Southland's game of three halves during the weekend reverted to more of a training run.
Stags coach Dale MacLeod conceded the level of opposition was not as strong as he had hoped.
The Stags were to play a Pacific Island invitational side and a Southland XV in two of the three 40-minute periods at Rugby Park on Saturday.
But the decision was made not to "smash the squad into each other" and play a regular 80-minute fixture against the Pacific Island side instead.
MacLeod said the Pacific Island team assembled the best side it could under the circumstances but Southland recorded a comfortable victory.
"We got what we wanted out of it as far as running our systems and things like that," he said.
"But to be fair, they weren’t real strong.
"Their preparation time wasn’t the same as ours and it was a bit of an unfair advantage.
"They did give us a good test in areas and gave us some really good opportunities to look at what we are running."
The Stags have a trial tomorrow night at Les George Oval. That match should provide the stern defence the side will need before its final pre-season game against Otago in Invercargill on September 5.
Southland has six contract slots left to fill so there is plenty at stake. The Stags are definitely on the lookout for a centre. MacLeod feels the squad is missing another quality midfielder, so there will be ample motivation for players to perform in that area of the park.
"We are talking to [a player] and doing a bit of due diligence around him. But we’ve got to be mindful that we are not going to bring someone down who is not better than what we’ve got."
