Yass Magpies captain Willie Peace hopes his side can soar in their return to Walker Park on a landmark day for the club.
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The Magpies are now poised for their first home game since 2019 when they host the Tuggeranong Bushrangers in the Canberra Raiders Cup on Saturday.
Yass were one of the teams to withdraw from last season as the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to derail rugby league in the region.
But now Peace is relishing a return to the competition.
"We didn't have a team, we lost a few boys. Just having the year off we realised they didn't have to play footy any more," Peace said.
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"Everyone's back pretty much and if anything the boys who've had the year off are a bit rusty and have needed to dust off the cobwebs.
"Yass is a pretty tight knit community so everyone gets around the team and the club. If anything we've got a lot more support this year."
The Magpies are desperate to rebound from a 34-point thrashing at the hands of the Queanbeyan Blues last weekend.
But last week's clash with the side Peace hails as the "benchmark" has the Magpies raring to go for a clash with the Bushrangers.
"It's going to be a tough match, they've got some big boys," Peace said.
"We know we're not the biggest team in the comp but what we lack in size we make up for in speed and energy.
"We're expecting a big crowd of local supporters coming down to support the boys so fingers crossed we can get the result."
Coming off a narrow defeat last weekend to the Woden Valley Rams, Tuggeranong captain Jacob McGrath wants to make up for a game he feels his team should have won.
"We got a bad result last week, we lost in a few areas that we are not happy about," McGrath said.
"It's all been about making up for those one percenters. In the end a team that we should have beaten got way over the top of us.
"It'll be a good battle, it's always tough going out to Yass."