COWRA Eagles face off against CSU Bathurst in the opening round of the Blowes Clothing Cup on Saturday in Cowra.
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With an extensive pre-season done and dusted, Cowra skipper Adam Meiklejohn is keen to get the season proper underway.
"In general, we are excited and nervous," Meiklejohn said.
"We have been training for a long time now and we really can't wait to play. There are some nerves there and, given the success of last year, I suppose there are expectations on the team do be very successful this year."
While Cowra, last year's big improvers, have long-term plans of being in the mix come the business end of the season, Meiklejohn concedes a repeat performance in such a strong competition is going to be a hard task.
"The immediate aim is to win our first two games before the Easter break and have the week off to reassess how we are travelling," he said.
"To replicate last year is going to be tough. I do believe we have the ability in the squad to be semi-finalists, however, September is a long way away.
"The focus is to be consistent and build on our performances week after week and to maintain a squad of 25 to 30 at training each week. If we do this then September will look after its self."
Tackling the students first up is no easy proposition either, especially considering the change to their coaching ranks in 2014.
Former Scottish international James McLaren has taken over the reins and Mieklejohn believes this will add starch to an already challenging unit.
"He made 30 Test appearances for Scotland between 1999 and 2003 and finished his representative career playing in all four of Scotland's pool games in the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup," Meiklejohn said.
"He will bring a wealth of rugby knowledge to the students this year.
"I believe their defence will be much improved from last year and they will play with more structure under their new coach.
"Although their combinations won't be set we haven't had much of a chance to test ours either. So both sides may still be finding their feet in the first half with the ball in hand.
"I believe defence, attitude and commitment to work off the ball will be what decides the season opener."
With that in mind, the Eagles will concentrate on the simple things to get the season started.
"I'd like to see our defence across the whole park be the standout for the day," the skipper added.
"We need to get in their face to unsettle them and also communicate with each other. By shutting them down we can then dictate our game plan and play down in their half of the field.
"Secondly our attitude needs to very positive and focused. At times last year our heads weren't in the game and it showed which allowed the opposition back into the game."
COWRA EAGLES FIRST GRADE: 1. Martin Gately 2. Conor Lamond 3. Chris Meyers 4. Sam McNaught 5. Gordon Refshauge 6. Chris Miller 7. Adam Meiklejohn (c) 8. Klaas Jan Hoogland 9. Jimmy Montgomery 10. Jack Parsons 11. Lachlan Charlton 12. Julian Larsen 13. Troy Jeffs 14. Aaron Denzel 15. Sam Norris
COWRA EAGLES SECOND GRADE: 1. Brad Healy 2. Tom Lamond 3. Jarrod Mason 4. Jarrod Tindall 5. Luke Byrnes 6. Luke Watt 7. Angus Goodacre 8. Col Kilby 9. Will Turner 10. James Leslie 11. James Irwin 12. Jackson Moodie 13. Tom Bischof 14. Alex Daley 15. Christian Cullen
COWRA EAGLES COLTS: 1. Cameron Gallop 2. Braydan Farrell-Gray 3. Ethan Cartwright 4. Matt Bryant 5. Brady Michael 6. Scott Higginbotham 7. Luke Turner 8. Dominic Ashe 9. Dean Morley 10. Tyrone Williams 11. Ben Eisenhauer 12. Sean Mortyne 13. Karl Thompson 14. Finlay Rowston 15. Trevor Fosdyke