The doomsayers were convinced.

Glasgow Warriors, their preparations for the season disrupted by an unforeseen (and to many unjustifiable) coaching change, were destined to fail. It was written in the runes that their season would be a disaster.

Well that was then. Barely 12 months on, the reality is that the Warriors are riding as high as they ever have in the professional era, at least in terms of the RaboDirect PRO12. For the third time in four seasons, they reached the play-off stage and, while their latest trip to the semi-finals ended in another defeat, most observers considered them unlucky to go down 17-15 to Leinster in Dublin last Saturday.

Others suggest that Glasgow could be the team to watch next season. Their logic is persuasive. Warriors have an enviable blend of youth and experience, they have resources that can sustain them through periods when their Scotland stars are unavailable, and they have X-factor players who can turn games around.

They are on the up at a time when many of their PRO12 rivals look more likely to be going in the opposite direction. Clubs in Wales are suffering a financial squeeze and shedding top players, while a host of top Irish players are now in the evenings of their careers. Of the British and Irish sides, only Glasgow and Ulster look likely to be as strong next season as they have been in the campaign just ending.

So how have Glasgow done it? How did they turn a season perhaps destined for disaster into one that was achingly close to a triumph? Where did it all go right?

THE WEEGIE FROM FIJI

It is a rare thing in rugby's modern age for one player to make a hugely significant difference to a team, but Niko Matawalu has that precious ability. The Fijian scrum-half may be guilty of the odd rush of blood at times – those episodes are typically followed by a stern finger-wagging from the captain Al Kellock – but his electrifying brilliance at close quarters has energised Glasgow and brought some crucial scores.

Glasgow's success in the wide channels has been due, in no small part, to the fact that Matawalu concentrates defenders' minds so much around the fringes of the rucks and mauls. In a short space of time, he has become the most crucial player in the team, the man who makes the Warriors tick. Persuading him to extend his contract to 2015 may be the best piece of business the club has done.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Until this season, there had been a decidedly itinerant atmosphere around the Warriors as they shuffled around the city: training here, doing weights there, playing somewhere else. Hughenden and Firhill had their charms, but there was no feeling of permanence, no sense that either ground was home to the side. And their opponents knew it.

Now, Scotstoun is one of those grounds that strikes fear into other sides. It errs on the side of cosy, but there is a marvellously febrile atmosphere in the ground when Glasgow get their tails up. How Edinburgh, still rattling around in the soulless and cavernous surroundings of Murrayfield, must envy the advantage Glasgow enjoy at their wonderfully atmospheric stadium.

TOONIE ARMY

Gregor Townsend was written off as a flake in some quarters when he was controversially appointed to take over from Sean Lineen. He was viewd by many as an airy-fairy rugby idealist who lacked the nous and hard-nosed pragmatism to lead a side through the bump-and-grind of a long and arduous season. Yet, over the past nine months, the former Lions fly-half has shown himself to be a smart analyst, a clever tactician and a powerful motivator. No surprise that he was named Coach of the Year in the recent RaboDirect PRO12 awards.

That a Townsend side would play adventurous, attack-minded rugby was to be expected. However, the coach has earned respect as much for his honest appraisals and assessments when other sides have exposed weaknesses in the Warriors' game. "We knew how good Gregor was," said Al Kellock recently. "A lot of us had worked with him already. The controversy came from outside."

REINFORCING THE POINT

In seasons past, Glasgow have been able to field some pretty strong sides. However, beyond their first-choice XV, their resources have typically been perilously thin. When their top players were away on Scotland duty during the November and RBS 6 Nations Test windows, their performance levels and their results dipped badly.

Now, though, their expanded squad means there are quality players to cover every position. Neither Niko Matawalu nor Josh Strauss is in the frame for Scotland selection anyway, so their focus is entirely on Glasgow. When Stuart Hogg suffered the ankle injury that kept him out for the first few weeks of the season, Pete Murchie stepped up to the plate brilliantly. With added depth comes added competition for places and the Warriors have reaped the benefits.

TRY, TRY AND TRY AGAIN

Glasgow made themselves very difficult to beat last season. Their defensive record in the PRO12 was outstanding; they conceded fewer points than any other team in the league. Only Ospreys, the eventual champions, let in fewer tries than the Warriors.

However, things did not look so great at the other end of the pitch. Over the course of the Rabo season, they scored just 34 tries and collected a measly two try-bonus points.

This season, the numbers have been radically different. With a more positive mindset, they scored 66 tries and gained try bonus points on nine occasions. They all but blew Ulster, Munster and Ospreys off the Scotstoun pitch with their bold strategies. The first-choice back three of Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland and DTH Van der Merwe is without equal in the competition.