The Whitney Cup premiers have started the season slowly, going down to Newtown in round one, but this round are up against a Macquarie team which has struggles of its own, rebuilding after an off-season which saw them lose a number of key players.

The Blues began well last week but Rugby, led by a century from captain Jordan Moran and 74 from Ben Patterson, managed to get close to 300 and with Patterson leading the charge today they will be backing themselves to perform.

With flat pitches in Dubbo currently favouring batsmen the likes of Jason Green, Kieran Brien and Justin Gavin know if they get themselves in then the runs will come.

Macquarie captain Brien admitted last week his side let Rugby get away but knew with the lightning fast outfield 300 was not as daunting as it seemed.

The skipper said how his side went about facing Patterson would be key, with Rugby light on for seamers with Ben Taylor still recovering from surgery and Dan Horrocks not playing this season.

Adrian Carey is named in the Rugby 12 and his spin could be valuable for Moran while Zac Murphy, Blake Watmore and Mitch Bower can also expect to bowl a number of overs.

While Macquarie will be relying on their three more experienced campaigners they will also need contributions from other batsman with Ed Haylock, Ben Page and Angus Cusack all capable of chipping in and adding some valuable runs to the total.

While the total may seem daunting it sets up an intriguing second day with both sides chasing their first win of the season, for vastly different reasons.

Rugby are again expected to be premiership contenders and they will want a strong win to show the rest of the competition they are still the team to beat while the Blues know a win over one of the competition powerhouses will do the confidence of their younger and less experienced players the world of good.