The CFMEU Canberra Raiders will head into there first official NRL trial against the Broncos this weekend with plenty of positive energy, after a strong first up hit out for the season against Western Suburbs on Saturday at Northbourne Oval.

The Green Machine managed to put in a strong performance in trying conditions on Saturday evening to defeat the Magpies, as well as giving plenty of game time to the next generation of Raiders stars.

Raiders Coach David Furner said the intensity of the match showed the players involved were keen to make an impression ahead of the trial match period and said some individual performances could gain some players further opportunity over the next fortnight.

“I think we’ve got a fair few positives of the weekend’s trial. The physicality of the game and the maturity of the opposition was what we expected and I think our younger players handled this quite well,” Furner said. “Our fitness and our team play with the younger guys were positive and there are a few guys who played very well.”

Furner said the he was happy with the way the team had come together for the first run of the season and said he had some final decisions to make ahead of naming the squad for Saturday’s match against the Broncos at Ballymore in Brisbane.

There are some injury concerns for the Green Machine involving two of their Indigenous All-Stars representatives, with Travis Waddell (Concussion) and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (Shoulder) battling to be fit for the Broncos clash.

“Some of the guys who stood out may get a chance to shine in our remaining two trials and we’ll look at naming a squad for the Brisbane trial on Tuesday,” he said. “There are a couple of guys who were involved in the indigenous game who are in doubt with Travis Waddell due to the nature of his injury and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs but we’ll assess those guys later in the week and we will be naming our strongest squad.”