For Longstaff personally, that means returning from an injury hit 1B campaign, continuing his development as a tight head prop after a busy pre-season with Ulster and taking on greater responsibility as Queen’s vice-captain.
For the team, it means responding to relegation from Division 1B and rediscovering the rugby which has made them a serious force in Ulster. The first signs have been promising.
Queen’s began life back in Division 2A for the first time since winning the competition at the end of the 2022/23 season with an impressive victory away to Shannon, traditionally one of the more difficult trips in the All-Ireland League. This weekend they return to Dub Lane to face Cashel, with both sides entering the second round on five points.
For a Queen’s group determined not to be defined by what happened last season, it represents another opportunity to move forward.
“Last season wasn't how anyone I think wanted or would have planned for it to go, but sort of last season's gone now” Longstaff said.
“I think people are keen to either right wrongs or sort of show people what we're about at Queen’s. I don't think that was really what we showed last year at all. Just excited to sort of take every weekend as a new opportunity to really get after it.”
Longstaff knows something about starting again himself.
The 22 year old fourth year Philosophy student is only recently back into the rhythm of university life after a summer dominated by rugby.
Injury saw him miss part of last season, but he returned to spend pre-season in the Ulster environment, featuring in their preparations before coming back into the Queen’s squad for the beginning of the AIL.
It has made for a hectic period, but also an important one in the development of a player who has already featured for Ulster and Ulster ‘A’, as well as representing Ireland at underage level.
“It's been really exciting” he said.
“It's been just a tough pre-season with Ulster there, but awesome to get a few games there with them at the end of the pre-season. And the same for a good few of the Queen’s lads who have now also got opportunities and guys who have sort of stuck in around us, like James McKillop playing last weekend and stuff for the senior team coming off the back of him having such a great pre-season.”
The challenge when those players return to Queen’s is to bring something back with them.
Longstaff sees his involvement at provincial level not simply as something which benefits his own development, but as experience which can help drive standards throughout the university side.
“It's sort of trying to make sure that when we come and feed back into that Queen’s team, we're trying to push on another level and use everything that I've learned and try to push on and not let things or standards drop.”
That responsibility carries additional significance this year.
Longstaff is Queen’s vice-captain, making him one of the players expected to help lead a young and constantly evolving student squad through what they hope will be a much more positive campaign.
Queen’s managed just two victories from 18 matches in Division 1B last season. There is no attempt to disguise the disappointment of that campaign, but neither is there any desire to carry it around throughout this season.
Their opening weekend demonstrated that mentality.
“We've got a few new players coming in and then other guys who've sort of been out for a while with injury and things and missed a lot of last season. I think guys were just really excited to play and obviously it's a daunting place to go, going away to Shannon. But I think at the end of the day, we just wanted to go down there and play some rugby.”
That last point could prove important for Queen’s.
Student sides inevitably change from year to year and this season has been no different. Some players spent their summer within the Ulster setup, others remained with Queen’s throughout pre-season, while new students have gradually arrived from different places and backgrounds.
The task has been to turn those individual groups into one team.
New head coach Jonny Graham has placed considerable emphasis on doing exactly that.
“It's really interesting for Queen’s because there's obviously a core of us that have done pre-season with Ulster and have sort of got game time through that” Longstaff explained.
“And then there's guys who come and drip in from other countries, whether they're coming in as freshers or we've got master's students and stuff coming in. And then there's guys who obviously have just been in and around the club.”
“There was a few Ulster League games, which I think was a great opportunity for guys who maybe wouldn't have got a shot or would have been less likely to be in and around that sort of first’s level of rugby. They got shots over the pre-season, got a bit of exposure to a higher level of rugby.
Obviously some of the scores didn't really go Queen’s way, but I think we had a real positive mindset around using it as an opportunity for people to get a new level of rugby and to see new guys playing at a different level.”
Eventually the various groups came together, and Graham's message was clear.
“And then we met a few times sort of coming in towards AIL time as a team, as a whole sort of unit, including all the Ulster group and things. I think we've had a real focus, which has sort of been driven by Jonny Graham, our new head coach.
He's driven sort of like that sort of one club mentality that when we arrived to Queen’s and when we're with Queen’s now, we are one club and we sort of set out our goals for the season to go after.” Longstaff added.
That collective mentality is particularly relevant to Longstaff given the different rugby environments he moves between. His own development has also involved significant change.
A former pupil of Campbell College, Longstaff spent much of his school rugby career in the back row. As time went by he slowly moved towards the front row, and tight head prop became his new position.
The transition from back row to the technical demands of the front row is substantial, but Longstaff has embraced it.
“I was in back row for most of school and enjoyed it there, but I've really enjoyed the transition to front row and learned a lot” he said.
That education has accelerated over the past 18 months, with former Ulster hooker Niall Annett becoming an important influence.
“Especially in these sort of past year and a half now with Niall Annette, who's come in through Ulster and he's in Queen’s now as well, which is a massive help, and he's been amazing for me. I think the learnings and sort of leaps and bounds that I've made with him has been brilliant.”
There was always a strong possibility that rugby would occupy a significant place in Longstaff's life.
His father Shaun won 15 caps for Scotland and featured at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. However while his dad dashed down the wing during his career, Flynn is now operating in one of the most specialised positions on the pitch, where his tackling and ball carrying has shone.
“I don't think I've ever had much time on the wing” Longstaff joked.
His father nevertheless provided his introduction to the sport and remains an important source of support.
“Yeah massively. I mean he was the first one who took me to rugby when I was younger and put the ball in my hands, but he's never really put much sort of pressure through it.
He's been just sort of very supportive throughout. I mean he's a winger, so a bit of a change from being a tight head prop, so he's learning as well as he goes along about scrums and things, which I think he had very little knowledge of before.”
Longstaff's own journey began at Bangor Rugby Club, close to where he grew up. It was there that he first shared a rugby environment with some players who would later progress along similar pathways.
“I was in with Bangor Rugby just where I grew up” he explained.
“I just played with a few guys and a few guys who sort of came through Queen’s and the Ulster system as well from that Bangor group.
“Ben McFarlane, who was in the academy in Queen’s, and then Lukas Kenny as well, who was in the academy in Queen’s and stuff. It was nice to sort of come through with that group of lads and then also then come through school as well with Lukas as well.”
Those experiences have eventually brought Longstaff to a position where he is simultaneously trying to push his own career forward while helping Queen’s do the same. For both player and club, this season carries opportunity.
Queen’s want to prove that last year's struggles were not representative of their true level. Longstaff wants to continue the progress that has already brought him into the Ulster senior environment.
Those ambitions do not need to compete with each other. Instead, Queen’s hope the standards their provincial players experience elsewhere can strengthen the collective when they return to Dub Lane.
That process started successfully against Shannon. Now attention turns to Cashel, another side who recorded maximum points last weekend.
It will be the first meeting between the clubs in three years and the first at Dub Lane in four, when Queen’s won an entertaining encounter 38-31.
Longstaff was not part of that game, but conversations have given him an indication of what awaits.
“I wasn't involved obviously back then, but I've spoken to a few of the older guys who have all said Cashel are a really tough team to play” he said.
“I think you can see that from doing our review from them at the weekend. They play a good style of rugby and they'll be coming up here ready to go. We're both now sitting on five points going into this weekend. So, a real exciting opportunity and excited to get back out on the Dub.”
For several members of the squad, Saturday will also bring a first experience of playing AIL rugby on their new home ground.
Queen’s could hardly have asked for a better beginning to their attempt to rebuild.
One game does not erase the frustrations of last season, but victory at Shannon has provided something to build from. The objective now is consistency.
Longstaff and his teammates are not attaching grand declarations to what they want to achieve in Division 2A. After the experience of last season, their focus is much narrower.
Play with freedom. Impose their own style. Enjoy their rugby again.
For Longstaff, there is plenty packed into the months ahead.
There is a Philosophy degree entering its fourth year. There are ambitions with Ulster to pursue. And there is a Queen’s team he now has added responsibility for as vice-captain.
At 22, he remains one of the young players attempting to push his own career forward, but he is also increasingly becoming someone Queen’s can look towards for leadership.
The opening weekend suggested both Longstaff and his teammates are ready to move forward. Last season was difficult. They make no secret of that. But it is over.
Queen’s are back at Dub Lane this weekend with five points already secured, a fresh group finding its identity and a vice-captain determined to bring everything he has learned at the next level back into the team.
For Longstaff and Queen’s alike, this season is about showing what they can do now.
“It'll be a good opportunity for some of the new lads as well. First time playing out there so it means a lot. We just want to take it week by week I think and go after each game and try and impose ourselves on each team as best we can and play our style of rugby.
And just really find that enjoyment in it again, and hopefully then that will allow us to be in the best position we can at the end of the season.”