COACH Gerry Mason is confident the return of experienced duo Holly Smith and Tammy Clay and a mid-week hit out against Japan has the Hunter women's side cherry ripe to tackle Southern Inland at No.2 Sportsground on Saturday.
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The clash is one of two curtain raisers before the Test between the Wallaroos and Japan.
Smith and Clay come in to a Hunter side which finished a disappointing fifth at the Country Championships in Tamworth in June.
"It is a stronger team than the one we took away," Mason said. "Tammy is a seasoned tighthead and will strengthen the scrum. Holly is a very experienced fly-half and has been doing a great job bringing along Maitland this year.They are two key positions which will strengthen us. The girls learnt a lot at the Country championships. It was a raw group to a large extent."
As well as Clay, the pack will be led by skipper Britney Duff, vice captain Hayley Amm and Dutch import Leah van Zeeland.
"We are starting to get some good combinations," Mason said. "The pack is strong and we will try and wear them down there first."
Hunter did an opposed session with Japan on Sunday as part of the Cherry Blossoms preparation for the Test.
"The hit out was a much-faster paced game than we are accustomed too," Mason said. "We have not played Southern Inland before. We are expecting them to have a couple of Brumbies players but they are largely an unknown quantity."
Hunter: 1 Alex Rodgers, 2 Hayley Amm, 3 Tammy Clay, 4 Bec Steel, 5 Brittni-rae Sager, 6 Leilani Nathan, 7 Britney Duff (c), 8 Leah van Zeeland, 9 Peta Salter, 10 Holly Smith, 11 Anika Butler, 12 Emma Bradford, 13 Nicole Nathan, 14 Steph Hayes, 15 Liz Kennedy, 16 Carla Anderson, 17 Cassidy Carter, 18 Felicity Carroll, 19 Jess Middlemiss, 20 Maddie Butler, 21 Tia Taufao, 22 Lakesha Nathan, 23 Jessica Ten Broek.
