Martyn said they were missing 16 first graders due to a variety of reasons in what they originally hoped would be their most serious warm-up before they begin their campaign at Narrandera on April 17.

The Ostriches hammered the Lions by over 100 points, but Martyn hoped his young players would learn from playing against the Hume League's long-time benchmark.

"We probably should have called it off to be fair but we persisted more so for Osborne, it wouldn't be fair for them," Martyn said.

"We thought we'd put a team out on the park and see how we go and it didn't go our way, that's for sure. We were missing 16 first grade players and a lot of our twos as well.

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"We had under 15 and 16s running around for us at times, and some Osborne juniors too because they had good numbers.

"At least we got to practice our movement and structures in the first quarter, but it went out the window after that.

"The first quarter was only 15 points (deficit) and after that the wheels fell off a little bit, but Osborne is going to be a really good side again in the Hume League."

Martyn singled out Josh Walsh in defence and Ed Daniher, who rolled through the midfield, as standouts.

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