The Wauchope Blues arrived lighter than expected, player wise, at David Taylor Park on Saturday, March 16, resulting in the planned reserve-grade clash being scrapped.

Instead, two matches were played. Each one was 40 minutes in duration, with Werris Creek swapping teams at the end of the first contest.

The home side, who were playing their opening trial of the pre-season, only fielded four top-graders and two top-graders in the first and second clash, respectively, Magpies coach Rocky Stewart said.

Werris Creek won the opening game 10-0, while Wauchope triumphed 26-6 in the second encounter.

The Magpies will have a proper hitout when they travel to Newcastle to take on the Cardiff Cobras on Saturday, March 23. It will be the third straight year that the clubs have met in a trial.

Stewart said the Wauchope clash was "basically about giving the new guys at the club a bit of a run".

"As you probably noticed, there wasn't many first-graders out there," he said. "But we got what we wanted, and seen what we wanted to see."

Stewart plans to take a 20-man first-grade squad to Newcastle to take on Cardiff, a second division A-grade outfit who are yet to beat the Magpies.

"They'll be out for revenge, so we've gotta be on our toes," he said.

Werris Creek's pre-season had been enormous, Stewart added, with 57 players signed up across first grade and reserve grade.

"We started before Christmas and we've been training three nights a week," he said. "And to the credit of the players, they've all bought in to the system."