THE new kids on the block, Rugby Union, meet a regular finals threat, Centennials Bulls, in this Friday evening's first all-Bathurst clash of the Royal Hotel Cup season.
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Rugby are one of two new Bathurst entrants to the Orange-based Twenty20 competition this season and will be keen to make an early statement, while Centennials have made semi-finals in two of the past three seasons.
With a couple of new additions to their lineup this season Rugby might not be feeling too intimidated by their opponents' strong record.
The club welcomes back Jameel Qureshi, has new captain Ryan Peacock at the helm and boast an experienced marquee threat with Marty Jeffrey.
Peacock said the club are excited to make their return to the competition.
"I'm personally really excited for this and I believe all the boys are feeling the same," he said.
"I think we've got quite a dynamic batting lineup. There's a pretty good balance in our bowling attack too, with plenty of spin options with Jameel, Sam Macpherson and Ev Jones."
Jeffrey is an exciting pickup for Rugby, boasting a stack of representative experience including the Plan B Regional Bask competition with the Orana Outlaws.
There's a couple of Cents batting threats Peacock will be keeping tabs on.
"If Blake Aubin fires up he could be a danger batting-wise. Other than that I'm not too familiar with a lot of their team," he said.
"I've played with Tyler Horton in the past and I know that he can also be a danger in these shorter formats."
Rugby will be hopeful of using their heart-stopping Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket opening round win as a springboard for further success in the shorter format.
It's a different story for Centennials who will be hungry to bounce back from their heavy defeat last Saturday.
Captain Kurt Toole said the team will be using that defeat as motivation for this Friday's Twenty20 showdown.
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"It's great to have this back. After that loss last weekend everyone's keen to get out there and try to make amends," he said.
"To be honest, we copping a bit of a flogging but I wouldn't say that the boys got out playing a lot of silly shots. A bit of it was the pitch, but I know the boys want to go out there keen to improve."
Bulls went very close to reach last season's semi-finals with a 2-2 record but their pair of losses to start the competition came back to bite.
They need support throughout the batting order if they want to turn that around.
"It's a different looking side for them this season so I'm not too sure what to expect," Toole said of Rugby.
"I think that for us we're usually looking to Blake Aubin with the bat, as he's one of our most consistent players. He regularly scored in the 50s last season."
Aubin didn't play in the last of those defeats in the 2019-20 cup season.
He scored 53 and 67 in his first two T20 games last season and made a solid start in Saturday's BOIDC opener.
Friday's Wade Park clash starts from 6.30pm.