The side came from behind to defeat Panthers 22-20 as the curtain-raiser for the Charity Shield match.

The Rams got the first on the board through Tom Phillips seven minutes in, Panthers fought back with two in three minutes through Ryley Smith and Javae Correia, with Keegan Russel-Smith converting the first to give the visitors a 10-6 lead.

Correia would complete a hat-trick with two more on the other side of the half - in the 37^th and 41^st minutes to put the side up 20-6.

However, Rams skipper Jack Hartwig said the side "didn't panic".

"We had to stay positive and come together," he said.

"We didn't panic, just settled some of the things we needed to sort out."

Noah Ryan went over in the 54^th minute and Cody Lawson converted.

Cody Crisp from Parkes dashed across the line six minutes later and Lawson again converted, and two minutes after that Tom Phillips went over the line to put the Rams up.

It would be the last score of the game as Western rallied in defence to hold the Panthers at bay, something which pleased Hartwig, who relished playing as the curtain-raiser to the NRL Charity Shield trial game afterwards.

"It was quite a big crowd, it's not often you get to play in front of a crowd like that so it was really nice to do that and to come away with the win," he said.

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Hartwig added the side had come together after "a couple of errors" but rallied really well.

Coach Kurt Hancock said while there were still improvements to be made from the clash, he was stoked with how his charges responded.

"Those guys are a pretty tough group of players, there was a big improvement from the first half," he said.

"They're a talented group of really good players and they don't shy away from doing the hard work ... as a coach that gives you so much confidence."

He said Hartwig shone when he was moved into the centres, while Phillips and Jack O'Neill, Cody Crisp and Finnley Neilsen, also of Parkes - the latter three starting on the bench - also shone.

Hancock said the idea to keep three of his best players on the pine to begin with was to break even with Panthers early and then fire back late.

While the Rams certainly fired back, Hancock admitted the first part of the plan didn't pan out, flagging less preparation in the preseason as one of the reasons behind that.

"Guys were playing country and needed a bit of a spell but it showed in the first two weeks," he said.

"Last year we really hit the ground running but we're building this year, we had some good signs on Saturday."

He said the side was hoping to continue its improvement this coming weekend in Blayney.

The Rams' under 16s side went down to the Panthers 30-16 before the 18s' clash.

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