The Leeton Phantoms will host the Griffith Blacks in round two of the 2022 Southern Inland competition

Leeton came close to picking up a round one victory last week against the CSU Reddies, so they will be hoping they can go one better against Griffith when they play host on Saturday afternoon at No. 1 Oval.

In their return to the first grade competition, the Phantoms have already shown they won't be backing down.

Head coach Quinten Longhurst said there had always been plenty of rivalry between Leeton and Griffith, meaning there was more than points on the line come Saturday afternoon.

"There's always been a lot of rivalry between the two clubs, it's the local derby for us," he said.

"We've got a couple of injuries from last weekend, but we've got a couple of blokes out of isolation, so that's good as it should pick up the slack there.

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"There's plenty we can take out of last weekend's game. Our structure for attack and defence. It dropped off at the end of the game last week and that's what was the difference at the end of the day."

On Tuesday night at training the group worked hard on keeping that structure in defence, with the plan being to do the same on Thursday night when it comes to the attacking side of the game plan.

With the mild autumn weather continuing and wet weather also around, Longhurst wasn't too concerned, saying whatever Mother Nature had planned, the Leeton side would deal with.

"We're really happy with our fitness, it's really, really good," he said.

"If it's a bit warmer, that will play in our favour. As long as we can keep our structure, we'll be fine."

The Griffith Blacks head into the clash with a round one win under their belt after they defeated the Albury Steamers last weekend.

"They'll be flat out ... they will throw everything at us," Longhurst said.

"We've got to be ready for it and play to our pace and not to theirs. I think it's going to be a good battle.

"We're only going into round two, but so far it's looking like a really good competition across the board."

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