AS the club that won promotion the previous season and having survived in the top flight last time around, Leeds could be seen as a good example for Exeter to follow.

You suspect that if you offered Rob Baxter 10th place — where the Yorkshiremen finished last term — he would be pretty happy with that.

But he would probably want to get there earlier than Leeds, who battled against the drop for much of the campaign before finding their feet late on.

One of the hallmarks of their campaign was the team spirit in the camp and that is something the Chiefs will certainly want to emulate.

It was something that was particularly evident in the Exeter squad towards the end of last season as the games were getting more and more important.

However, one area Exeter will not be following the Headingley outfit's lead is off the field.

The directors announced earlier this month that they were throwing more money at the playing side in a bid to help the coaches' aim of getting the club into the prestigious Heineken Cup.

But at the same time they admitted the club had large debts and were delaying paying those off in order to increase the playing budget.

It was seen by many as a gamble and one not too dissimilar to their footballing cousins across the city, albeit at nothing like the same levels.

Having increased the playing budget to £4.5m — £3m of which will be salaries — Leeds chief executive Gary Hetherington says it is essential the club breaks even next season.

"As a board of directors we cannot allow the debt to threaten the existence of the club," Hetherington said.

"We do not have an ability to lose money this year, we have to operate at break-even or better, and any surplus would be invested in the rugby operation."

Leeds United may have had a slump in fortunes as a result of their troubles, but they are still the biggest sporting draw in the city.

And with rugby league and cricket also big rivals, the rugby union side have it all to do to make a big push for the higher echelons of the Premiership.

They hope to increase crowds this season from an average of 6,046 last time around, as well as generating more income from sponsors.

Exeter will hope to do better on both those fronts, as well as battling with Leeds on the pitch.