Now, he has challenged fellow back-rowers Lachy Milton and Lachy Miller to follow suit against Wanderers on Saturday for the inaugural Adams-Halter ANZAC Shield.

"The back-row have a defined role in a rugby landscape," said Lind, a former premiership winning No.8 for the Greens. "But they have a defined role in shaping the tone of the game. I don't mean at the breakdown, more so just upping the ante. They are the guys who can pull apart an opposition physically and mentally. Just really take it to the next level. That is the task in front of them. They are not 18-year-old kids any more. This competition is ripe for them to prise open. Wanderers are our biggest foe, stand up and be counted."

Merewether and Wanderers will field vastly different teams from 2019. However, the rivalry is unchanged.

"No-one has played any rugby for 18 months," Lind said. "The players miss it but the community miss it too. People are jumping out of their skins to get down to Townson Oval and see some old friends.

"The average age of our team is 24. There is a lot of inexperience in the group but they are keen and want to forge their own path.

"Wanderers, for quite a period now, have been mentally strong. That is an area where we have not been up to the mark."

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Merewether opened the season with an 82-3 demolition of Lake Macquarie.

Kostandreas Sykiotis ran in five of their 12 tries, all scored by backs.

"We didn't have much pressure put on us against Lake Macquarie," Lind said. "To be honest, the players are probably put under more pressure at training. We have 15 guys in firsts who have 15 guys breathing down their neck in second grade. We have first-graders playing in third grade. They need to perform otherwise they won't be there."

Wanderers had a much tougher time of it, winning a slugfest with Nelson Bay 24-13.

"We were really tested last week, so it was great to get the win," Wanderers coach Dan Beckett said. "These first rounds are about finding a way to win. We saw that last week, we were very clunky and didn't have that fluency. We know that will take a few weeks. We have some really talented individuals and that probably got us home against the Bay.

"Saturday will be a big occasion and it will come down to whoever can execute under pressure in that environment. Merewether will be good. They have plenty of talent and we know Jamie will have them fired up."

Wanderers are without captain Ben Ham, but boast plenty of experience in a pack headed by Dave Waller, Ben and Marcus Christensen, Francis Ieremia and returned duo Daniel Martine and Tom Eymael.

"We need to make sure we bring the physicality that we had at Nelson Bay to Townson Oval," Beckett said. "They will be fresh and fit and fast. We need to lock them down."

In other games Saturday, new coach Marty Berry will take the reins of premiers Hamilton for the first time when they host Maitland, University host Nelson Bay and Southern Beaches welcome Lake Macquarie to Calland Oval. Singleton have the bye.

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