Peter McDonald Premiership: Macquarie Raiders to host Parkes Spacemen

Patience is the key for the Raiders this year, as the squad comes to grips with new combinations in a vastly-changed team while there's been limited chances to train recently due to ground closures because of rain.

After a loss to Mudgee in round one of the Peter McDonald Premiership, the Raiders produced a strong defensive effort in a 24-6 win at Lithgow last weekend to kickstart their season.

This weekend the intra-pool matches start, meaning the Raiders meet Group 11 rivals Parkes at Apex Oval on Sunday.

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Back-rower Jordan Reynolds is one of the handful of players still in the side from last year and he said staying composed as the side builds towards its best footy is vital.

"We just need to keep our head screwed on properly," he said.

"We've been really good at training and getting good numbers so if that keeps going there's no reason why we won't improve."

Sunday's match shapes as an intriguing contest as there's plenty of confidence in the Parkes Spacemen squad this year.

The Spacemen beat Macquarie in both regular season contests last year while new captain-coach Jack Creith has brought plenty of enthusiasm in 2022 and a number of off-season additions are already making an impact.

Despite some injuries in the Parkes squad, they'll still make the trip to Dubbo with the likes of Creith, Chad Porter, Brandon Tago, former NSW Country representative Will Wardle and a host of youngsters in the backline shaping as attacking threats.

"Parkes is always a good side and always tough. It's going to be a competitive game," Reynolds said, before speaking about his side's defence.

"It's what wins games. Our online defence was unreal at Lithgow. We only let in one try and it was a soft try but that was in the back-end of the game.

"I think we defended about eight sets to start the game and we held them out. If we can continue to take that into the rest of the season we'll definitely be competitive."

Reynolds will start with captain-coach Alex Ronayne in the second-row again on Sunday but much of the rest of the forward pack has changed from last year.

Youngster Maclay Ryan has been promoted to the starting side at prop while Filisione Pauta impressed last week after making the switch from the centres to lock.

Former Wellington pair Colt Ure and Corey Cox were off-season additions while former Dubbo Kangaroos rugby star Johnny Mafiti will start from the bench on Sunday.

"We've got a lot of new fellas," Reynolds said.

"Colt has come back from Wellington and 'Coxy' too. There's some new faces on the bench.

"It's a brand new spine in the middle so we're just getting used to playing together. But it is a strong forward pack this year."

The action starts on Sunday with the league tag at 11am while first grade kicks off at 2.30pm.

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