THEY fell one win short of New Era Cup glory last season, so before season 2019 even kicked off the CSU Mungoes were hard at work to give themselves a chance of title success.
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Under new coaches Billy Dickinson and Jacob Watkin, the Mungoes have produced some strong showings in their pre-season fixtures.
Watkin has been pleased with the Mungoes' efforts on the training field and believes that intensity will translate to higher honours. He feels that they can be premiership contenders.
That will be put to the test this Saturday as the Mungoes take on the Orange Barbarians in round one of the New Era Cup at Portland.
Dickinson maintains the Mungoes' culture and family atmosphere are important aspects of CSU's continued success on the field and that the team will feed off that culture through every game in the year ahead.
The club is the new base for hooker Callum Flanagan and playmaker Joseph Coady, who will be a part of the team's spine, along with forward Darcy Abel.
Veterans Oscar Thorburn and Zac Deahm will provide the experience.
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Orange Barbarians coach Ben Gosper knows it will take a committed performance from his men if they are to topple the Mungoes.
"We should go alright, we've been training well for quite a while, and to get this week's win against CSU we need to complete our sets and not lose our focus for the full 80 minutes," he said.
"We're looking forward to watching Brent Kuczynski at fullback, he's been the standout at training, and at the other end big Joe Pugh will lead from the front."
Thornburn is also the CSU Blue league tag coach and he said that the year is looking promising for his Mungals.
They have some new faces on board.
"The Mungals have again recruited well with the new generation coming on board with the best club in the world. The girls are showing depth across all positions and are eager for the season ahead," Thorburn said.
"Look out for Issy Hunt, Jas Lagudi, Annalise Wilson and Bonnie Flannery."
CSU Mungals Yellow coach Phil Tuilau has some talented new recruits too with Georgia Woodhouse and Lilly Degotardi.
Nikki Clift, Miranda Rogers and Kate Rooney are also players to watch.
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Last week they Yellow Mungals ran riot against the Lithgow Bears, winning 40-4.
The Mungals were clinical in both attack and defence, running eight tries as Woodhouse, Rooney, Sarah Evans and Lily Phillips shone.
Meanwhile, new Lithgow Bears coach Blake Collins has his men ready for their first game against Portland. They have extra depth by way of half a dozen former Kandos players.
Action at Portland on Saturday gets underway at 11.45am.
