Lacing up the boots for the Inverell juniors, incidentally in the same side as Reds fullback Jock Campbell, Newsome would annually make the trip west to participate in the Narrabri carnival.

On Friday night the Glen Innes native was back there in the very jersey he was aspiring to wear, with the Waratahs playing the Reds in a pre-season trial as part of the Santos Festival of Rugby.

In what was an encouraging start for the NSW side they prevailed 45-33 over Jock Campbell's Reds in a see-sawing and entertaining tussle, to claim the inaugural Santos Cup.

Now in his fourth season with the Waratahs, Newsome's connection to his country roots remains strong and he said it was great to be able to bring a Super Rugby level game to the area and "give back to the rugby community".

READ ALSO:

"It's special for me being from Glen Innes, so only a couple of hours from home, so a lot of family and friends in the crowd, which makes it nice," he said.

They had plenty to cheer about with not only the Waratahs getting the win but Newsome getting across for a try.

In what was one of the Waratahs' best passages of play, the 26-year old, having pushed out to wing after starting at outside centre, finished off a nice set play move to put them up 31-19 with five minutes to play in the third quarter.

"It's nice when the boys inside me can put it on a platter like that," he said.

It showed what they are capable of producing, with some quick hands opening up the space for him for an easy run to the line.

"The game wasn't perfect but I thought we showed glimpses of what we've been practising in training over the last couple of months so exciting to build on that moving forward," Newsome said.

He said the win was good reward for the hard slog of the last-two-and-a-half months in pre-season.

The result was also a timely confidence boost given that they are due to play the Reds in a fortnight in their season opener, although the Queensland outfit were missing a handful of their frontline stars - Gunnedah product Harry Wilson among them.

As the Waratahs were, albeit not to the same extent.

Last season was a significant one in Newsome's time with the organisation. He stepped into a leadership role for the first time, assuming the vice-captaincy for the Super Rugby AU competition.

Looking ahead to this season, his focus is really on the team.

"My first couple of years here we had a really experienced crew, a lot of Wallabies, and this year we've got a bit of a new era moving in, so I'm just hungry to have some team success and aiming to win this Super Rugby AU title with the Waratahs," he said.