Broncos look for nerves of Steele

London Broncos kicked off the new season by naming second-row Steele Retchless as club captain and new signing Jason Hetherington as skipper for Sunday's opening Silk Cut Challenge Cup clash with Batley Bulldogs at Crawley.

There's a distinct new look about Broncos with chief executive Lionel Hurst, coach Tony Rea and his assistant Damien McGrath the driving forces at Sir Richard Branson's Rugby League club.

There is a glut of new internationals, with Hetherington joined by New Zealand skipper Richie Barnett and Jim Dymock at The Valley, but there is also a touch of the old with Tony Martin and Tony Mestrov back for second spells. Both were Broncos in their days across London at The Stoop.

Hurst, the Cheltenham trial lawyer who succeeded Rea as chief executive last month, admitted: "We want to return to the halcyon days of two or three years ago when we reached the Cup Final at Wembley and were regularly attracting crowds of 9,000. If we are successful this year, then it will open the floodgates."