Facing the two games with only half their men, they went down 24 – 6 against the Waratahs in the first round.

“Considering the turnout we had, I was really happy with the way we played. We knew we lost more than half of our side, but we got out and had a run anyway,” he said. 

“Winning or losing wasn’t the issue. It was just about getting out and giving the blokes a bit of a run.” 

A competitive second game saw the Roosters go down 14 – 10 against West Wyalong. 

He said it was the young players who shone through, though he couldn’t single anyone out. 

“They’re a massive bonus for the club. Some of them have just been turning up to training for a while now, so it was good that they got to have a bit of a run before the season starts,” he said. 

With a string of unlucky injuries at the critical end of last year’s season, he says a lot of young players have really stepped up to the plate in the senior side. 

The competition served as a launching point for the Roosters’ season and a chance to check out the rest of the competition. 

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McGoldrick says he’s anticipating an even 2018 season. 

“I think the competition as a whole will be much more even this year. It will certainly make for a few interesting results. 

While withdrawals from Yanco and a forfeit from Leeton made it difficult to gauge the full strength of the competition, McGoldrick anticipates strong from Griffith and Yenda. 

“Both the Waratahs and the Black and Whites put in a pretty good account of themselves over the weekend,” he said. 

“Strong sides from last year will continue to be strong, but we’re still a month out from the competition.” 

At the very least, the weekend has proved to McGoldrick the team can still perform well under pressure. 

“We played the first game with 13 blokes and two of them were under 18. I think it was a fantastic effort from our guys.”

The Group 20 competition will officially kick off on April 15 with a match against Yanco Wamoon.