Werris Creek co-coach Cody Tickle is on the hunt for trial opponents to better understand how his side will line up for round one of the Group 4 competition.
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The 2021 Magpies look vastly different to their 2019 side with about nine players being lost from the senior squad.
They have picked up a few recruits and it's these players that Tickle and co-coach Tom Brown want to see in action.
Players like Nick Hanrahan who will end a decade-long disconnect with the game of rugby league this year.
The 32-year-old last laced up the boots in 2009. At the time he was playing for Central Charlestown and was also in the Newcastle Knights system.
He was training or playing almost every day of the week, all while working as an apprentice plumber.
"The training got too much for me. I got sick of the training and thought there was more to life than playing footy," Hanrahan said.
The back rower moved to the North West in April last year to be with his partner and eventually found himself down at training for the Magpies.
"A couple of my partner's friends hit me about it and asked if I wanted to come down and have a game," Hanrahan said,
"I thought I'd go down to see what it was like and jumped on board."
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Hanrahan will likely slot into the back row for Werris Creek.
Tickle isn't exactly sure where but likes what he's seen so far.
"He's been training the house down," Tickle said of Hanrahan.
"He hasn't played for about 10 years and I want to see where he slots in the forwards.
"He'll play in the back row - just not sure if we want him on an edge or in the middle."
Tickle was also keen to see where fellow new recruit Jessie Murray will best fit in.
"He looks like an outside back or fullback - he's been training really well," he said.
"Young Jessie is a good addition to the club and I'm really keen to see where he slots in."
The Magpies were scheduled to play a trial last weekend against Uralla but that game was scrapped after the Tigers withdrew from the 2021 Group 19 competition due to a lack of numbers.
Werris Creek will play Kootingal on April 10 but the Magpies are in talks with other clubs to play a trial before then.
The league tag side will play a trial this Sunday at David Taylor Oval.
They will take on Raymond Terrace and Murrurundi in two shortened matches.
Meanwhile, the under 18s side is shaping up nicely but Tickle said
"If there are any under 18s out there get in contact with the club on Facebook," he said.
The Werris Creek Magpies Facebook page can be found here.
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Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
