WHILE the Blowes Clothing Cup season couldn't have started any better for the Cowra Eagles, captain Adam Meiklejohn believes the first real test will come this weekend.
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Following comprehensive wins against CSU Bathurst and new additions Mudgee Wombats in the opening rounds, Cowra face a challenging month ahead where they tackle Narromine Gorillas on Saturday at home before facing the heavyweights of the competition.
"It's been a great start to the season," Meiklejohn said.
"Our goal was to win the first two games before Easter, which we have done and now we have a tough month ahead as we play some of the powerhouse teams.
"Winning the first two games by 50 points was great, however, we now need to forget those games. CSU and Mudgee didn't really test us for 80 minutes and we only implemented our game plan for the first 30 minutes of each game as we were the dominant side.
"Against Narromine we will have to play well for the entire game and not drift away from our structure.
"Defensively we have been great - our team defence from 1 to 15 has been very solid. However, our discipline around the ruck and our penalty counts in the first two games were too high."
Narromine's narrow loss to Dubbo Kangaroos, who brought Orange City's two-year winning streak to an end, together with a 41-10 win over Forbes that inflicted a pre-season defeat on the Eagles, has the Gorillas primed for a much better season than 2013 produced.
"Narromine are a lot better side than they were last year. They lost to Dubbo in round 1 by six points and we know what Dubbo did to Orange City in round 2," Meiklejohn said.
"Our approach this weekend is to improve our ball retention, reduce the number of penalties we give away and work on sticking to our game plan.
"It's a great test to see how we are really travelling as a team in this competition."
Meiklejohn expects Cowra's newly formed combinations throughout the side to be put to the sword.
Against a tough, physical team, the pack will feel the brunt of that pressure.
"Our new combinations are coming along very well. Our backs are scoring some fantastic tries out wide and they are full of confidence with the ball in hand," the skipper said.
"Our forward pack is beginning to gel well with a few new faces in the engine room. Narromine will be big test for the boys in 1 to 8 jumpers as Narromine have a big mobile pack.
"If we can dominate their forwards our backs should see plenty of ball and hopefully score lots of points."
Saturday is Family Day at the Eagle's nest featuring face painting and a jumping castle.
"Bring the kids along. There will be heaps of lollies - just what they need after Easter," Meiklejohn laughed.