The former NRL playmaker hasn't lined up for his hometown club since being part of a Weissel Cup grand final loss in 2005.

He returned to Group Nine midway through last season to help Young into the preliminary final with the Dragons sitting out the season.

The co-coach expects to get a much better idea of where the side is at when Temora tackle premiers Gundagai at Laurie Daley Oval.

"You can play all these pre-season games but they are just that," McCrone said.

"This will be the real test.

"You have to beat the best to be the best so we'll give it a red hot crack."

While the Dragons had the bye to start the season, the Tigers were on the wrong end of the result in the grand final rematch.

McCrone expects Gundagai to be itching to hit back.

"I'm sure they will be a bit disappointed after last week so they will be hungry," he said. "I'm really interested to see where we are at."

With Sam Elwin suffering a serious knee injury in their big trial win over West Wyalong, new recruit Jai Doherty is set to line up along McCrone in the halves.

However he picked up a shoulder injury earlier in the pre-season and hasn't quite proven his fitness yet.

"Jai hurt his shoulder against Forbes so we will have to wait and see," McCrone said. "He's first choice so hopefully he'll be there but there are a couple of contingencies after that."

After sitting out last season, Temora welcomes plenty of new faces into the side.

Jaiden Burke will line up at hooker, Luke Skidmore will start in the front row, Nick Trevaskis slots into the centres while Dawson Mele has been named on the bench.

Temora's reserve grade outfit scored a 28-0 win over Junee last week and McCrone hopes their return to first grade will be a good learning experience.

"I just want to keep getting better," he said.

"We understand you don't play your best footy at the beginning of the year but if we keep improving we will get to where we want to be by the end of the year."

Meanwhile Gundagai have made a couple of positional changes following the 30-12 loss to Tumut on Saturday.

Joel Field comes into the starting side in the front row with Royce Tout shifting to the second row and Dylan Murdoch back to the bench.

Field was under an injury cloud last week and came off the bench last week co-coach Luke Berkrey is happy with how the team shapes.

"We know he's 100 per cent he's back into the side which moves Tout into his preferred position in the back row which should be better for the side," Berkrey said.