Three Valley Cougars players have been named in the Wales Dragonhearts squad to play in the Celtic Nations Cup.
The 23-man-squad will play Scotland and Ireland in August and features three players from the Senghenydd-based Aber Valley Wolves as well as the three from Cougars.
Ian Newbury, Mike Hurley, Scott Britton are the Cougars representatives for Wales, while Lee Goddard has been placed on stand-by.
The Wolves are represented by Bobby Andrews, Bradley Hill and Geraint Clarke.
Dragonhearts’ head coach, Mike Grady said: “We had a fantastic turnout with 96 attending trials in North and South Wales and finishing with a Possibles v Probables game.
“The squad was picked from the people attending these trials, which shows the commitment of players wanting to be in the squad.
“It’s been tough for assistant coach Paul Emanuelli and I selecting it due to the amount quality on display but I feel we have now got a squad capable of winning this year’s tournament.”
Emanuelli said: “Having been involved with the Dragonhearts for years this has definitely been one of the toughest selection processes ever.
“We’ve had great turn outs and Mike and I have had hours of going back and forth before we finalised what we think is an extremely strong squad with a good mix of experience and young talent. I can’t wait to get started now.”
The Wales Dragonhearts team in full: Aled Jones, John Ketland (both Flintshire Falcons), Andrew Milne, Gareth Howells, Lee Harben-Jones, Nathan Hawkins, Tylan Mafi (all Bridgend Blue Bulls), Anthony Tilley, Callum Bennett (both Prestatyn & Rhyl Panthers), Bobby Andrews, Bradley Hill, Geraint Clarke (all Aber Valley Wolves), Chris True (Cardiff Demons, captain), Dan Crimmins (Cardiff Spartans), Dan Davies, Dan Parry, Darryl Carter, Gareth Way (vice-captain), Ian Newbury, Mike Hurley, Scott Britton (all Valley Cougars), Lewis Stockton (Woolston Rovers), Ryan Bates (Torfaen Tigers). Stand-by: Lee Goddard (Valley Cougars), Dan Henderson (Cardiff Demons).