STEVE Hicks is delighted that he was persuaded to return to Down Grange – and he believes that Basingstoke still have a chance to win promotion from London One South.

The 29-year-old came through the ranks at ’Stoke but had drifted away from the club in recent years. However, Hicks was one of several former players approached by head coach James Croker when he took over last summer and the flanker has not looked back since, becoming a mainstay in the team.

“I’m really glad I decided to come back,” Hicks said. “The spirit is very good and I’m really enjoying my rugby.

“James approached a few of the older guys who had drifted away and did really well to get quite a few of us back interested. He didn’t say anything in particular, he just invited me to pre-season training to see how he was doing things.

“There was a really good vibe down there so I decided to give it a go and he is doing a very good job.”

Since returning to the club, Hicks has made the number six jersey his own, putting in a string of stellar performances and surprising even himself.

“Personally, it’s going really well,” he added. “I did not expect to play every game because we are quite strong in the back row.

“It’s been good and I think the main thing I bring to the side is a bit of experience. I’m a bit older than the other lads and I tend to keep things tight, which allows them to run around and make the breaks.”

It’s been an impressive season all round – with ’Stoke still battling to secure a place in the top two. Some poor results in the autumn mean they will probably need to win all of their remaining games to achieve this goal – but Hicks thinks that is a possibility.

“We have played well and I still think we are in with a chance of promotion,” he said. “We just have to keep winning and hope results go our way.

“We probably do need to win all our remaining games to get into the top two. That is certainly the aim and we need as many bonus points as we can get but I think that is possible.

“We are not worried about playing anyone. We feel like we can beat anyone and we showed that we are capable down at Chichester, just getting pegged back late on.”

Basingstoke’s next game sees them travel to Kent for a match against Sidcup on Saturday. Sidcup were one of the teams who beat ’Stoke during their sticky period in the autumn, winning 22-21 at Down Grange, so payback is long overdue.

“We will be out for revenge when we go down there,” Hicks said. “We are looking forward to playing them because of what happened in the last game.

“That game showed the best and worst of us. For the first half we were really good but we probably thought the game was won. That showed a bit of our immaturity because we went out and lost it in the second half but we are determined not to make the same mistake again.”