He masterminded the Magpies' tremendous charge to the 2018 Group 11 crown and was part of the coaching staff that helped the swoopers snap a title drought that spanned 29 years with that memorable grand final win in 2016, too.

Both of those glories came on the back of a fourth place finish after the regular season - their finals form was irresistible.

So it'll come as no shock that Greenhalgh isn't hitting the panic button after a round one loss to Nyngan on Sunday, the 20-10 defeat not ideal, sure, but the Forbes mentor is adamant there's "more than enough talent" in the Magpies' squad to turn it all around.

"That's right, and another pleasing thing out of the game was our defence," Greenhalgh said on Sunday.

RELATED:

- 'I'm a sucker for it': Carney falls back in love with country footy at Nyngan

- AT THE END OF THE DAY | Hop to it, Wayne: Brave Bunnies need a hand

- Dubbo's latest Australian representative proud to be playing for her new home

"And that's what we prided ourselves on last year, too. We did so much of it last year and we were good towards the end of the season because of that, and we've started (well defensively) this year too.

"But too much defence won't win games, it saps too much from your attack.

"The boys are down and haven't lost for a while ... but we'll take it all on board. It's just errors, there were too many of them."

Greenhalgh says ball handling will be addressed this week ahead of the club's first road trip of the season against Macquarie at Apex Oval.

Brydon Ramien - the brother of Newcastle Knights centre Jesse - also made his debut with the Magpies on Sunday and will provide the black and whites with plenty of size and speed out wide.

Jake Haddrill, the man named to replace now retired title-winning skipper Jake Grace at lock, picked up a shoulder injury against Nyngan and had to leave the field in the first half.

Prop Tim Dukes also hobbled from the field against the Tigers.

Throw those hits in alongside the absences of Brad McMillan (broken foot, June long weekend), Richard Fui (broken arm, round five), Josh Toole (broken hand, round three) and Tongia Fox (suspension, round five) and it's clear Forbes' depth is being tested from the outset.

"We had a couple of new guys in there at the moment, a few injury concerns and that's no excuse. We just played into Nyngan's game a bit and I didn't want to play it that way, but we got sucked in through fatigue," Greenhalgh said.

"There's enough talent in that squad to win that game."

The Magpies play Macquarie in round two at Dubbo on Sunday.