Joe gets captain's job

And the scrum half star is confident that coach Andre Bester will propel the Clifton Lane club back to the top end of the Championship.

Twenty-six-year-old Bedford was handed the skipper’s role yesterday following his return to the club from Leeds Carnegie. He had previously been a key man with Titans before his three-season Premiership stint and jumped at the chance to return to South Yorkshire, when Bedford is also part of the Titans Community Foundation management team.

He said: “It’s a massive honour for me to be captain of Rotherham."

Bester was pleased with the performance of the two sides put out in separate games at Macclesfield on Saturday, Titans eventually winning both after a good workout.

Now the club will stage a Probables v Possibles shoototut at Herringthorpe Stadium tomorrow (2pm) which will help Bester finalise his starting XV for next week’s final friendly at Newcastle Falcons.