CSU showed in round one that they were an improved team when they had a 31-8 win over the Dubbo Rhinos in the Rhinos’ return to the Central West Rugby Union first grade competition after a period of exile in the second tier Graincorp Cup.
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It took them nine games to earn a win of their own, but Rhinos showed via a 13-5 victory over Parkes last weekend that they too might be starting to find their feet once more.
The confidence they would have gained from that victory makes Saturday's clash between the two sides in Dubbo a more enticing one than it might have otherwise been.
For the students, who had a bye last weekend following a big win over the Parkes side themselves, their week off didn't exactly go according to plan.
The two teams they could potentially catch for a spot in the top five, Dubbo 'Roos and Bathurst Bulldogs, had good wins, leaving CSU 12 points shy of fifth.
Holidays and closed fields have meant a lack of training as well.
"It hasn't been a good lead-up for us. We are supposed to train tonight [Thursday] and tomorrow [Friday], but the fields are still closed because of all the rain, so there are concerns there about how match-ready we're going to be," CSU coach Pip McIntosh said.
"I would prefer to meet Rhinos in a free-flowing, dry weather football sort of clash, but that might not happen depending on how their field has held up.
“They are a different proposition at home normally regardless of the conditions.
"I would expect them to be much tougher than they were in round one.
“I've been following their recent form and it is actually quite good. I gave them a big chance against Parkes last weekend and they delivered on that.
"Having said that, I think there are some issues at Parkes at the moment because their second grade side seems to have a lot of players that I thought would easily be a part of their first grade team."
McIntosh says his side will be identical to the one which gave the Boars a touch-up two weeks ago, but that he wants them to focus solely on this match and getting a fourth win for the season rather than harbouring any thoughts of finals rugby.
"Ideally we would love to play semi-final football, but that's not what I want them thinking about,” he said.
“I just want to see us continue to get better and push the good teams further and further.
"We've got a tough part of the draw coming up with games against Orange City, Forbes and Cowra, so we need to take another win into that run."