ROOKIE coach Mick Wakeling is under no illusions about the rescue mission he's been handed at CSU for the Southern Inland Rugby Union season.

Stepping in to replace its coach of the past two seasons, Cannon Banks, the life-long Reddies supporter and evergreen player yesterday declared his club is far from troubled.

Confident in a Reddies revival, Wakeling admits there is a hint of apprehension as he tackles his first foray into the top grade.

"There's a bit of trepidation there, only because it's going to be a much harder job than doing reserves and under 17s," he said yesterday.

"I've been coaching in the zone for close to 15 years with the junior rep teams, the junior Reddies and I've done reserve grade three or four times but never first grade."

Spurred on by his passion for Reddies, Wakeling admits he has his work cut out to compensate the loss of several of the team's biggest stars including forward pack juggernauts David White, Rob McMahon and Sterling Ross.

Despite the exodus, Wakeling insists Reddies have begun a ruthless recruitment drive to replenish the numbers.

"I'm definitely confident we'll get numbers," he said.

"We've been working on a bit of recruiting so we'll see how that goes but we've got plans in place to pick up first-year uni students in bigger quantities than what we've done in the past.

"We've got connections at the RAAF base as well so we're always on the lookout out there."

Reddies have already begun preparing for the SIRU season start on April 13, and Wakeling isn't shy about pinpointing the areas for improvement.

"Get fit," he said.

"We've lost a fair few of our players from last year so there's going to be some younger guys having to step up and fill their boots," he said.

"We started last week with a fairly tough session and then a pool session on Friday.

Reddies will train each week on Wednesdays and Fridays at Beres Ellwood Oval.