Errors prove costly for Rams in Andrew Johns Cup opening round

The Dragons came away as 22-point victors over the Western Rams at Cowra's Sid Kallas Oval on a perfect, sunny Sunday morning for football.

Nerves for the first game of the season were apparent, with the Rams knocking on in their first set, only for the Dragons to drop the ball on their first hit up in reply.

While the Rams managed to get plenty of possession early in the contest, they were unable to convert it into points.

In contrast, the Dragons capitilised early, through some quick hands and strong running, with Toby Rumble crossing the line in the sixth minute.

Handling errors seemed to plague both sides, however the Dragons continued to take advantage of their attacking chances with Cooper Harrison crossing in the 16^th minute and Billy Hahn in the 25^th.

The scoreline could have been a whole lot worse for the Rams, with only one conversion slotting through the posts in the first half.

While the break gave both sides a chance to settle, the second half followed a similar vein to the first.

South Coast again made the most of their few opportunities, with Byron Pitt crossing the strip in the 27^th minute, Samson McAllister-Wood in the 45^th and Bailey Marks 54^th.

It wasn't until 59^th minute that Western managed to cross the stripe, through a third tackle kick from five-eighth Fletcher Hunt 45 metres out.

The kick was taken cleanly by the Rams fullback Ronan Hunt-Cameron and quickly passed on to centre Malakai Folau from Parkes for the put down.

READ MORE: Western Rams pay tribute to Mason Pollack with win over Illawarra South Coast

Rams' coach, Tony Woolnough, said his side didn't do themselves any favours.

"It's very disappointing, we didn't train like that, that's not what we were about and we can be a whole lot better than that," he said.

"There were too many mistakes, you can't give a good side like that much possession and expect to win a football game.

"There were way too many mistakes, too many penalties, poor discipline and those two combined, it's a disaster."

He said simple fixes before next week would put the side in good stead.

"Just ball possession would be a start and there's a bit of discipline to go with that," he said.

"We're a much better side than that, we're a much better side. Illawarra are good but we made them look better than they really were."

On the flip side Dragons coach Aaron Hertsch was happy with the performance put on by his side.

"The defensive display today was pretty good considering our warm up games weren't that great but they really applied themselves today," he said.

Hertsch said his side was well placed for their next match but there was some work to be done.

"It's definitely something we can work on (handling errors), our completions were down but I think they just hung in there and it got them through," he said.

Western Rams 4 (Try: Malakai Folau) defeated by Illawarra South Coast Dragons 26 (Tries: Toby Rumble, Cooper Harrison, Billy Hahn, Byron Pitt, Samson McAllister-Wood and Bailey Marks, Conversion: Clay Baldock)