A new coach and several additions to the squad saw the Cats struggle to gel early in the campaign, suffering three straight home defeats.

But since going down 65-40 to Lake Macquarie in round three, the senior side has recovered to belt Killarney Vale 153-36 and Singleton 136-20.

Despite Muswellbrook’s dramatic turnaround in fortunes, Pursell warned this weekend’s opponents would provide a stern test of just how far the side had come.

Warners Bay had a dominant 53-7 win over Newcastle City in their match last weekend.

“It didn’t pan out for us in the beginning; we had three tough matches against some really established sides,” Pursell said.

“But we have looked at our structures and our game plans and we’ve had a lot more positive results over the last few weeks.

“Warners Bay has had some really strong results but we’ll look to push on from our recent wins and give them a pretty good run.”

Apart from his commitments with the senior side, Pursell said he would also continue to play a role in the development of the club’s junior players.

“We have a few guys who have a lot of experience, which I guess comes with age, so I’ll class myself as one of the more experienced in the team,” he said.

“There’s a top youth foundation here with good juniors and a lot of senior guys are involved.

“We’re always trying to develop and lead the rest of the team with the juniors that are coming through.

“They’re the aspect of the Cats that we need to keep working on to bring the club forward.”

Tomorrow’s clash will kick off from 10am at Feighan Oval, Warners Bay.