New Holland Agriculture Cup: CSU plays host to Parkes Boars in battle of unbeaten sides

The Parkes native has jumped back across from his home town team to the CSU fold again this season - following this year's easing of COVID restrictions - having achieved the rare feat of back-to-back premierships with different clubs.

Those two teams, who are undefeated in 2021 so far, go head-to-head on Saturday at 'The Zoo' for a bumper day of football that will also act as the club's Old Mitchell Day celebrations.

Ruzgas has created a swath of great memories across his time with both teams and hopes there's more to be made this weekend, where he expects nothing short of a magical atmosphere at University Oval.

"It's going to be very exciting playing against some of my best mates and blokes I looked up to growing up," he said.

"Going back and winning a comp there last year was a great feeling. It was the first time they'd won a first grade competition in nine years so everyone there will be hyped to come back to try and do it again.

"I have to put personal relationships aside and try and put my best foot forward to get the win this weekend.

"It's our 50^th anniversary celebrations so I'm expecting hundreds of old boys to be there cheering us on."

When CSU opened their on-campus classes back up Ruzgas said it was an "easy decision" to come back to the team he won a memorable 2019 title with.

"There's only a handful of guys left from that premiership team but we've got a great foundation. There's plenty of new faces in the forward pack," he said.

"Over the first two rounds we've played some good footy and hopefully we can continue that for the rest of the season."

No-one in the CSU ranks knows the inner workings of Parkes' side better than Ruzgas.

But even with such knowledge Ruzgas knows his side will need to lift from last week's scrappy win over Rhinos if they're going to threaten the Boars.

"Last week against Rhinos we didn't play our best footy but we found a way to win, and that's important early in the season. It's two away wins to start the season for us too, so it's great to see that we're travelling well," he said.

"Parkes have mostly got the same players but they've picked up some very good imports, like Luke Hitchcock, who's a winger that's very quick and runs the ball hard.

"The major threat for them will be Luke Bevan. It's a weirder approach here in Australia, but he plays a very Northern Hemisphere-style of football where he kicks long and kicks often to try and get the big fellas turning around and get them tired. That's when they'll execute."

CSU's had to fight hard for their 19-13 and 22-19 wins over Narromine and Rhinos respectively to start the new season but the pair of close games have given the side confidence.

Parkes come into the match having accounted for Mudgee Wombats 36-32 in a thrilling opening round clash and Narromine Gorillas 47-7 last Saturday.

Kick-off will be at 3.15pm, following the ladies and second grade clashes against the Boars.

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