The Pies head into round six on the bottom of the ladder, winless, and a win behind Saturday's opposition, Barellan.

"We need to have a win. We need the four points," Yates said.

"Internally we know we can play good footy. It's just the period of time we play it is probably what's letting us down at the minute.

"if we can put four quarters of good footy together, I can't see why we couldn't get the job done out there. But it's a matter of turning up the right way and playing the way we want to play."

TRYC are coming off a 21-point loss to North Wagga. After a goalless first two quarters, they outscored the Saints after half-time. Their four previous losses were all by less than 20 points.

In fact, the Pies' percentage is higher than the two teams just above them, Barellan and Coleambally, and within five points of the next two, CSU (sixth) and the Northern Jets (fifth).

But they're also three wins outside the five.

Yates said a win would be huge for morale as well as their finals hopes, as the pressure builds to create some mid-season momentum.

"That's what I'm hoping for. If we can get a win, that will give everyone a bit of confidence and get a few blokes up and about around the club. And if we can get a bit of a roll-on, a bit of a sniff, then you never know what might happen," he said.

"Obviously there's four rounds in the back half of the first round (of home and away games) and we've got the bye in one of them, so our next three games are massive."

Six straight losses to start the season would leave TRYC anchored to last, two wins adrift of Barellan.

The Pies' cause won't be helped by the loss of Jade Curtis. A shoulder injury against North Wagga will keep the midfielder sidelined for at least another couple of weeks, while veteran forward Andy Carey is also out. However Tim Sullivan will make his first senior appearance, after representing the Farrer League last week.

No-one knows better than Yates that Barellan away isn't what it was a few years ago.

TRYC were the first team to play Barellan when the Two Blues returned to the league in 2015, and romped to a 154-point win.

However, it's been a long trip home the last two years after the Pies were beaten by five points in 2017 and then by eight goals last year.

"It's always tough going out there and they've had the better of us out there the last couple of times. And obviously they're up and about after their first win of the year out at Coly, so they'll have a bit of momentum. It's probably good that we're coming off a bye, to be honest," Yates said.

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