Underbank Rangers kick-off their home National Conference League Third Division campaign against Hindley this weekend, with head coach Richard Knight confident his squad can secure promotion.
Knight’s side immediately underlined their potential with an impressive 44-10 opening-day away triumph at much-fancied Coventry Bears a fortnight ago.
They’ll now look to make it two wins out of two against Hindley at The Cross tomorrow (2.30).
And having lost just three home games in the past five seasons, Knight is confident his 2014 squad will continue to make their home ground a fortress and push for glory.
Signed up for the summer are former Giants Academy duo Sam Rochford (a hooker or back-row forward) and Tom Eidson, a full-back who was man-of-the-match against the Bears.
On top of that, Fijian flyer Napolean Vinaka has returned to the club, while influential Australian back-rower Nick Briggs is coming back for a second stint in the next few weeks. Both men were key Bank performers when first here.
Rangers have ‘lost’ former skipper Lee St Hilaire, who announced his retirement at the end of last season and handed the captain’s armband to highly-respected hooker Andy Boothroyd.
But with St Hilaire having not missed a training session this season as he looks to maintain his general fitness, Knight is convinced St Hilaire could be about to go back on his word.
However, whether St Hilaire performs a U-turn or not, the Rangers chief is 100% convinced he has the squad capable of challenging for the title.
“I’m really happy with the squad we’ve got for this year,” said Knight.
“We’ve kept the core from last season and enhanced it with some good quality recruits.
“And I think we showed with our opening-day win at Coventry that we’re going to be up there at the end of the season.
“Coventry were one of the sides who were tipped to do well this year, but we went to their place and did a really good job on them. That immediately proved to everyone how much potential we have, and was also good for our confidence.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to do something similar to Hindley tomorrow.
“They also made a great start to their season (winning 58-12 at home to Eastmoor Dragons last weekend), so we’re expecting a pretty tough game.
“But we’re proud of our record at The Cross and we expect that record to continue this weekend.
“There’s a very positive feel around the place at the moment and I expect that to be reflected in the performance we produce.”
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