The Rams 18s are set to open their Laurie Daley Cup season against the Illawarra Dragons at Shellharbour following the completion of a match between the same two clubs in the Andrew Johns Cup (under 16s).

Ferrari and Macquarie's Tyrone Tattersall are the only two Dubbo players selected for the opening match and the former cannot wait to play a game for the first time in months, after COVID-19 cut short the end of the Group 11 season in 2021.

"Obviously excited, it's the first game back after the season was cut short last year," he said.

"I'm looking forward to getting into it and the boys are looking pretty good and they are keen to rip in, so it should be good."

Like many sporting teams around the region, the Western Rams 16s and 18s have been affected by COVID-19 cases in and around their teams with Ferrari admitting the virus affected their camp last weekend.

"'Hank' (Kurt Hancock) our coach, we had a camp on the weekend and he was isolating," he said.

"Obviously a week out from the competition start it isn't ideal but it's just the world we live in at the moment and that's the way it works."

Sunday's match against Illawarra will be the first of at least five for the Rams and Ferrari believes it does not get much more difficult than facing the Dragons at home.

"It's always tough playing away but Illawarra they are always a pretty good side," he said.

"It should be a good hit out for the boys to start the year and see where we are at."

Hancock and his fellow coaches regularly hold camps before the start of their respective representative seasons which help unite players from all over the Western area, with many youngsters being unaware of one another apart from trials.

Ferrari believes mixing it with the best in Western is always fun and he feels you can make some lifelong friends after playing in the Rams system.

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"It's always good, you make plenty of mates," he said.

"People always tell you how it good it was for them and their mates who they still talk to.

"It's always nice to meet new people and make new connections to other towns."

A towering back-rower, the quietly spoken Ferrari admitted he will have a simple job in Sunday's game but one which could go a long way to getting the Rams' season off to the best possible start.

"At the moment, it's just looking to do my job for the team," he said.

"Taking those tough carries and making my tackles to get through a fair bit of work.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Macquarie representative Tyrone Tattersall will line-up for the Rams at fullback it what looks to be exciting backline which could be capable of scoring points from anywhere on the field.

The majority of the rest of the team is made up of Group 10 representatives.

The Tony Woolnough-coached under 16s side will start Sunday's proceedings in their match against the Dragons which is set to kick-off at 10am while the 18s will immediately follow with their match scheduled to get underway at 11:20am at Shellharbour's Ron Costello Oval.

Matches will be live streamed via NSWRL.

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