Armidale Blues co-coach Luke Stephen believes their trial matches against Glen Innes indicated this year's New England Rugby Union competition will excite.
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First and second grade sides from both clubs, as well as the women's sevens teams, played mixed trials in Glen on Saturday.
"You can never really look in too much detail into trial games but I think both clubs will definitely be excited by what they saw on Saturday, with both clubs coming through the day injury free, serious injuries, so everyone on deck for this weekend," Stephen said.
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The trials gave the players the chance to impress their coaches as well as iron out any kinks which they can't afford to have in a shortened season.
"We know in a short comp like this it is going to be the teams who play to their structures and get to that as quickly as possible without the rusty-ness," Stephen said.
"There just isn't any room in this competition to have a slip-up if you want to make the finals."
The Blues will face Robb College on Saturday for round one.
The students have a delayed start to their season so the make-up of their team is relatively unknown.
But Stephen is still bracing for a top-notch outfit.
"What you do know about Robb College, is that they are the two time defending premiers and you know whoever they have on Saturday are going to be quality footballers," he said.
"We have a focus on how we want to play our opposition but we have a much larger focus on us and doing the things we need to do to be successful, especially in this case with the season playing out the way it has."
With the coronavirus pandemic restricting sport, Stephen said players and clubs are grateful they will have the chance to get out on the field.
"Everyone has been excited to get on the field for a while so it is going to be really exciting for all clubs to play some competitive rugby this Saturday," he said.