The Welsh All Blacks are cheered by their pre-season warm-up form against the fully professional sides of Ulster and Plymouth Albion but are mindful that Bedwas also did well against Doncaster and Moseley.
Neath suffered a couple of injury blows at Plymouth and centre Luke Ford (shoulder) and scrum-half Tom James (knee) face lengthy lay-offs.
Coach Patrick Horgan said, “It is a blow to us as a club to lose two talented young players like Luke and Tom and it is a blow to them individually as both have the potential to become regional players.
“Generally we were pleased with our performances in the pre-season games but the serious business starts now and we know we face a real challenge at Bedwas who, although it was close, beat us fair and square up there last year.”
Neath will finalise their side from the following squad: A.Jenkins; K.James, A.Bramwell, N.Brew, G.McCarthy, J.Davies, D.Evans; J.Thomas, D.Langdon, C.Morgans, T.Barry; N.Downs, A.Littlehales, R.Clancy, J.Reeves, O.Ford; E.Evans, N.Bonner-Evans, M.Collins; L.Evans, A.Powell, S.Jones, G.Gravell (captain), A.Whitney
