Hayden Forner has made a fantastic start for the Riverina Kookaburra Cup side when the competition got underway with a 40-over game against Western on Monday.

After the Riverina side won the toss and elected to bat, Jack Glanvill and Ethan Hanrahan got their side off to a strong start with a 34-run partnership before Glanvill (8) was dismissed by Rudy Peet (1/28) which brought Forner to the crease.

Forner and Hanrahan (38) were able to lay the foundation for the Riverina side with a strong partnership which lifted their side past the 100-mark. The pair put on 86 runs for the second wicket before Forner (52) was dismissed after passing the half-century with the fall of the talented keeper seeing Riverina losing 5/10  before Jake Scott (32) and Charlie Hiller (18) added late runs to see Riverina finish their innings on 7/180.

After Western were able to make a strong start with an opening partnership of 53, the introduction of Noah Gaske (2/26) put pressure back on Western as he picked up two quick wickets.

Jordan Rhodes (5/30) bowled well in the middle overs to cause issues and see the Riverina side get the competition underway with a 39-run win.

Day two saw the Kookaburra Cup side down to play two games. After batting first against Central Coast, Forner (24) and Ben Signor (12) contributed to Riverina reaching 5/140. It was a nail-biting finish to the game with the Central Coast side hitting the winning runs with one ball to spare and two wickets in hand.

In the second Twenty20 against Central Northern, the Riverina side were set 124 for victory and thanks to Ben Signor, who score an unbeaten 45 runs off 29 deliveries, they were able to walk away with a seven-wicket win with 3.2 overs remaining.

Meanwhile in the Bradman Cup, the Murrumbidgee representatives for the Riverina had a tough first day with the bat with Kyle Bennett (0) and Jock Yelland (2) falling cheaply while James Roche (7*) and Fergus Cattanach (1*) finished unbeaten.

The Riverina side were able to set an imposing 9/244 after 50 overs with Coby Fitzsimmons (69), Joshua Mills (79) and Blake Walker (33) doing the bulk of the run scoring.

While Western were able to make a good start, Roche (1/35) and Fitzsimmons (4/26) bowled their side back into the game while Catanach (1/15) was able to run out the in from Blake Weymouth (84) before picking up a wicket the next ball to see Riverina come away with a 53-run to start the competition.

In their second game on Riverina took on Newcastle and were sent out into the field after losing the toss. After the openers for the Newcastle side made an opening stand of 77 runs, Yelland was able to make the crucial breakthrough.

Roche (4/18) also had a good second day with the ball as he caused issues for the Newcastle middle order which helped restrict Newcastle to 143.

Riverina were able to pick up their second win of the competition with a seven-wicket win with Kyle Bennett (13) contributing runs in the chase.

Heading into the third day Riverina sitting on top of the table level with Central Coast on eight points.