It was a close scoring game on Saturday for their first home game of the season, going down by a mere four points to defending champions South Grafton Rebels.

“It was a really good game despite the loss,” Roosters first grade captain Matt Field told the Guardian.

“It was a huge effort to go down to the Rebels by just four points.

“Where we are now is a mirror image of where we were last year … we have a stronger outfit this year than last and everyone is starting to come together and play really well together.

“We’ve also had some players with niggling injuries and some have just returned to the club ... so I’m confident things will be a lot more positive for us going forward.”

* The reserve grade side recorded a less than ideal result going down 48-12 in their third match of the season.

“The score didn’t necessarily reflect the game played,” Matt said. “They have a few things to work on, but once they get their combos together and gel more as a team they will start to win more games than they lose.”

* And the under 18s side proved why they are third on the Group 2 ladder with a strong 18-point win over the South Grafton Rebels on Saturday.

“They had a really good win,” Matt said. “They played the entire second half with just 13 blokes – they had no reserves. It was a great effort.”

This weekend the Roosters have the bye, and the following week will see a break across the Group for the beginning of the representative knockout competition.

“The two weeks off for most of the players will be a good chance for our teams to build on fitness, focus on ironing out inconsistencies and hone in on combinations at training,” Matt said.

Five Nambucca Valley players were selected into the 24-man squad, coached by Steve Carter and managed by Scott Meini, to play against the Group 3 side.

Those selected include Roosters players Matt Field and Zac Johnson, and Sea Eagles players Aaron Wood, Sam Miles and Dane Laurie. 

The squad had their first training session in Coffs Harbour last night.