Rhinos focused on positive progress on and off field

"It's definitely tough, you're right about that, but right now things are going well, there's a lot of positive take-away, but right now we're feeling good, we've got a really young, forward pack that keeps getting better and they'll grow together for a while, we're got a great young halfback, some great young centres," Neill said.

Growth has been on the club's mind for the past year, after a winless season marred by disciplinary issues and other blows.

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While the club still hasn't secured points out on the field, after running close against CSU in the opening round and taking some bonus points away following a later CSU forfeit, Neill sees a lot on the horizon ahead of a match-up with one of the competition's best teams in Narromine.

"We're looking forward to going up against them again, it's always fun playing them and we're two sides that really get along," Neill said.

"Right now, we're just staying positive about all the things that are getting better every week, we can keep moving forward, keep taking that forward next year and keep adding to what we've got."

A change in the culture throughout the club's first grade roster is one of the biggest factors helping them improve.

"I think we definitely benefited from the clean out at the end of last year, we had a few guys that we we felt were holding us back and we just had to make sure we were working with the right people," Neill said.

"We've really prioritised the way we conduct ourselves this year, we need to be a club that appeals to people and make sure that people want to join with us, we've been conducting ourselves like adults rather than kids this year and we've been showing respect to everyone that makes it all possible, the refs, the coaches and even the opposition."

"We've done a lot better this year all the way throughout, and next year, the year after that, we'll keep on having more and more success, at the moment everyone's really enjoying it."

Among the culture change boosting the club is the friendships between the players, with forwards Jesse Redenbach and Ethan Creasy standing out as two figures helping the club improve on and off field.

"They're both really young and they're really close, good mates, that healthy competition between them has really helped keep everyone motivated and I think they'll be a big motivator and really push each other forward on Saturday," Neill said.

"I definitely think they'll end up getting really strong through that and I think it'll probably push everyone else just as much."

The first grade side heads into the weekend's clash with Narromine short their usual loosehead prop, who is out for the remainder of the season, but Neill is expecting everyone to step up in response.

The game starts at 3.15 on Saturday at Apex Oval.