Sandwell Steelers ready to step up again

The Steelers will be trading blows in the newly-formed Division One Midlands Football Conference having swept all before them on their way to NFC2 Championship glory last season.

Head coach Jay Alexander guided his side to a perfect 13 wins from 13 games on the way to title success and he's counting down the days to the big kick off.

He said: "This is a new challenge and a great opportunity for the club. The division we are in should make for a number of high quality matches.

"Three of the five teams have played in the Premier Division within the last three years, so it will be exciting to test ourselves at this level.

"We have had a decent off season in terms of turnover – a few players have moved on, but we have managed to make some key additions to the playing staff, in addition to re-tooling our coaching staff.

"There will be no easy days at the office this year, but we feel confident that we will be able to give a good showing of ourselves in Division One."

This season will see Steelers face four new opponents – the Nottingham Caesars, the Doncaster Mustangs, the Ouse Valley Eagles and the neighbouring Birmingham Bulls.

There will also be a familiar foe in the form of the Peterborough Saxons, who the Steelers defeated last season in the NFC2 final.

Certainly, there has been no shortage of goings on off the field during the off-season with the Steelers.

They play their home games at Tipton Sports Academy and have found a new training base at Wednesbury Rugby Club, after forging an alliance with the Woden Road North outfit.

The clubs came together before Christmas to discuss a potential partnership moving forwards that would see the teams working together on a number of different projects.

And the first step in this relationship will see Steelers use Wednesbury's facilities as their practice base.

Club secretary Ant Green said: "This is a great opportunity for us to partner with another local sports team.

"Wednesbury RUFC has a floodlit all-weather pitch that they will be allowing us to use during the winter months.

"That means we don't have to rely as much on the elements to ensure we have decent footing for our practices.

"Over the course of this year, we will be looking into a number of joint ventures with Wednesbury.

"It will, hopefully, provide benefits to both clubs both on and off the pitch as well as further raise our profiles within the community.

"We still maintain a great relationship with Sandwell Leisure Trust, who have been great to us over the past three years.

"We'll still be looking to play our games at Tipton Sports Academy this season."

As the new season approaches, the club is opening its doors to new players with a series of rookie taster days.

Alexander said: "Getting new players in is a huge priority for us. In my experience, clubs who fail to recruit new blood at the beginning of every season often struggle down the stretch.

"Last season several of the lads we picked up in January, who had never played the game before, ended up making key contributions to our championship season.

"We're now looking for the next crop of new talent to help us push for another play-off run in 2016."

Alexander reckons the sessions run by the club are ideal for anyone who has never played the sport before.

He went on: "I want to encourage anyone who has ever had a curiosity about the game to come along and give it a go.

"We do recruit all through the season, but these sessions would be particularly beneficial for people who have never played before.

"We will spend a lot of time covering the basic fundamentals of the game, in addition to a number of drills and skills.

"It will give all participants a flavour of what they can expect as a member of the team over the course of the season.

"No previous experience is necessary, just a willingness to learn and a great work ethic."

The taster days are running on Sunday, January 24 and Sunday, January 31 at Wednesbury Rugby Club on their all-weather 3G astroturf pitch.

Session times are 10am-12pm, and are free of charge. Participants are advised to bring a gumshield, water, plus footwear and clothing that is suitable for exercise on an all-weather playing surface.

For any further information, contact Sam Busher on sam.busher@sandwellsteelers.com.