As a reward, coach Jake Hawkins has named them in his 20-man squad for the club’s trial with the Macquarie Scorpions at Lake Cathie on Saturday.

The Scorpions won the Newcastle Rugby League competition last year with a win over Western Suburbs in the grand final and Hawkins knows it will be a good test for his side first-up.

“The Newcastle comp is a stronger comp than Group 3 so it will be a good opportunity to see who steps up and to see where we’re at,” he said.

“It’s going to be a tough game for us.”

Pascoe is usually more at home at lock forward although he will start on the wing while Hanley has been selected to come off the bench.

Both players are expected to spend most of the season in the under-18s.

“They’ve trained really well with us all pre-season,” Hawkins said.

After fielding a young side for most of last season, the Sharks will welcome back some experienced heads in Luke Sprague, Joey Cudmore and Dave Geary.

“We’ll have a good mix of players this year and those three will be ones for us to have a look at,” the coach said.

“You usually like to see how fit they are if they’ve been out of the game for a little while.”

Saturday’s first grade trial kicks off at 4pm at Lake Cathie.