THE Basingstoke Bison open their Autumn Cup campaign this weekend, looking to silence the bark of the Sheffield Steeldogs.

The home game is on Saturday (6.30pm) with the return in Sheffield on Sunday (5.30pm).

The Herd were beaten semi-finalists in this competition last season and beat the Sheffield in the group stage, on their way to the final four.

Sheffield have made only two changes to their line-up from last season, but the Bison have a brand new look to them with 14 new faces, including imports Michal Klejna and Richard Bordowki.

The Steeldogs have an impressive 100 per cent record from their first four league games, while the Herd lost both their pre-season outings last weekend.

However, despite the losses Bison player/coach Ashley Tait remains upbeat and said: “We have only had a couple practices as team and there was plenty of positives to take from the weekend, even if the results were not want we wanted.

“I saw things we needed to work on, but the attitude and work rate of players was what I wanted to see. “