SEDGLEY Park enjoyed a productive first week of pre-season training that has pushed them to the limit.

The first task for the new triumvirate of coaches - Tim Fourie, Andy Northey and James Ponton - is to get the squad fitter than ever before.

The club faces a second season in National One and will be coming up against bigger, faster and more experienced teams.

With the mighty Harlequins demoted from the Guinness Premiership yet still containing players of the calibre of British and Irish Lions' Will Greenwood, former Springbok Andre Vos and of course All Black stand-of legend Andrew Mehrtens.

Therefore fitness will be paramount, along with experience, organisation and a bigger squad.

So far Park have brought in centre Shaun Woof (from Pertemps Bees), wing Chris Hall (Otley / Dewsbury Rams), prop Philip Gazzola (Viadana) and second row Chris Rowe (Llanelli RC).

To join them is a Kiwi number eight, an experienced stand-off and a stand-off/fullback from South Africa

With the number one fly-half target unlikely to be available for the first month or so, the Tigers are locking to bring over Ruan Coetzee, who as played 77 Currie Cup games in South Africa for the Falcons.

"Everyone I have spoken to rates the kid," said Fourie: "He prefers stand-off but is also at home playing centre or fullback and we are really lookng forward to getting him over here, hopefully by the start of August."

The club will also be without Hall for the first two weeks of the season as he is currently playing for the Dewsbury Rams in National League Two, and is set to make his final appearance for the Yorkshire side on Sunday, September 11 at, of all places, Sedgley Park, when the Rams face the Lions!