LEETON Greens coach Clint Halden will use this weekend’s West Wyalong Knockout to determine where his squad is at coming into the season proper.
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The knockout kicks off on Friday night, with the Greens the first match of the tournament.
They will be up against the Junee Diesels from the Group 9 competition.
Halden said he was looking forward to the first hitout and anything after that would be a bonus.
“Obviously we’ll be hoping for a win first up,” Halden said.
“I don’t know a lot about Junee, but I do know they’ve picked up a few handy signings, so they’ll be pretty tough.
“I’m looking forward to seeing our new signings take the field, especially the three from New Zealand.
“I’m really keen to see how Kaleni Fraser will go.
“We’ve also picked up Scott Rutland, who played with the Queanbyan Blues and they won the title last year.
“They are both big front-rowers, so that definitely is a positive for us.
While the Greens will be hoping to win their first game to progress to the next match on Saturday, there is an added incentive, with the competition worth $12,000.
There’s some stiff competition at this year’s event, with teams from Temora, Wagga, Canberra and more taking part.
Halden said he would also use the event to test out some of the junior players.
“Young Josh Fisher and Josh Nikoro will be getting a run to give them a bit of a taste,” he said.
“It will be a good experience for them and will allow me to see where they are at.
“Having the first game of the night is ideal for us. I think if we win, we’re the first game on Saturday night too.”
Halden said the Greens had been coming together well at training.
“It will be good to get a look at how everyone is going and play a bit of footy,” Halden said.
“Our attack and defence is both really good … we’ve been working hard.
“It will be good to put those skills into play.
“Everyone is pretty keen to get on the field and get a bit of a taste for it again.
“Hopefully we can get a win on the board.
“Obviously being a knockout you have to take it one game at a time, but we would like to do well.”
The Greens will play at 6.30pm Friday, with supporters encouraged to attend.
