The Dubbo Rhinos have enjoyed a wonderful start to their season but they aren't getting carried away just yet.
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The Rhinos will travel across to Narromine on Saturday to take on the Gorillas in round four of the New Holland Cup competition and will be looking to bounce back in a big way.
Playing against Parkes on the road back in round three, the Rhinos started slow and were ultimately outplayed by the hosts who came away with a 27-17 win.
Dubbo Rhinos' Nash Forgione is confident the side will be able to bounce back on Saturday when they face Narromine for the first time this year.
"We had a pretty loss at Parkes, they ran away 24-0 early and we were pretty devastated," he said.
"We had a good training run on Tuesday and we are pretty excited to get back out there on Saturday."
As well as being the Rhinos' key outside back, Forgione has stepped up into the captaincy role after Matt Graham went down injured back in round two.
"Me and 'Grimace' (Graham) have been sharing it a bit over the last year but now he is out with injury I'm stepping up," he said.
"There's a bit more pressure on me but I think if I lead by example then the boys will follow.
"We are all pretty much on the same page this year so it should be a good year."
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While he has only been in the club for a little over a year, the Rhinos said there has been a good shift in confidence for the group.
"When I first came here last year I didn't really know much about the club and the boys didn't win too many games," he said.
"From where we were at the start of last year to where we are now, the boys know we can be competitive, win games and really give this competition a shake-up this year."
Much has been made of the Rhinos' young core who are developing into exceptional first graders but Forgione has also loved playing alongside Api Lomani this season.
The two have formed a strong partnership playing fly-half and inside centre through the first three rounds but know Lomani will move into scrum-half for Saturday's match while Forgione will play in the number 10 role.
"Api is a really good player, he's brought a lot to the club with a lot more attacking spark," he said.
"He moves to nine this weekend, I'm shifting back to (number) 10 and Kaiden Hill is going to play inside centre in his last game before he moves to Sydney."
After playing fly-half for the majority of 2021, Forgione is no stranger to the position but admitted he has enjoyed playing the centres so far this season.
"I think I probably prefer 12 a bit more, there is a bit less pressure on me to run the show," he said.
"But wherever Doug (Sandry) wants me to play I will."
The Gorillas have played just the one game so far this season, which came back in round one when Mudgee defeated them 26-8 while their match against Parkes was washed out a week later.
Kick-off is at 3:15pm.
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