Western name their under 18s and 16s train-on squads for Laurie Daley and Andrew Johns Cup campaigns

A total of 77 players across the two age groups were named in the squads, which will be trimmed down later in the year after several training sessions and in-house trials are conducted.

The Rams under 18s team came up just shy of a finals appearance in this year's Laurie Daley Cup while the Western 16s boys went through their five Andrew Johns Cup games without a win, which has left the returning players in both squads motivated to turn things around in 2023.

Another person motivated to get back to the top of the standings is under 16s coach Kurt Hancock.

Hancock will be keen to see what his returning players can do while seeing which new players to the age group can make a push for the final team.

"You get the 16s and they're basically at stage one, at the beginning of their representative career at a higher level. We were really happy with the trials and all teams performed really well," he said.

"It was really tough trying to select a side but we've got 37 players there who are all very good players, and you could almost field two teams in the Andrew Johns Cup. That's how happy we were with it.

"Fingers crossed that there's some future stars in that group. It's a really great pathway for them and now, with the COVID situation starting to settle, the Penrith Panthers will have a fair presence around our training again and that's going to be a big bonus for the kids."

Rams had a disjointed preparation leading up to their previous appearances in the statewide under 16s and 18s tournaments, which Hancock believes played a big part in their struggles.

He expects a better build-up for the regions players this time around as they chase more of the success they found during the competition's early years.

"We'll be able to get back to our satellite sessions which we missed out on last year. Not being able to get together once a week had a massive effect on us. We just had to fly in blind to our games," he said.

"I know the Central Coast, Illawarra, Newcastle and West Macarthur Tigers are all having some sort of influence with their SG Ball and Harold Matthews squad so the level of competition is only getting better and better each time in the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup.

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"I suppose our success early on, when we first affiliated with the Panthers, really forced the hand of the other teams. Other teams really use it as an ideal platform to develop their players now."

Even players who don't make the final cut will still be able to enjoy plenty of time and experience among the Rams camp.

"Our first session is an induction session, which will be in the first week of November. That'll give us a month and a half together before we break up for Christmas," Hancock said.

"We'll have an in-house trial and from that we'll pick our team of 20 to go into the championships. Second week back in January we'll train a couple of times before heading into trials.

"We've seen players come through and not make the 16s team and then come back as an under 17s player and really kick on with the 18s. Players develop at a different rate.

"It's exciting times. We're really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things."

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