St Pat's are fresh off a win against local rivals Bathurst City last Sunday in a catch up game, following a defeat to Lithgow Panthers on the Saturday.

A win against Parkes in round six action could see the Bathurst club jump to second place on the ladder, depending on other results and while Weal said his team is looking forward to the trip to Parkes, he's wary the threat the host's pose especially when he comes to youth and speed.

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"We're confident we can do the job up at Parkes, being a really nice surface to play on," he said.

"Our girls tend to like this trip, as they look forward to it each year. Hopefully we can get a good result but it'll be a tough match.

"They're a young, fast team. They did catch us out a bit last year, as they had not been in the comp for a couple of years. We ended up having a 1-all draw with them in a game where we were caught a bit surprised by the speed and intensity from a team that hadn't played for a few years.

"We obviously know a lot more about them, so I don't think we'll go in as under prepared as last time."

Parkes is sitting in sixth position on the competition ladder after five rounds, having claimed two wins from three matches, with St Pat's just two points ahead of them in third, with the Bathurst club on 10 points alongside local rivals Souths and CYMS.

With Parkes having plenty of speed, Weal has some tactics in mind to nullifying the threat of the hosts.

"They'll put more pressure on our defence, so I reckon they'll do that by pressing hard on our defence," he said.

"We've spoken about our midfield maybe stepping up and getting the ball a bit more. If we do that and nullify that pressure, then hopefully that pressure will fall away.

"We'll sort of change to a bit of a different defending position to counter that too. As we go, we might change back to our normal style."

Weal believes the 14 players he'll be taking to Parkes are the best available players.

"We're taking 14 up there, but they're 14 quality players," he said.

"I'm confident in our ability. We've got a strong squad and the 14 players that have been picked are very capable."

Play between St Pat's and Parkes will get underway on Saturday from the Parkes Hockey Complex at 1.30pm.

The St Pat's men team is not in action this weekend.

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