Alfie Orris has pinpointed how a change in approach has helped Canterbury Rugby Club hit their stride this season.

Matt Corker’s team return to action for the first time in 2025 when they travel to National League 2 East basement boys Worthing on Saturday.

Fourth-placed Canterbury will look to maintain the form they had at the end of last year, which saw them enjoy a three-game winning December.

Indeed, they have tasted defeat only once in six fixtures since the start of November, securing a memorable 35-34 victory at high-fliers Dorking, before they saw off Sevenoaks 35-22 to end the calendar year.

Corker has the players working more away from the ground and there is a greater focus on doing the basics well on the pitch, too.

“It seems to have been a little bit different from last season,” said winger Orris.

“I missed the first few games where I was away but, this year, I don’t think we started too well.

“We’ve had a change in game-plan that we have implemented since the Old Albanian game (a 54-17 win).

“Since then, the boys have been really working hard - at the rugby club and outside of that, as well.

"That game-plan has been working so, hopefully, we can keep rolling with that.

“The game against Dorking was one of the best I’ve seen since I’ve been at the club.

“Dorking is a really tough place to go and, the last few times we’ve been there, they have given us some pastings. But we just felt in control.

“In the Sevenoaks game, where we settled so early, we almost let them back in again.

“But I think we will do really well this year if we can iron out some of those little issues.”

While some sides across the county played last Saturday, Canterbury have had an extra week off over the festive period.

And normal service has resumed this week.

“We had a training session on [last] Thursday which, luckily, I was able to get to before going away,” Orris explained. “It all starts ramping up again.

“It was nice to get the win against Sevenoaks in the last game of the year.

“I know a few teams have been back playing already but, hopefully, that extra weekend off will do us some good.”

After their trip to Worthing, the city club will host Guernsey and visit Havant before another fixture-free weekend.

Orris said: “I definitely prefer the shorter-block system.

"It just means you can do your home-work for each block.

“That’s how Corks (head coach Corker) and Vealey (backs and attack coach Alex Veale) break it up. They break everything down into these blocks.

“Our target is to win all of our games in them. Now we have done that, we just need to do it again.

“If we keep doing that, I’m sure we will do well.”

Orris only joined Canterbury ahead of last term but has quickly become a part of the furniture.

“It definitely feels like that,” he admitted. “The boys are really accommodating.

“I know we all have a laugh and a joke but, to be honest, they're all really good blokes. A few of the lads play golf - not that I’m any good at golf - but I tag along.

“I don’t feel like an outsider anymore because everyone has been so accommodating. But you need to prove your worth on the pitch, as well.

“If you’re doing your job on the pitch, people respect you more.

"Hopefully, I’ve been doing that.”

Orris - who's a shift worker based on the Isle of Grain - joined from Medway as he headed across Kent with Taff Gwilliam, who became Canterbury’s director of rugby.

But he said: “When I came over, it felt like a fair few were coming from Medway.

"But one by one, they’ve started to drop off. It feels like it’s pretty much just me!

“Mo Pangarker has been out with his injury since last summer. I’ve been speaking to him a lot and he’s doing his rehabilitation now so, hopefully, he should be back fairly soon.

“The likes of Dan Huntley and Henry Kenny have been doing well in the 2nds.

“Huntley has been playing really well and has managed to keep his spot in the 1sts. It’s not a ‘them and us’ situation. We’re one club.

“We all train together as the 1sts and 2nds and that’s very much the Canterbury ethos about being one club.”

Canterbury’s weekend hosts Worthing and second-bottom Colchester both have only one league win apiece this campaign, but Orris said: “Teams like that will always be dangerous.

"It’s a potential banana skin. I feel like a lot of the games are more of a mental challenge.

“When we played Dorking, everyone was right up for it and everyone was firing. Hopefully it’s not too harsh to say, but I think we took our foot off the gas a little against Sevenoaks.

“We just need to show that killer instinct and treat playing everyone like we’re playing [frontrunners] Tonbridge because there are no easy games.”