Patterson shines between the rain for New South Wales

Kurtis Patterson led the way for New South Wales on a dominant first day of batting in their rainy Sheffield Shield clash with Tasmania at Cricket Central.

A day after the Australian batting order's lean start to the Ashes, Patterson sent a reminder why he was considered an out-of-the-box option for a Test recall at the beginning of the summer.

Patterson, the 32-year-old left-hander, will resume unbeaten on 79 next to Lachie Shaw with NSW 214 for 2 and seemingly in a commanding position after being made to bat.

"It was a bit of yucky day, I didn't feel like I had a lot of rhythm for most of the day, to be honest," Patterson told AAP. "The wicket looks OK, there's a little bit of grass there, it actually probably played a bit better than we thought. 2/200-odd, we would've taken that at the beginning of the day."

Axed Test opener Sam Konstas made a positive start but was trapped lbw by Riley Meredith's yorker and is still searching for his first big score of the home summer.

Konstas came to the crease with his trademark positive intent, though opted for more conventional cricket shots over off-side rather than the eye-catching fare of his debut Test series.

He pushed Aidan O'Connor past long off for two fours in the second over, and had two more off fellow opener Gabe Bell in the next.

Konstas fell just after the second of Saturday's three rain delays and is now averaging an underwhelming 22.67 across nine Shield knocks this summer.

But Patterson saw good signs from his young teammate.

"Today was probably the first time those pre-meditated moments that can kind of creep into his game haven't been there," he said. "He looked like he just watched and reacted to what was sent down and reacted in a really positive way. I thought every ball up until he got out was a big tick."

Jackson Bird had the next breakthrough for the visitors after replacing O'Connor, who suffered a head knock sliding into the fence as he attempted to save a boundary.

"I was looking forward to putting my feet up for a few days, actually," Bird joked. "With this new rule, you've got to be ready if you do come away on tour."

Bird caught and bowled Ryan Hicksjust after Konstas' fellow 20-year-old opener brought up a maiden first-class half-century.

Bird could have had Patterson caught behind for 0, but Mitch Owen spilt the tough chance at second slip in the first over after lunch.

Patterson made the visitors pay, bringing up a 40th first-class half-century with two runs past midwicket off Bird.

His 100-run partnership with highly-rated young gun Shaw came up just before bad light forced the teams off the field yet again, with play unable to resume thereafter.