Rhinos are coming off a 39-19 loss to Mudgee last weekend but Austin admits there are some positives to take away from the game, especially after number eight Tyrone Fleming was red carded inside the first 10 minutes.

"We always knew their scrum was strong and it always is, we thought we would match it but losing Tyrone within the first 10 minutes, he's a big body I mean 130-odd kilos, losing him and a man down in the scrum was always going to be a battle," he said.

"I thought we held them really well on our line and they kept re-packing and packing and packing and we sorta held them off and they had to go wide.

"Everyone was really positive on Saturday night at the pub and we've had big numbers at training."

READ ALSO:

Austin admits the Rhinos may be lacking in the forwards now but is confident come the later rounds they will be where they need to be.

"We are sort of behind the eight ball a little bit and having the bye first round but we are pretty confident the scrum and the little things like that will be firing," he said.

CSU are coming off the bye in round two and Austin had nothing but praise for the students.

"We know they are going to be fast, fit and young so I think a lot of sides seem to get a false sense of hope that they are going to win through the forwards and that's not the case with CSU, they have quite a good forward pack and they have quite a big pack." he said.

"Jonah Ruzgas the second-rower he is really good. He won a comp with them two years ago then went to Parkes and won a comp last year so blokes like that are quality and they have a few big boppers in the front row as well so they will good.

"We are expecting them to be better than Mudgee. They beat in Narromine in Narromine two weeks ago and no one really goes to Narromine and beats them.

"Dave Conyers is coaching them and he is quality, he got them to the grand final two years ago."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: