Newington first XV coach Tim Rapp believes his side’s trial form has been strong enough to suggest that they’ll be right in the mix when the GPS season kicks off on June 18.

Newington held Scots to a 21-21 draw in their opening match of the preseason, beat ISA powerhouse St Augustine’s 48-7 and fell just short against Kings and CAS schools Knox and Waverley in recent weeks.

“We were happy with the way the trial period went,” Rapp told Rugby News.

“We’ve got a handful of returning players from last year’s group. It’s great that those year 11 guys from last year that didn’t get to play a lot of footy now get a chance in year 12. They’re all really excited to play a full season.

“The draw against Scots was a really pleasing performance. Both sides had a genuine crack and you could see how keen all the boys were to be playing rugby again.

“We’ve got some good depth this year, particularly in our backline, so that’s created a really competitive environment at training and through this trial period, which will only help once we reach the start of the season.”

Rapp said his coaching staff has been encouraging all players to move the ball this year, regardless of the number on the back of their jersey.

“We’ll always try to play plenty of rugby at Newington. We want to stick to the strengths of our group and I think the fitness levels of the boys is really strong after the last few years. We’ve had a focus on playing faster and moving the ball well and our fitness levels allow us to do that.

“We want to move the ball around and make the most of all of our attacking threats, whether that be running with the ball in hand, passing or kicking.

“We also want to encourage our bigger bodies to move their feet and to pass the ball, it’s not just about trucking it forward and recycling.”

The former Waratahs mentor said it was hard to predict what to expect from the season ahead based on trial form so far.

“We’ve played four trials now and I think what we’re seeing across all the games is that every team is a chance every week.

“The scores each week are flip flopping around and I don’t think any side has put their hand up as the number one side or the team to beat just yet.”

Newington fell just short against Kings in their final trial last weekend and have turned their attention to their round one fixture against Scots at Bellevue Hill on June 18.

“We had a few boys away with CIS Rugby League so that allowed us to test our depth.

“Over the trials, I think we’ve been able to give the whole squad a really good crack and I’ve been really pleased with the efforts of not just our first XV but also our second XV, they’ve been very good and won some tight games of late.”