Peter McDonald Premiership: Nyngan's Corey Cox and Josh Merritt will play against Macquarie for the first time this season

The town's Tigers will be in Dubbo on Sunday for a battle with Macquarie Raiders, a match which will give two players a crack at their former club.

Josh Merritt and Corey Cox both joined Nyngan over the summer after playing for Macquarie last season, with the pair wasting no time settling into their new team.

Two wins from three games is how Nyngan's season currently looks, their only loss coming against Bathurst St Pat's by a single point.

Lining up at second-row this weekend, Cox is very excited to get stuck in against the Raiders.

"It should be a good one, it's the first hit out against the old club so it should be good," he said.

"We've just got to turn up and start well, we need to play the whole 80 minutes.

"We have been dying off in the last 20 minutes of games, we need to get rid of that if we want to beat good teams like Macquarie."

Macquarie is coming off a draw in their last match against Forbes while Nyngan won their match against Parkes 32-28.

One of the Peter McDonald Premiership's (PMP) best attacking sides, Cox believes the Tigers are still building into their season.

"We've got a whole new team out so it has taken us a while to gel together," he said.

"I think the more games we get under our belt at the business end of the season we should be firing."

READ ALSO:

Nyngan captain-coach James Tuitahi has yet to play a game this season but isn't too far away from making his Tigers debut.

But the new Tigers leader and Jacob Neill have previously spoken at length about how positive the club is about their hopes in 2023.

"It's a bit unfortunate for James, hopefully, he isn't too far away," he said.

"But everyone is holding their own and we can only get better which is a positive."

Nyngan had several players represent Group 11 last weekend including star under 18s halfback Fletcher Hunt.

Part of the Tigers' premiership-winning under 18s team from 2022, Hunt is one of several youngsters who has impressed Cox.

"I think that has really opened my eyes up," he said.

"The young talent that is out there is phenomenal, it's crazy.

"You've got young Aidan Bermingham plus Cale Dunn and Fletcher Hunt.

"The club is in really good hands for when those boys get older."

Macquarie will be without Jack Kavanagh and Kane McDermott, with the former still out due to suspension.

Richie Peckham will start at hooker while Filisone Pauta returns to the halves to partner Harry Kempston.

Kick off for Sunday's match is at 2pm.

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: