Last time the two sides met in an April 2 trial game it was Nyngan who dominated on the way to scoring a 24-14 win.

Macquarie coach Chris Cook put the loss down to cheap ball early in the game, something the side endeavored to eliminate ahead of round one on Saturday. 

“I’m hoping that we’ll come out firing and ambush them,” Cook said.

“If we can hang in there for 50 minutes and don’t give away cheap ball we’ll be right.”

Cook said his team – with only five original players from 2016 – is beginning to show promising form and will be competitive in what he predicts to be a tight competition. 

“I’m excited about the ability of some of our players and the speed we’ve got, if we concentrate we should be right,” he said. 

“There’s a couple of outstanding sides from last year that are still really strong, but I believe the other sides have improved.

“As the season goes I think it’ll be pretty close all round.” 

Round one of league tag will kick off at 1.30pm today at Caltex Park.

Westside will take on CYMS in a local derby at Caltex Park from 11am on Sunday, April 30. The Parkes Spacecats will be aiming for a strong start to the season against the Narromine Jets at Parkes, and Forbes will take on Wellington at Forbes.