They didn't start the campaign with the intensity he would have liked but Western Rams under 16s coach Tony Woolnough is stoked at the turnaround his men showed in their round two Laurie Dailey Cup victory over Riverina.
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The men in green travelled to Leeton for the clash on Sunday, holding on for a 20-16 triumph despite running into some handling errors towards full time.
"I think we learned a few lessons last week and it was a massive improvement on that," Woolnough said.
"The forwards were strong and in the second half we got an eight-point lead."
One of the leading forwards was skipper and try scorer Connor Vardanega, the Bloomfield boy looming large for the men in green both this week, and in round one.
And even though the physicality was up to par on Sunday, it's something that's been lacking in recent times.
"It's tough footy week-to-week and I don't know if they were up for it in the first round," he said.
"We've had enough talent to certainly have a crack at it."
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Not only would Woolnough like to ensure that the contact continues to be up to scratch, he wants to keep the errors under wraps too.
"We can't give the good sides that much ball and expect to win," he said.
"We found that out the week before against the Dragons."
Vardanega is one of seven Orange players who feature in the Rams' under 16s program, and Woolnough's got nothing but good things to say about the young stars.
"They're cleary coached really well and they're all very advanced," he said.
"There's a lot of talent in this group and if they can all understand the structures we're trying to implement, I think we can go deep in the competition."
The under 16s weren't the only Rams side to collect a win at Leeton on Sunday as the 18s also triumphed with a 58-6 victory.
The visiting side set the tone early with two tries in the opening 10 minutes and was able to add a third before Riverina was finally able to respond with a try to Zain Mitchell-Dowding.
Riverina was their own worst enemies coming out of its own end as ongoing errors inside their own half gave the Rams the opportunities they needed.
The mistakes allowed Western to capitalise as they held at 24-6 lead at half time.
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Jake Humphreys
Sports nut at the Central Western Daily.
Sports nut at the Central Western Daily.
