Keighley Cougars coach John Kain is looking to celebrate the club coming out of administration earlier this week with victory in tomorrow's Challenge Cup third round tie with amateur side Saddleworth Rangers.
He goes into tomorrow's Cougar Park clash with a near full-strength squad as Keighley look to seal a potentially lucrative fourth round tie when the Super League clubs join the competition.
Four players will make their debuts in the starting 13, including an exciting Welsh rugby union prospect, as Kain looks to start the season with a resounding victory.
Australian Brock McDonald will start in the centre along with former Oldham prop Danny Guest and loose forward Darren Summerhill, who arrived from Sheffield Eagles during the close season.
Also making a return is centre Simon Irving although it is not yet clear whether he or Chris Robinson will take over goal-kicking duties.
Kain said: "It is a good outfit and I am looking for a strong performance to get the season off on the right footing. I have been very excited by the new arrivals with Brock looking a great addition in the centre.
"Guest is a big lad who is only 20 but looks a great prospect. I don't go along with those who say we were lightweight in the pack last season but I feel he is a great addition."
He added that the Welsh trialist will be with the club for the next two weeks and has been handed a start on the right wing. He has recorded a personal time of 10.5 seconds for 100 metres - compared to former Keighley speed merchant Nick Pinkney's time of 10.9 seconds.
Forward Rob Roberts starts a three-game suspension tomorrow, held over from last season, and Cougars are also without York pair, Pete Walsh and Dave Smith, who had not signed before last Monday's Challenge Cup deadline.
Saddleworth are bottom of the National Conference League with just four points from 17 games and although Kain won't be taking them lightly, he is adamant that only victory will do.
"We have not had them watched but I know all about the club from when I coached Heworth in the past. But we are a professional outfit and we should approach this game with confidence. We can't worry about them.
"We have been working on a few principles in training as to how we will play this season. We have a good sized squad who can all play first team rugby."
Keighley: Foster, AN Other, McDonald, Irving, Billy, Owen, Robinson, Guest, Ramshaw, Julian, Stephenson, Larder, Summerhill. Subs: Edwards, K Smith, Shackleton, Senior.
In all, 17 amateur outfits face First and Second Division clubs in the Challenge Cup, and there is no shortage of potential upsets.
York will certainly have no excuse for treating Humberside amateurs Norland lightly, having lost to non-league opposition for the last two years, and in-form Featherstone Lions, this season's Yorkshire Cup winners, will fancy their chances of toppling Doncaster.
But perhaps the most intriguing ties are at Dewsbury and Swinton, where the competition has thrown up derbies against Thornhill and Folly Lane.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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