Goannas coach Harry Siejka says he expects to add up to six more players to his squad over the next month in the lead up to Cessnock's opening round clash against Western Suburbs Rosellas on March 26.

Mataora, Haines and Griffiths join NSW Cup premiership back Honeti Tuah and NSW Country half Sam Clune at the experienced end of Cessnock's recruiting drive with young backs Aaron Fiveash, Kendyll Fahey and Kiwi forwards AJ Murray and Sione Ngahe also joining the Goannas.

A veteran of 63 NRL games, 31-year-old Mataora was part of the Maitland Pickers President's Cup campaign in 2020 but was forced out before the finals because of work commitments.

"He is a very smart sort of player. It will be really good to have him around as we've got a couple of young forwards we want to bring on as well and he will be great for them," Siejka said of Mataora who has played eight games for the Cook Islands.

"He is a really good person, I'm really happy to get him signed up. I think for this competition he will be worth his weight in gold."

Haines, who is equally capable as a half or fullback, was also a star signing with the Pickers from the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs but struggled with injury and then found himself behind Brock Lamb and Chad O'Donnell in trying to push his way into Maitland's line up.

'll probably look at Jarom in the halves but I'm going to pick the team on form so there is no certainty he will play half all year because I've still got Sam Clune, myself and a couple of other guys who are pretty capable there as well, Siejka said.

"I think Jarom's best quality is his versatility. He can play in the halves, he can play fullback or I've seen him play at hooker and he goes pretty well.

"There is definitely a lot of upside to Jarom, I'm really forward to working with him."

Goannas premiership player Griffiths returns to the Cessnock line-up after moving to the Northern Hawks early in the 2022 season.

"I think Josh Griffiths is very underrated, every time I've seen him play he is hard to handle. I think he plays s bit bigger than he gets credit for he is very strong.

"We add Honeti and we are looking pretty strong in the backs and in particular the centres."

Siejka took several of his new recruits as part of a young squad to Mudgee for a trial match last Saturda against the Western Rams the Group 10 and Group 11 representative team which is preparing for the Country Championships in two weeks time.

The Rams won 26-22, but Siejka found plenty to like in his young side at this early stage of preparations. Sione

"We were probably missing about 12 players from our top 25, but it was a really good experience, particularly in terms of bonding as a group," Siejcka said

"They were a pretty good side they had a lot of players who have been in full-time systems and we took a handful of first graders and were probably a bit unlucky to get away with it in the end.

New recruits Kiwi forward Sione Ngahe and half Sam Clune both scored tries.

"You sort of need to play a game to realise how a player plays, because training is completely different to a game," Siejcka siad.

To take all the new boys to the club and mostly young blokes it was really good to see them put their hand up and have a real crack.

At times we had lapses of concentration from which they scored. But when we controlled the ball I thought we were the better team.

"The scoreline in a trial game isn't necessarily a true indication of how the game went as we made a lot of changes. We had three under-19 boys come on in the middle and they held their own really well."

The Goannas next two trials are at home starting with Muswellbrook Rams on Saturday, February 26, followed by the Hills Bulls on Saturday, March 5.

The Bulls are South Sydney's feeder team in the Ron Massey Cup and will have a quality roster.