Horgan has been recruiting well for weeks and believes that he has the squad that can make a serious challenge for the play-offs and Grand Final glory in 2012-13.
“The boys have once again all worked really hard in pre-season training,” he said. “We’re pleased with a lot of the new players who have come to train with us, some of whom will be staying on in our squad for the rest of the season and some have gone back to their clubs and we’ll be keeping an eye on them.
“It’s great that so many players want to be associated with Neath. We’re a famous name and we still have that draw card. Unfortunately we only have 32 places in the squad so we’ll be continuing to keep an eye on them when we go back to our home town clubs.”
Horgan was in a position to confirm at least four new players for the season.
“We’ve Lee Williams who has signed from Bargoed,” he said. “He’s a middle line jumper second row, something we were short of last season especially after Christmas. We’ve got big aspirations for him to fill that role really well for us.
“We have Rhys Jones, a second row who played for us at the end of last season. We’ve signed him from Whitland and it’s his first full season with the club. Again we think he’s going to be big for us.
“Plus we’ve a couple of Ospreys players who have been placed with us – Ryan Evans and Emyr Williams. We’re expecting good things from them being from a full-time background.
“Primarily we’ve got the same squad. We’ve lost a handful of players which is disappointing. But all that does is give someone else an opportunity to step into those shoes and star for Neath Rugby Club. We’re definitely looking at challenging for the title and we’re confident we can do that.”
The Adam Jones testimonial is the Black’s only pre-season friendly so Horgan will be using the game to his advantage to look at the best possible squad to face Swansea in the first league game at The Gnoll on Saturday September 1 (KO 2.30pm).
“Adam started at the club,” Horgan said. “He’s from Abercrave which has always been associated with Neath. It’s great for him and I know he’s got a good feeling for Neath RFC. He still remembers his time fondly when he started with Neath and we’re honoured to host the game.
“It’s our only hit-out so we’ll be going as hard as we can. Looking at Adam’s squad, there are probably 11 or 12 full-time players so I’m sure they’ll all start. Plus there are some very good players from the past so we know they’re going to be strong especially in the first half to 60 minutes, then they’ll probably put some of the boys on who have stopped playing.
“We need to be firing on full cylinders, but it is our first game and we will be a bit disjointed in parts. We’ll overcome that, review the positives and negatives and move forward in our first league game against Swansea.
“I feel we’ll be challenging for the title again this season. For all our troubles last year, we were top of the league going into April and we fell down a bit when we had five games in two weeks and that took its toll on our squad. This year we’ve prepared well and are looking at a good season.”
Tickets for the Adam Jones Testimonial can be bought this Thursday, Friday and Saturday from the Neath RFC club shop at 13 Market Street, Neath. They are priced at £10 for adults, £5 for juniors.
Hospitality is available for tables of 10 for just £350 per table. This price includes tickets to the match and sumptuous two course meal. To book your place at this evening to remember, please contact nicola@neathrugby.co.uk.
A percentage of all tickets sold are being donated to the St David’s Foundation Hospice Care.
