The A-grade Rhinos were held to a three wicket loss away against Cobram last week, moving to one win and one loss for the season so far.
Meanwhile, the Rhinos’ B-grade side are unbeaten after two matches, winning by 10 wickets last Saturday against Tocumwal.
This week both teams are away again, with reigning premiers Nathalia hosting the Deni A-graders while the B-grade side will travel to play Jerilderie.
Rhinos A-grade coach Brad Todd said the side lacked a team performance from the start of the match last week.
“We didn’t bat well first up, so we were well behind from a par score,” he said.
“We just didn’t get any big partnerships going and, really, Hoges (Andrew Hogan) was the only batsman who batted for an extended period.
“We bowled a lot better than we did the week before, but still let the opposition get off to a good start.
“We fought back well with Mel (Deshapriya) and Griegan (French) reducing the run rate and taking some wickets.”
The side will be looking to get back on track this week, but face tough competition in Nathalia.
They won the competition last season, beating Cobram by 23 runs in the grand final.
However, Nathalia have lost both of their first two matches of the season, away against Katunga and last week away versus Barooga.
While they will still likely be a difficult challenge, especially at home, Todd said the Rhinos can take it to a Nathalia side that has shown it is beatable.
“We need to perform with both bat and ball each week to give ourselves the best chance to get a win.
“Nathalia lost last week, so we will have some confidence heading into this weekend’s match.
“It’ll be a good test for us to see if and how we bounce back against the reigning premiers.”
Although a win is up for grabs, the side will likely be missing some experienced players from the first two weeks with two confirmed outs.
“Wriggler (Anthony Bradley) hurt his hamstring so won’t play this week, and Boddie Arthur will be away attending his son’s basketball tournament.”
The Deni B-grade side will hope to continue their good form tomorrow playing Jerilderie, who won their first match of the season by three wickets against Finley under lights last Thursday.
In the under-15s, the Rhinos are up against it in their first match of the season - reusing a two dayer at Deniliquin Memorial Park against Tocumwal.
The Rhinos are defending Toc’s result on day one of 81 all out from 23.2 overs.
Henry Pisasale top scored for the home side with 36 off 42 balls, with opener George Marshall’s 12 and vice captain Kywahn Button’s 11 the other double figure scores.
In reply Tocumwal are 2/50 off 15 overs so far.
Captain Archie Beehag took the first two wickets for Deni with Lucas Grieves caught by Tom Marshall and Daniel Burn caught by Jacob Holschier.
For Tocumwal, Archer Chellew is 27 not out and Oliver East will be at 3 not out when play resumes tomorrow from 8.30am.
8°C