While Westbury sit on the sidelines, Mowbray step on the park for their first game of the year against Riverside as South Launceston and Launceston renew their historic rivalry.

The North-West portion of the Greater Northern Cup sees Wynyard host Burnie, Sheffield host Latrobe and Ulverstone host Devonport in their first matches of the season.

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It may be early days but the Knights and Lions are readying for their top-of-the-table clash.

Coming into the clash full of confidence after a big round-one win, Launceston skipper Alistair Taylor is looking at restricting South's big names on a wicket he expects to be different to that contest.

"You've got [Nathan] Phlip, [Sean] Harris and obviously Gav Nutting has come across this year, so if you nullify them - that's probably the key to winning," he said.

Taylor was selected for the Greater Northern Raiders' washed-out contest last week and returns to the Launceston line-up alongside James Curran, who played in North Launceston's losing development league grand final.

South Launceston skipper Sean Harris returned his adversary's compliment, describing Taylor as a "key wicket."

"They've got some good quality quicks as well, so if our batter can get through the new ball and the wicket settles down, I think runs on the board is always key," he said.

"They were a vastly improved side last year and we are expecting them to be another strong side on the weekend.

"This time of year wins are always important but particularly early on, we are just looking for a good performance from ourselves and hopefully that's good enough to get a win."

The Knights won't make any changes this week, with Harris looking to give his squad an opportunity to settle

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In the round's other Northern contest, Mowbray are itching to get on the park against Riverside.

Dealt the bye in round one before last week's washout, coach James Storay is eager for a good contest between two young sides.

"We are just looking to enjoy ourselves in our first game and back our skills and see what happens," he said.

"From Riverside's perspective, Tom [Garwood] is obviously the key there for us to get out nice and early.

"If not, he can get away from us and be quite dangerous, so that will be something we are looking to nullify early on if they bat first."

Spencer Hayes, Shaun Avent and Luke Burston all come in as Ethan Conway (Glenorchy), Ben Spinks (Raiders) and Sam Canny (exam) make way while Lyndon Stubbs is available for Riverside.

Captain Tom Garwood said a round one disappointment is fueling their fire while stopping the impact of Storay's unit of bowlers is a must.

"Definitely seeing their top three or four bowlers off and making them bowl 10 overs [is important] but we'll back our batters in - if we bat 50 overs, we will have a decent score on the board," he said.