Bathurst St Pat's dominate in the early rounds of the Western under 21s premiership against Dubbo CYMS and Woodbridge

Coming from Molong, Grenfell, Orange, Condobolin and Cargo, some of these young men had yet to play on the same side let alone against each other as the Western under 21s competition kicked off.

Compare that to its opponents Bathurst St Pat's and Dubbo CYMS, who as Woodbridge coach Keith Selten put it: "know what size shoe they all are."

It was a tough start to the competition for the home side, copping a 28-0 loss to St Pat's early before another 20-2 defeat to CYMS.

The last match provided plenty of positives though, with CYMS leading 14-2 at half-time and only scoring the last try right on the bell. Woodbridge's defence was a major highlight, putting on a number of shots, however its ball control will need some improvement moving forward.

Selten said there was plenty to be optimisitic about despite the results.

"The first two games were good, when you're playing sides that have been together for six or seven years and come up against that sort of structure (it's tough)," he said.

"We can't do it like that, some kids have got to travel 300 kilometres for a game so what they showed in the those football games was unbelievable - they were dedicated.

"We missed a couple blokes due to other commitments and looking forward they'll turn in to a really competitive side."

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Selten agreed his side's energy is defence was its biggest asset.

"Our defence in the second game was really good against a quality side that know each other, they know what size shoe they are. (In contrast) some of these boys met for the first time this morning and hadn't laid eyes on each other.

"It's (coaching) not too much of a challenge when you've got kids that want to play, it's all about the kids and they stood tall against some of the best two sides in the competition."

For Shawn Townsend's Dubbo CYMS team, it also suffered an opening round loss against St Pat's, going down 20-0.

Townsend admitted St Pat's were simply too good.

"The expectations weren't that high, we've got a heap of kids playing this year from around 18 to 21 - we tried to get a few kids from Gilgandra but that didn't work out," he said.

"They tried hard, probably just got out muscled there in the first game - Pat's are a pretty good side, good size kids and move well."

The coach added some patience in attack could've led to a few more tries for his side against Woodbridge, but agreed that's just the exuberance of youth.

"We probably could've scored a couple late there, probably panicked a bit and tried to score off every play but that's just being young, they want to do things straight away," he said.

"Once you get a bit older you get more patience but I thought they were alright, a few good touches and good tries there."

The Western under 21s competition will continue on Sunday when Dubbo CYMS host all six teams in Dunedoo.

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