CAPTAIN Alun Rees believes Bedwas would be selling themselves short if they head into the Principality Premiership with the prime aim of avoiding the drop.

The Bridge Field side start with a home encounter with Pontypridd and then travel to Merthyr in round two to face the champions.

It is the trickiest of starts but hooker Rees is confident that Bedwas, who now have stalwart Stefan Sankala in the hotseat, can enjoy another season to remember.

The Gwent side have finished seventh or higher every year since 2012, rankings that would avoid a tense tussle to avoid being one of the five teams that will drop into the Championship.

"We set our sights as high as we possibly can and there is no reason to think that we would be caught in that relegation fight," said Rees.

"We have often finished in the top half recently so for us to just aim to avoid relegation would be selling ourselves short."

Sankala has replaced Ian Gardner as head coach after formerly being in charge of the backs, the former wing earning the top job after being involved with Bedwas for 16 years.

"It was a big loss losing 'Spot' [Steve Law] last year and the same with 'Gards' this summer but 'Sanky' is part of the furniture and is a Bedwas man, so the transition has been smooth," said Rees.

Bargoed have had a busy summer in the transfer market and will hope their new charges settle swiftly when they host Llandovery tomorrow.

The Bulls have made a raft of signings in a bid to improve on last year's 15th-placed finish, notably former Dragons hooker Rhys Buckley, loosehead John Lavender from Newport, lock/back row Geraint Edmunds from Bedwas and Cross Keys fly-half Josh Prosser and centre Barney Nightingale.