The Western Rams' push to go one better at the Andrew Johns Cup had its best on-field start on Saturday in the under 16s and 18s trial matches at Blayney on Saturday.
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The under 16s had the better of their trial game against Penrith, with Rams under 16s -coach Tony Woolnough's count of nine tries to two the western side's way.
The Rams came second in the cup last year in both age groups, and Woolnough and under 18s coach Kurt Hancock said they were champing at the bit to claim the title in 2020.
The trial match didn't have goals after tries and was merely a run to freshen up the legs but Woolnough said there was plenty to come out of the game for his side.
"We were very rusty, it's very, very early but we're just looking to put the basics in progress," he said.
"Penrith are always strong and always come out with some big boys but I was just looking for some of our boys to be playing hard, playing tough and to put their hand up."
His side has only had the one training session together for the season, with most of the boys all coming together in the past week at Manildra.
Despite Penrith coming to Blayney "under-strength", he said it was a stellar hit-out for "our first run on the park".
Woolnough wouldn't pick any standouts from the encounter, saying everyone on the park performed their role, with another game to come against Northern Tigers in coming weeks.
"Everyone in the squad will travel for that, then after that we'll cut it down and go into a camp at Burrendong," he said.
"We've just got to keep doing what we're doing, that two day camp we'll nail down what we want to be doing and how we're going to do it.
"Last year it was very important taking the squad there and getting the final 17 or 18 down pat."
He said the under 18s had heavy rotation in their match, with nearly three squads' worth of players lining up for the trial game.
"It was hard to gauge how it was all going considering they had so many players coming on and off," Woolnough said.
"I don't envy the job Kurt Hancock has trying to pick a team out of that."
The Andrew Johns Cup begins in mid-February.