The Western Rams under 16s and 18s sides sent a warning to the rest of the Laurie Daley Cup and Johns Cup competitions after both emerged victorious from trial games against Riverina at Spooner Oval in Forbes on Saturday evening.
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It was the under 18's side who particularly impressed; after pushing each other to the limit as individuals at training they came together superbly as a team in an ominous sign for their rivals.
The Kurt Hancock coached Rams ran in seven tries to one and They didn't concede that try until the final 17-minute quarter and given eight members of the squad were absent as they took part in SG Ball trials with NRL clubs, the performance was even better.
"All-in-all I'm over the moon," Hancock said.
"Up until the weekend they'd been competing against each other as individuals, they'd been doing in-house trials and training and testing.
"So for me probably the most pleasing thing was seeing them go from working as individuals to really working well in a team environment.
"One of the big things we base our Rams on is that if you want individual success you've got to have team success, that's the way it goes. If our team is winning, we are going to get more people noticed," said Hancock.
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Winger Lachlan Lawson and second rower Finn Neilsen, a star Parkes junior, both scored for Western in the opening quarter to set the tone for the trial.
Though some errors crept into Western's game in the second half, fatigue and heat playing a role in that, the way they stood up in defence pleased Hancock.
"They were really good, I was really happy with their attitude, their intent, there were some real positives to take out of that, it was something to really build on leading into the Laurie Daley Cup," Hancock said.
It wasn't pretty for the under 16s, but they got the job done.
Coach Tony Woolnough said his side's first team-run together was exactly what you'd expect from the young gun's debut.
"It was a bit messy, for sure, but that's always expected in the first team run, and the first real run they've had together as a team against someone else, you can't expect too much," Woolnough said.
Despite being under pressure throughout nearly the entirety of their trial match against the Riverina Bulls, the Rams held tight to restrict the Bulls to only one consolation try.
"I was very happy with that defensive effort, it was a very strong showing, especially keeping them to just that one try, but there's still a lot of work to do," Woolnough said.
Despite the win, Woolnough says the competition has definitely tightened following last year's successful run that was sadly cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's definitely tougher, I was even speaking to their coach after the game and they still had three players trialling with the Raiders, if those boys don't make that squad, they'll come back, so it'll be a much harder competition," Woolnough said.
"Having said that, we've still got a few at Penrith trialling with the Panthers."
This weekend the Rams junior sides will have another chance to develop as they head to Kandos, to trial again against the Northern representative side.
