Interim Head Coach Filo Tiatia has revealed ‘leader’ Ashton Hewitt is now closing in on a playing return after his injury layoff.
Hewitt - who has made 125 appearances and scored 36 tries for the Men of Gwent - has been ruled out since suffering an ACL injury in December last year.
The 30-year-old is currently on the comeback trail from a serious knee injury for the second time in his career and was back in full training this week to the delight of Tiatia.
“Ashton has been awesome, and this week was one of his best training days with the group,” he said.
“We’re really excited about Ashton and he’s building confidence every day, just being in the environment.
“He's one of our leaders, has been outstanding around the community work and he's well connected with the people here.
“He has a lot of care around the younger guys, he looks after them, so I can only speak highly about him.
“The next part is just keep building around his game, because, ultimately, he's a player.”
Tiatia has also confirmed back row Solomone Funaki is making positive progress as he looks to make his club debut after knee issues.
“Solomone is progressing every day,” added Tiatia. “He had a nasty infection in his knee, and it's taken a bit of a toll, but he's quite positive around what he's doing at the moment.
“The S&C coaches are working closely with him and the medical team, and it's just making sure that when he does get an opportunity, that he returns safely.
“He hasn't played for a little while, but we have a clear plan on how we integrate him, but it's based on our medical team saying when that will be.”
We’re really excited about Ashton and he’s building confidence every day, just being in the environment...
