make explicit the gulf in class between the best and the rest and even then it was against the small fry from Bees and Esher.
The remainder of their campaign has been something of a white-knuckle ride with very competent outfits like Nottingham, London Welsh and Bedford refusing to lie down.
In fact Cornish Pirates actually knocked Richard Hill’s men from their feet, a result that was only surprising because it happened at Sixways.
There are probably twin reasons for that, firstly the fact the other Championship teams are not as bad as Worcester expected and secondly Worcester are not as good as everyone else expected.
Early on Hill made it ever harder for his team by rotating his personnel regularly but worryingly even his notional first choice line-up is far from perfect.
That is not to say there have not been standout performers. Up front Neil Best and Graham Kitchener have proved themselves top flight players in every inch. Kitchener in particular looks destined for very high accolade.
And Marcel Garvey has just about been the pick of the backs, his pace is unrivalled in the second tier, and Alex Crockett has proved a shrewd acquisition. He too will thrive if and when Warriors return to the Premiership.
And make no mistake, they should do just that but as Bristol learned last season, nothing is certain until the Fat Boy is singing in the communal bath. Until that point there is plenty of cause for anxiety at Sixways. ‘Twas ever thus.
