DESPITE a necessarily short preparation, NSW Country coach Michael Ricketts remains supremely confident of his side taking their City counterparts down in Thursday’s NSW Police Rugby League (NSWPRL) City-Country game, at Orange’s Wade Park.

The Country side - made up of cops from Broken Hill to Birkenhead Point - converged on Orange for their two-day camp on Tuesday afternoon leading into Thursday’s clash and were put through their paces on Wednesday, with a session in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Those sessions focused on simplicity, Ricketts said, thanks to the brief lead-up.

“[The short preparation] is unfortunately part of the NSW Police Rugby League process, it’s difficult but it’s the best we can do,” Ricketts conceded.

“It’s just about getting our game-play right and getting the new guys used to it all pretty quickly, in one day really.

“Things need to be nice and simple. City are a bit younger and probably a bit fitter so we need to make sure we complete our sets and don’t give them too much ball down our own end.

“There’s a few who have been here and done it before so we will (look to those leaders to stand up).”

One of those leaders is former Dubbo Macquarie hardman Tom Magann, also a former NSW representative - Thursday’s clash acts as a selection trial for the NSW side which will contest the Australian Tri-Series against Queensland and Affiliated State Police in Melbourne later this year.

Magann will come off the bench in the back-row at Wade Park.

“It’s a serious game, it’s an honour to play in this Country side,” Magann said.

“We always argue the Country boys are a bit tougher than our City counterparts, they obviously play a bit more footy than us but hopefully we’ll show out on the field we’re a tougher breed.”

Both sides were presented their jerseys by Canterbury Bulldogs legend Peter Mortimer on Wednesday night.

Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart will be on hand to give the Country side a pre-game rev-up in the sheds, while the City players will welcome Raiders five-eighth Blake Austin.

The remainder of the Raiders squad is also expected to be on hand as spectators, on their way through to Bathurst to take on the Penrith Panthers on Saturday.

“It’s more of a motivation, we grew up with guys like [Stuart] as our heroes,” Magann said.

“They’re the kind of guys we looked up to growing up so it gives a bit more motivation to go out and perform.”

Thursday’s game kicks-off at 3.30pm at Wade Park.