'Everyone is very excited': Waratahs keen for huge clash against Wagga City

The two rivals will do battle on Saturday for the first time since the decider in August last year and McCarthy said it was a game you always looked for when you receive the draw at the start of the season.

"It's one of those ones you circle the date on the calendar pretty early," McCarthy said.

"Everyone is very excited, they've been a good side for a good period of time now.

"It's always nice to test yourself against quality opposition and they've shown again this year they'll be right up there in the mix of it, so we are looking forward to the challenge."

Waratahs received some good news leading into the clash as scrum-half Tom Hallam was cleared to play against Wagga City.

Hallam received two yellow cards and he was sent from the field during their 55-5 win over Albury last weekend, however he received the all-clear to play during the week.

McCarthy said it was great to have him free to play this weekend.

"He's been a big influence at the club so far this season," he said.

"Obviously he played a good level of footy in Canberra and he's bringing a bit of that professionalism back into the club.

"He's never had a card before in his life and he went and picked up two of them on the weekend.

"It was probably a good outcome for us with the way that the sanctioning guidelines are written, so we are very pleased to have him available this weekend."

Waratahs enter the clash at 1-1 after a mixed start to the season which saw them go down 32-20 against Leeton, before they responded strongly to claim a 50-point win over Albury.

McCarthy said he's pretty happy with their start to the season and believed the loss against the Phantoms provided the wake-up call his side needed.

"Leeton were a tough side to play against," he said.

"You really don't know what they are going to turn up like, it's difficult to prepare and I think it's pretty easy to fall into a trap after having some success in a previous season.

"Maybe we were cruising a bit through pre-season and it was the wake-up call we needed, we had quite a few boys out but I think there were a few people in and around the club that just assumed that weekend would look after itself.

"It's a cliche I know, but sometimes you do need to have a loss and that was a good one to start the year for us because it got us back on track pretty quickly.

"The boys have trained at a really high level since then and it was good to be able to get out there last weekend with a few of those senior players back in the group and put a good performance on against Albury.

"We played that game a man down for probably 35 minutes, so it was good we were able over that period of time to not concede any points as well.

"It's a nice little stepping stone on the way and I'm pretty happy with how we're sitting so far for the year."

Waratahs prevailed 26-10 in the decider last year against Wagga City to claim the 2023 premiership.

This is the first opportunity for Wagga City to exact some revenge for that result, however McCarthy wasn't expecting the opposition to be using that as added motivation heading into Saturday's game.

"I don't think many people think too much about what happened in previous seasons," he said.

"I think there's a long enough history between our two clubs that no one needs any motivation to put a good performance in.

"We know Wagga City are a good side, we know they're physical and when they get a roll on they are a difficult team to stop.

"We've just got to work hard on what we can control and make sure we've got a good strong defensive line."

While Hallam received the all-clear to play, Waratahs will be without trio Matt Todd, Christan Hughes and Ben Frampton as they will be attending the selection trials for the Australian Army team.