Dubbo CYMS under 21s will take on Castlereagh and Nyngan in round two of the Western competition

CYMS started their premiership defence last week at Cargo, taking on Woodbridge and Bathurst St Pat's but came away with only a single win against the former.

The Fishies will be back in action on Sunday at Dunedoo when the club hosts all six competition teams.

Without the large majority of their successful 2022 squad, CYMS look a lot different this season with several players stepping up fresh out of the Tom Nelson Under 18s division.

One of those players is Rory Madden, someone who is eager to see his side build into their season.

"We need to, it was a bit of a tough start last weekend," he said.

"We only played the two games but got pumped by Bathurst. We are only a young side though so we still building confidence slowly.

"It was a bit of a slow start and sloppy but as we progressed we got better so it was a good hit out."

Coached by Shawn Townsend, CYMS were outplayed during their match against St Pat's but managed to score a close win over Woodbridge.

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For Madden, last weekend was a massive step in the youngster's development after also playing in the club's West Wyalong side.

"It is a big step up but playing in the West Wyalong knockout on Friday and Saturday against grown men was a good experience," he said.

"It gave me a bit of confidence heading into the first round of the 21s, we just need to keep getting better."

Only a handful of CYMS' side have played in the Western 21s before but Madden admitted the side have still played a fair bit of footy together.

"All of the 18s side from last year, Jordi (Madden) and Sully Haycock along with those boys are too old now," he said.

"We've got one 21-year-old but the rest are only 18 to 20 years old. We've played a fair bit of junior footy together and stuff in the 18s."

Playing Castlereagh and Nyngan on Sunday at Dunedoo, Madden is sure things won't get any easier for CYMS against two physical outfits.

"Castlereagh will be strong, they are all country boys in that Group 14 competition," he said.

"They will be coming out to kill us but Nyngan is a mixture this year. They've got boys from Parkes, a few from Macquarie and blokes from Nyngan.

"We are going up against a side full of 21-year-olds so we will see how we go."

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