Hastings Valley Vikings head to Armidale Rugby Knockout for annual trip over the mountain

Briscoe made his top grade debut in the club's 73-7 hammering of Coffs Harbour last June while McDonald and Banks are expected to feature at some stage throughout the season.

Briscoe and Banks play in the backline while McDonald is a back-rower.

"Those boys are all juniors so it's always a plus when they come through the ranks," Mccormack said.

"They'll figure a fair bit in senior footy throughout the year."

The weekend trip to the knockout tournament will be the Vikings first touch of a footy since the 2021 season was called off one game short of the grand final due to the pandemic.

Mccormack said the numbers at training had been strong - particularly this week.

"It's building; we had the best numbers we've had so far at training which is usually a sign that footy is just around the corner," he said.

Hastings Valley were beaten in last year's final by St Patrick's from Sydney.

"It's good to have a hitout because we've got a couple of new blokes, but our goal is to always play in a grand final."

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