Blues on the ropes at stumps in Hobart

A poor performance by key NSW batsmen has taken the shine off a five-wicket haul by fast bowler Harry Conway, making his Sheffield Shield debut against Tasmania in Hobart.

At Bellerive Oval on Saturday the hosts were all out for a modest 242 by midway through the afternoon session, with Conway, 23, bagging half the scalps and finishing with 5-45.

But in reply, NSW went to stumps at a lacklustre 4-26 having lost openers Daniel Hughes and Ed Cowan, along with nightwatchman Nathan Lyon, caught behind, and skipper Nic Maddison without score.

Jackson Bird did most of the damage for Tasmania, finishing the day with an impressive 3-13 from his five overs.

"We bowled really well as a unit ... our blueprint today was perfect," Bird said, giving credit to fellow pacemen Andrew Fekete and Hamish Kingston.

"I was lucky to come on in the end and reap the rewards of the hard work they did for us."

Kurtis Patterson and Ben Rohrer remain unbeaten and will resume for NSW on Sunday.

After being sent in to bat first on day one, Tassie lost opener Ben Dunk from the fourth ball.

The hosts' top order fell cheaply except for No.3 Beau Webster who top-scored with 73.

Tim Paine and skipper George Bailey each contributed 12 runs and Alex Doolan made 15.

Webster found some support from Ben McDermott, who added 59 runs, as the pair notched up a 65-run partnership.

It was Conway who tore through the Tigers' lineup.

"(I'm) absolutely wrapped with how I bowled," he said, admitting he'd been nervous in the countdown to his first stint with the ball.

"Overall, I think it was a pretty good performance by the guys as a bowling unit."

He said NSW conceded more runs than they should have.

"The 30 or 40 runs that we probably didn't want to give away are now probably going to haunt us, with the way that we finished," Conway said in reference to the side's batting effort.

"We finished poorly."

NSW have come to the southern capital needing a win to keep alive their hopes of a Shield final berth.

Tasmania: Tim Paine, Ben Dunk, Beau Webster, Alex Doolan, George Bailey (c), Ben McDermott, Tom Triffitt, Even Gulbis, Hamish Kingston, Andrew Fekete, Jackson Bird, Sam Rainbird (12th man).

NSW: Daniel Hughes, Ed Cowan, Kurtis Patterson, Nic Maddinson (c), Ben Rohrer, Ryan Carters, Trent Copeland, Sean Abbott, Nathan Lyon, Doug Bollinger, Harry Conway, Arjun Nair (12th man).