Action from last year's Marist vs Utiku game at Spriggens Park. Photo/File
One squad is asking its youth to become men before their time, the other has more than a few good men to make their way back into semifinal contention.
A new-look Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist will have their first home game at Spriggens Park on Saturday against Utiku Old Boys while Harvey Round Ratana have their first 2014 game in Tasman Tanning Premier in the place where 2013 ended in Ohakune against champions McCarthy's Ruapehu.
Coach Jason Hamlin's Marist team just hung on for those all-important first points of the campaign away to Marton last Saturday, 18-14.
Shackled with the familiar burden of carrying walking wounded while also preparing to lose some key players across the ditch, Hamlin needs his newcomers to expand their nervous energy beyond 10-15 minute bursts through to a close to full game duration.
His side were comfortably up 15-0 only to watch it nearly disappear in the late in the game at Marton Park.
"It was a typical first game, I thought we probably took half the chances we created," Hamlin said.
"We gave ourselves a decent lead and at the end we were holding on.
"The focus is to take Utiku out of it [early] and then focus on us getting better and better.
"[Utiku] may not be the flashest team, but they'll be one of the more committed ones. They'll play for 80 minutes."
Marist have an interesting draw in that they play all the bottom five teams before a bye over Easter weekend, then have the unenviable run of facing Ruapehu, Taihape, Border and Pirates in one month.
Before then, their 2013 Wanganui Development XV representatives, centre Mohi Waihi and workhouse flanker Bradley Graham will depart for Australia, compounding the loss of lock Aiden Fitzgerald for six weeks with a broken thumb.
Veteran utility back Sean Brown is not 100 per cent after injuring an ankle playing in the touch rugby nationals, while promising first-five Grayson Tihema was concussed playing in the Pirates sevens tournament in mid-February and is not being rushed back.
To this end, Hamlin has already blooded three 18-year-old's straight from 2013 college rugby. "We seem to be perennially young," he said.
Shayden Phillips and Rory Gudsell come out of last year's successful Wanganui High School 1st XV and sevens team, while Cullinane old boy Sam Monaghan was selected for the inaugural national Catholic Schools 1st XV which defeated the Wellington Centurion club in November.
His opposite Gavin Thompson will see Marist's issues and raise it by 11 players.
The side, which came back at Border with three second half tries before losing 29-17 in Taihape, had to replace virtually their entire lineup, perhaps suffering the most from the early-season March start with the seasonal-nature of their players employment.
"We definitely dominated the second half having Matt Gilbert and Adam Rowe come on," said Thompson.
"But Adam's gone, moving jobs. Matt's got his honeymoon this weekend.
"In 4-5 games we'll have a full squad, but shepherds are busy."
Worse, standout centre Jason Coffee suffered a punctured lung against Border.
Looking to the past rather than the future is new Ratana coach Johno Kaa, having swapped roles with Wilson Walker who will now manage the Premier team.
Of great cause for optimism is the fact the club has brought together 35-40 players, meaning the return of a Senior team to give non-selected Premier players some crucial game time, plus the ability to call on replacements when injuries take their toll later.
"There was a combination of things, a lot of young guys wanted to play and they didn't want to play college," said Kaa.
"That, and we had a couple of old hands come back and don the boots again for the Seniors."
Kaa prefers not to dread the trip to Ohakune but remembers that in July last year his bottom-tabled team gave probably their best effort of the season, trailing only 22-19 late in piece before losing 29-19 in Ruapehu's final Grand Hotel Challenge Shield defence before the semifinals.
The backline Kaa has now is even beginning to resemble the lineup that won the 2011 Premier title, with Aaron Paranihi, Te Rokena Matthews and Vance Pereka all back on the park.
"My goal as a new coach is to play game by game and improve. The overall goal is to get away from that number eight [on the points table].
He has not ruled out a genuine tilt at making the top four.
"It's commitment to training, and that was a problem.
"I was pretty honest with the boys that's why we were at number eight."
In the other games, the match of the round will be at Dallison Park as rivals Border and Pirates face off, with the South Taranaki team having won both 2013 round games by one point before Pirates beat them at home in the semifinal 22-15.
Both beaten in the opening games, Taihape will host Kaierau.