This was a great hit out and a chance for coach Luke Blyton to check out some new faces. With Gloucester taking 19 players, we were expecting Walcha to have the same but with their neighbouring club Uralla folding on the Thursday, it gave the locals another dozen players.

The weather was perfect for footy, the ground a little hard but a fast track. From the kick-off Gloucester were the first to defend and they did well. Newcomers Anthony and Dylan Schultz, both playing their first game of rugby league for some time made some strong tackles.

Beau Holden and Lucas Summerville were like little terriers in defence.

Darcy Allardice was his usual busy self and Rohan Everett at fullback was dangerous with the ball. New player to the town and cheeky little halfback Tom Quinn marshalled his troops well. As Walcha attacked Gloucester's line he took an intercept and ran 70 metres to score in the corner. Gloucester looked sharp with ball in hand and it wasn't long before Rohan Everett was over. Blake Standen took over the kicking duties and landed the goal.

While the Maggies attack was good the defence was also strong for the first quarter. It was Darcy Allardice's turn next to cross the line to score beside the uprights. Walcha then hit back with a couple of quick tries to make the halftime score 18-16 to the locals.

Gloucester copped a couple of knocks and were down to 16 players for the second half. Two disallowed tries early in the second half with Lucas Summerville being held up and a dubious call wasn't the start Gloucester wanted. They held on as long as they could but with Walcha having many more fresh legs, they ran in another four tries.

It was a good hit out though and the score really didn't indicate the game. Jeremy Kelly, in his first game of rugby league, was strong and as he gets more games will be a handy forward. Young Hamish Wakefield was solid and will improve as he gets more game time.

Clancy Johnson was strong and will trouble opposition with his speed. Connor Farley, playing his first game, was safe and will be a handy addition to the side. Trav Johson was solid in attack and defence and worked tirelessly in the middle. Harry Moore and Brad Scott were also strong in their first game for some years. All in all a promising start. The season is meant to start on April 13 and hopefully a draw will be out this week.

Gloucester's jumper launch will be on April 11 but more details to come. Looking forward to a good season. Hope to see a good crowd at our first home game.