LAST year St Pat's were crowed the best under 18s outfit in Group 10, but when it comes to 2020 the Saints are targeting Western Rams league glory.
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While Group 10, Group 11 and Woodbridge senior competitions were cancelled for the season due to the impact of the coronavirus, clubs worked with Western Region manager Peter Clarke to ensure an under 18s league goes ahead.
The solution was a 13-team Western Rams league and its one St Pat's coach Kevin Grimshaw and his players "are dying" to have a shot at.
They want to build on the momentum of last year's premiership - it was the Saints' first under 18s title in seven years - and also become the first Pat's team in this age group to win a competition in consecutive seasons.
"It's probably not what I'd call a title defence, but it's a chance for these kids to win another premiership. Even though it will be a different format, I like that any time you play there's a carrot on the end of the stick for you to win," Grimshaw said.
"I wouldn't have been happy if we were just playing and there was nothing at the end of it. Most kids now are super competitive and they like to see the end result in there or if you don't get that end result, at least you get the chance to go for it.
"It's the last year for a lot of them in junior footy and they'd like to finish it by trying to win a competition, whether it be a Group 10 competition, Group 11 or a combined competition, it's still a competition they want to win."
Grimshaw has retained a bulk of last year's premiership squad and they have already given an indication they will again be a force, having taken out the pre-season Blayney knockout in early March.
Still, the coach knows his side will face a significant challenge.
In a move to minimise the burden of travel, the Western Rams league will see teams split into three pools. The Saints have been grouped with fellow 2019 Group 10 under 18 grand finalists Bathurst Panthers, Lithgow Workies, Orange CYMS and Orange Hawks.
The top two in each pool are assured a place in the eight-team finals series, with the two best performed third-placed outfits to advance as well. If the Saints make that stage, they could find themselves pitted against an unfamiliar rival.
"It's a very good pool we're in, Lithgow won the under 16s last year so they'll be pretty strong I'd say and Panthers are always strong. The two Orange sides, CYMS and Hawks, CYMS two years ago played Pat's in the under 16s final, so they've got some good kids," Grimshaw said.
"It's going to be sudden death I think when you get to the finals, so it doesn't matter if you run eighth or first, if you go out there and perform in that game and win, you move on.
"That's a good challenge for kids before they go up to seniors where it's a pressure game every week, this will be pressure in the finals, there are no second chances. You've got to go in with the right attitude for that game or you could go out the back door.
"Playing sides from other groups, that's another challenge in itself, I think it's a good concept because you'll end up playing some sides you've probably not played before come finals time."
