"I thought our attitude to that game was fantastic and if we use that as a springboard then it is a really positive sign to where we can go as a group," Pickers coach Luke Dorn said of his side's win against Macquarie Scorpions after a week of good old fashioned soul searching.

The test now comes to consolidate the progress against Central Newcastle at Maitland Sportsground on Saturday.

For the first time this season the Pickers will be aided by a largely unchanged team, boosted by the return of Tylar Carter who has been named on the bench in his return game from a freak eye injury.

"I was very pleased with the win. We haven't been anywhere near our best. We challenged each other as a group and individually and what we saw on the weekend was a really big step in right direction," Dorn said.

"We had some internal discussions as a group. The boys had a good look at themselves and how they wanted to be seen as a player, where they were falling down, where they were excelling.

"A bit of truth got told to some players and some players said truths in the groups and I thought they all grabbed hold of it very well."

The win allowed Dorn to acknowledge just how difficult a mounting injury toll to key players had been.

"We've got a young team and our injuries have not allowed us to put the same team out two weeks in a row, not even closely, which has been difficult," he said. "You can't underestimate how much of a difference that makes.

"We've had our challenges and they are not excuses for our performances, but they are certainly reasons for situations when we haven't been at our best."

The injury list includes co-captain Sam Anderson with a broken foot, Jacob Sinclair, Shay Padberg with a fractured cheekbone and Tyler Perrin (rib injury). Gary Anderson and Elijah Rasiga are unavailable due to Newcastle Knights commitments.

The return of halfback Jeremy Gibson from the Queensland Cup and the form of Geordie Connelly at five-eighth is a particularly exciting prospect for Dorn.

"I thought the first week his game was a little bit quiet against Souths, I thought he let the game go past him a little bit, but I thought last week he was excellent," Dorn said of Gibson. "He controlled the game so well and his kicking game was fantastic and a big reason why we were able to do what we did.

"Getting Geordie on the ball at five-eighth means he has a lot more opportunity to do things and he is so involved with everything. He has been excellent at five-eighth."