There's no doubt Cale Oval holds a special place in CSU-Mitchell coach David Conyers' memory.
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In 2019, Conyers' men won a famous grand final against the Narromine Gorillas at the venue within the final minute of the game 30-29, however, this Saturday's match between the two rivals will be slightly different.
The CSU team is vastly different to the one that won the New Holland Cup premiership two years ago and so is the Narromine one, which has plenty of young faces.
"Narromine have obviously lost some of their older, long-term experienced guys," Conyers said.
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"They had quite a young team last time we played them but that was earlier in the year. I reckon a lot of those older guys will be back. I'm really sure they'll have some more experience back on the paddock at home.
"I expect they'll hold the ball a lot better and have a bit more structure then they did last time."
Narromine has won just the one game this season, an 18-7 win against Mudgee Wombats on May 29, the same team CSU-Mitchell defeated on Saturday gone.
CSU-Mitchell has already beaten the Gorillas twice this season; a 19-13 away win in the opening round of the season, before a 32-12 victory back in round six.
Conyers said he's been making sure his players have been working on their handling, an issue that plagued the team in its 29-21 win over Mudgee on Saturday.
"We've spent a lot of time on handling, spending 20 minutes at each session on catching and passing," he said.
"That's something I really focus on and fitness as well. Last week was probably a one-off, where we dropped it a fair bit. Generally we've been pretty sound that way."
Conyers has also had his team working on stringing phases together, a key element to the team's success this season.
"Every time we've connected five plus phases this year, we've pretty much scored every time," he said.
"It's a problem when we go away from that, we tend to get caught up in the middle of the field and drive first before we shift it.
"As we improve, we're getting the phases up each time but there's period of times when we go away from that and that's a bit frustrating."
CSU-Mitchell is currently in second position after 10 points of play in the competition, having won six and losing two from its eight matches.
The club is currently enjoying a 13-point buffer ahead of third-placed Mudgee, with Parkes Boars currently occupying first place.
With the competition now heading into its final third, Conyers knows how important it is for his team to stay focused.
"We're 13 points clear of third place, so that's where it might get negative from some the players, thinking we've got the spot and it doesn't matter if we win or lose," he said.
"I don't want that to happen, because I want us to get better every week."
Kick-off at Cale Oval between the two teams is at 3.15pm.
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