The NYC Thunderbolts will travel to Belmore for their final trial match full of confidence after last week’s promising Sunshine Coast debut.
Storm’s Under-20s side got the better of a more-experienced Easts Tigers outfit and put up a strong performance against the Falcons during two 40-minute hit-outs last Saturday.
The promising signs are just reward following a tough pre-season as the side prepares to kick off their 2016 campaign against the Dragons on March 6 at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
Before that though, the Thunderbolts will travel to Belmore this weekend to play in the curtain raiser to the NRL trial between Storm and the Bulldogs.
It will be the side's first trip south this year and they will do so looking to improve on what has been an exciting pre-season.
“I know that they are buzzing after last weekend,” NYC Operations Manager Craig Ingebrigtsen said.
“The boys have come back to training and you can sense there is a buzz around that group now. There is a bit of belief, they went out, they played men and they did a really good job.
“This weekend is a test against an NYC team that will be pretty close to full strength, it will give them a real gauge of where they are.”
“The excitement level is great. Up here the community is getting behind them already, the players are really excited with Round 1 not far away so it is really good.”
With just over two weeks until Round 1, Ingebrigtsen was clear where the side will be focusing on fine-tuning its preparations.
“It is all about our defence and resilience on our try line,” he said.
“I know Eric is working really hard to put some programs together on that. I just know that they are going down there with a real mindset of defending well this weekend.”
The Thunderbolts will kick off this weekend’s trial at 12.30pm with Storm taking on the Bulldogs at 5.30pm.
