The Hawks drew the Nyngan Tigers in the opening round of the proposed Peter McDonald Premiership draw, which has seen the merging of Group 10 and Group 11 rugby league competitions.

"The Nyngan road trip will be a decent one, but they've got their own travel as well that they have to contend with," Prout said.

"Playing Nyngan at Nyngan they're always tough out there. It will be a tough start for us but a good platform for them."

From a player's point of view, Prout was pleased with what he saw overall.

"It pretty well guarantees you consistent footy," he said.

"Last season we had byes all through the draw and it was hard to keep the motivation and commitment levels at training as well.

"It'll probably help all clubs, but especially the Group 10 clubs. I know last year was a little bit different because a lot of Lithgow players were in a lockdown area so that created an extra bye. It was so inconsistent that you could not play for three weeks or you might play a heap of games in a row."

With a 16 round competition, each of the 13 sides will play a 14 match schedule, with Hawks having the bye in week 4 and 13.

"I suppose it's a bit of an incentive for recruitment because it's a new comp and you could be coming up against the best teams in Group 11 as well," Prout said of the merger.

"Playing against new teams creates that bit of excitement and keeps the interest there."

As for the added travel, Prout was just happy to have one week where he wouldn't need to go far.

"I live in Parkes so I've got a home game this year," Prout said jokingly about the Hawks' round nine clash against the Spacemen.

Round 1 - April 2-3: Nyngan Tigers host Orange Hawks at Larkin Oval

Round 2 - April 9-10: Orange Hawks host Forbes Magpies at Wade Park

Indigenous All Stars Game - April 15: G10 v G11

Round 3 - April 23-24: Bathurst Panthers host Orange Hawks at Carrington Park

Round 4 - April 30-May1: Bye

Round 5 - May 7-8: Orange Hawks host Cowra Magpies at Wade Park

Round 6 - May 14-15: Orange Hawks host Bathurst Panthers at Wade Park

Round 7 - May 21-22: Orange CYMS host Orange Hawks at Wade Park

Round 8 - May 28-29: Orange Hawks host Bathurst St Pats at Wade Park

Round 9 - June 4-5: Parkes Spacemen host Orange Hawks at Pioneer Oval

Round 10 - Long weekend split round June 11, 18, 19: Lithgow Wolves host Orange Hawks at Tony Luchetti Oval

Round 11 - June 25-26: Bathurst St Pats host Orange Hawks at Jack Arrow

Round 12 - July 2-3: Orange Hawks host Forbes Magpies at Wade Park

Round 13 - July 9-10: Bye

Round 14 - July 16-17: Mudgee Dragons host Orange Hawks at Glen Willow

Round 15 - July 23-24: Orange Hawks host Orange CYMS at Wade Park

Round 16 - July 30-31: Orange Hawks host Mudgee Dragons at Wade Park

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