A good crowd turned out to Spooner Oval on Sunday to watch the Magpies secure a 30-8 win, 24 of those points added in the second half.

First grade coach Cameron Greenhalgh said the first half was “a bit scrappy” but the team rallied in the second half to keep the visitors scoreless.

“Our completion rate in the first half wasn’t great, about three out of 15 sets,” Greenhalgh said. 

“We had to defend a bit more in warm conditions and that took it out of us.”

The black and whites improved their defence and line speed in the latter half of the game, getting their share of the ball and keeping it to improve dramatically.

New centre Sean Manley was named the Magpies Old Boys player of the day, stalwarts Ben Robinson and Ben Maguire were also outstanding for the Magpies. 

Young halfback Kurt Mylecharane, who has stepped up from the under 18s, handled himself well and was amongst the day’s tryscorers. 

The under 18s had a runaway win against a Westside team that was going to forfeit earlier in the day.

The visitors did rally a side and again the first half was competitive, but the Magpies ran away for a 68-18 win in the second half. 

Reserve grade was a competitive affair, with Forbes bagging the four-point win in the final two minutes of the game. 

Our league tag representatives went down 10-16 to a well-travelled Westside squad.

Wins in three of four grades provided a great opening to the season, with plenty to build on in coming weeks. 

“We had a great crowd,” Greenhalgh said. “The ground was pretty full and that’s always a good boost for the players.”

The Magpies are expecting a tough contest next week as they travel to Dubbo to meet Macquarie.

Macquarie met Parkes at the Spacemen’s home ground on Sunday and went down 36-26.