It's a case of more of the same for the Macquarie Raiders this weekend as they aim to down Parkes and build momentum and confidence ahead of two bumper Group 11 fixtures.
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The Raiders welcome the Spacemen to Apex Oval on Sunday and while captain-coach Alex Ronayne said he won't "be cocky" about his side's chances he also knows two massive games are on the horizon.
Following Sunday's match there is a general bye for the long weekend before the Raiders round out the first half of the regular season with games against 2019 premiers Wellington and current competition leaders CYMS.
Ronayne's Raiders are still a long way from the finished product but the focus for the captain-coach remains on improvement in all areas week-to-week as they work their way into the season.
"Hopefully we can complete a bit more this week and build into the next two weeks and big games against Wello and CYMS," he said.
"We're nowhere near as good as we need to be at the moment and they're two big games so we've got to build and be around their standard."
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He might feel his side still has a lot to do but the early signs are good for the Raiders as they're yet to taste defeat this season.
The side sits second on the ladder behind the unbeaten CYMS after three wins from as many games, the most recent of those a 32-16 result against Forbes last weekend.
The defensive effort and fitness levels within the squad were again positives as the Magpies had long periods of sustained possession in that match.
The win was also pleasing given representative forwards Oliver Gordon and Nick Harvey as well as halfback Matt Toole were all unavailable.
The former two will be back on deck against Parkes but Toole remains out with an ankle complaint.
"Big Nick and big Ollie are big bodies and they give good go-forward and I think we missed that last weekend," Ronayne said.
"It will be good to get them out there and going forward."
Harvey and Gordon have been named on the bench alongside debutant Blake Merritt.
Merritt is the latest under 18s player to be given a chance in the top grade after Aston Warwick and Dalin Smith made their debuts the past two rounds.
Maclay Ryan, who captained the Raiders under 18s last season, has also developed into a regular early in the season in the front-row and Ronayne has been delighted to see the youngsters take the chance in front of them.
"Those young boys have come in and done a great job," he said.
The only question mark over the Raiders heading into the match is over Ronayne's availability.
The back-rower suffered a quad injury last weekend and it was still an issue at training on Thursday night but the Western Rams captain expects to line up against Parkes.
The Spacemen head into the match with just one win to their name so far and were beaten 54-40 in a hugely entertaining match against Nyngan last weekend.
Kick-off is 2.30pm at Apex Oval.
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