Jamil Khalfan named to replace Kyran Bubb as Orange Emus' five-eighth, greens' colts to light up Endeavour

Khalfan played sporadically in Harden's Oilsplus Cup Southern Division triumph last year before landing at Endeavour Oval after moving to Orange in late 2018, winning the race for the No.10 jersey after impressing new coach Pete Bromley in the pre-season.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity. I never got to play with Bubby but I've heard great things so I'll try to emulate some of those but the expectation for me is just to do my job ...  the playing group's certainly not putting any pressure on me," Khalfan said, ahead of Saturday's first round round trip to face Forbes.

"The transition's been really easy. The boys roped me in quite early, at the end of last year, and I haven't looked back.

"I love it ... rugby's really unique [in that] it brings people together and Emus have been no as good as, if not better than every club I've been a part of before (in that respect)."

Khalfan is among the eight-strong group in Bromley's round one side that didn't run on in last year's 30-18 grand final victory over Bathurst Bulldogs, with some of that side moving on and some unavailable or injured.

While it's a somewhat new side Khalfan said being defending premiers will mean "there's definitely expectation" but he's certain the greens won't take long to hit their straps this weekend.

He also says he's aware of the step up he'll need to take moving into Central West Rugby Union's top flight from the third tier, and he's confident he'll be able to slot into the greens' systems without too much trouble too.

"We all know our roles and our responsibilities and if we can do our jobs then I guess the result will [take care] of itself," he said.

"Even playing rugby in Sydney everyone talks about the Central West competition being strong, no doubt coming from the [Oilsplus] Cup into the Blowes (Clothing) Cup it'll be a step up but I'm looking forward to rising to the challenge.

"The playbook is extensive and it's something to get my head around but at the same time ... if we do the simple things right, take the responsibility on ourselves to get the job done then I think we'll be fine."

Emus' Blowes Clothing Cup opener against Forbes is at Grinsted Oval and kicks off at 3.15pm on Saturday, a day after the greens' begin their tilt at Central West's revamped, reinvigorated colts competition.

Emus, boasting far more numbers than in recent years, will take on the returning Narromine Gorillas at Endeavour Oval from 7.30pm on Friday night.

Adding some zest to the clash is the fact it's also a rematch of last year's under-17 grand final which the Gorillas won comfortably, with a number of both sides moving up into the under-19 age group this season.

Emus half Mitch Weekes is one who's doing just that, although he said earning redemption for that defeat isn't a motivating factor for his outfit.

"There's a bit of rivalry there for the boys that have come up, but I think more than anything it'll just be good for us to see where we are as a group," he said.

"We definitely want to win and we've got really good numbers, it's exciting to see, so we're really looking forward to it. Being under lights too, it's different, it's good."

Orange City's colts also kick-off their season on Friday night, they host the Dubbo Rhinos at Pride Park from 8pm. In Saturday's other colts game Dubbo Roos host Bathurst Bulldogs, at No.1 Oval.