Dubbo Roos looking for redemption against tough Forbes forward pack

The locals had their undefeated streak snapped by the Orange Emus on the road last weekend, but are ready and eager to rally against Forbes this weekend.

"The mood's great around the club at the moment, to be honest," McHugh said.

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"We've probably trained the best we've trained all year on Tuesday, it was definitely a disappointing result, but we're looking forward to being back in Dubbo this weekend."

While the bruising loss against the Emus might have served as a wake-up call for some of the club's younger, fresher faces, McHugh says the new talent has taken it all in stride and redoubled their efforts.

"They didn't really care about losing, obviously they're disappointed, but they fronted up there on Tuesday and know the job we all have to do and they're keen for the challenge," McHugh said.

"We didn't quite show our hand last time out, which is unfortunate, but everybody knows what we're capable of what what we're working on, it all worked really on Tuesday and it's been successful in the first few games."

While Forbes is also coming off a loss, McHugh acknowledged the Platypi are always a tough out for any team.

"It's been a great rivalry, I think the last few years they've been the blokes that have knocked us off, but you love beating Jarrod Hall and that forward pack whenever you can get them," McHugh said.

McHugh expects the up-front, physical challenge of Forbes' forwards to be the key again this weekend, singling out Hall and Charlie French as threats that will need to be dealt with to get back on the winning track.

"They've also got a bloke by the name of Josh Peffer, he's come across from the Molong Magpies where he was one of the best players year in and out, he's one of the best backrowers in the zone at the moment," McHugh said.

"If we can handle their forward pack, we're very confident that our backs will be able to use the ball control wisely."

The scrum was a stage of the game that cost Dubbo last time out, with the Emus' power helping them to their first points on the scoreboard and it'll be a tough test to match Forbes this weekend, but McHugh sees it as key to starting strong on Saturday.

"But it's all going to come down to that scrum time, they're usually very dominant with their boys at the front in those moments, if we can counteract that and have some dominance there, that'll go a long way to putting us in the front."

The Dubbo Kangaroos will meet the Forbes Platypi at 3.15pm on Saturday at Apex Oval.