
It has been many years since Justin Toomey-White last ran out in a Western Rams jersey which makes Saturday's match against Northern Tigers even more special for the man himself.
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Toomey-White will run out in Cameron Greenhalgh's Western Rams opens side for their round one clash against the Tigers at Farrer on Saturday as the NSW Country Championships begin.
The current Wellington Cowboys captain-coach is no stranger to representing Western, playing several seasons before heading to Sydney where he enjoyed a stint at Wyong.
Upon returning home, Toomey-White opted to not play representative football but now can't wait to get out on the field.
"It's going to be pretty special," he said.
"It has been a few years since now since I've pulled the green and white jersey on. It was awesome to get named in the squad and to be able to run out there with the boys in Young a few weeks ago.
"It's go time now, it's going to be a really tough match against the Tigers on their home soil up there.
"It's going to be a good feeling running out there."
The talented back-rower will co-captain the Rams outfit as well alongside Macquarie's Alex Ronayne with the pair playing in the second row while Bathurst's Jake Betts will start at lock.
CYMS star Jeremy Thurston has been named to play at centre as has Mudgee's Corin Smith, making a scary proposition for both teams.
An injury to Chad Porter and the unavailability of Jack Littlejohn has given Ben Thompson the opportunity to start at five-eighth with Nick Greenhalgh partnering him in the halves.
The Rams have played just one match together as a group which came last month at Young in a trial fixture against Riverina but Toomey-White knows the squad is ready.
"We had a really good session on Monday so the boys are raring to go for round one," he said.
Now a knockout fixture, the Western co-captain believes the group are well aware they can't start slow in a match will be full of quality.
"That's what we spoke about on Monday night, there is no time to ease our way into the competition," he said.
"You win you are through to round two or you lose and you are out. It was a big focus for us at training but I'm just looking forward to all the boys getting up there tonight (Friday) and preparing for a tough match."
Cameron Greenhalgh was fortunate enough to get the majority of players he wanted for the Rams squad this year and Toomey-White feels the Western region is full of talent at the moment, with some great players missing out.
"'Camo' (Greenhalgh) has done well to pick a talented squad," he said.
"We are looking alright if we have got the calibre of players in the side and also the calibre of players who have missed selection for round one.
"That means nothing if we don't get up there and put our best foot forward, we've seen plenty of good sides get knocked out early in this competition.
"We've just got to rely on each other and it is going to be a 17-man effort this weekend."
Western's match will kick off at 12:50pm following the Rams under 16s and 18s fixtures which are also against the Tigers.
Both underage Rams sides are still in the hunt to make their respective finals series but need wins and results to go their way.
Western Rams: 1 Mitch Andrews, 2 Zeke Hartwig, 3 Corin Smith, 4 Jeremy Thurston, 5 Coopa Martin, 6 Ben Thompson, 7 Nick Greenhalgh, 8 Clay Priest, 9 Hayden Bolam, 10 Jack Kavanagh, 11 Justin Toomey-White (c), 12 Alex Ronayne (c), 13 Jake Betts; Bench: 14 Charlie Lennon, 15 Will Wardle, 16 Tongia Fox, 17 Casey Burgess, 18 Traie Merrit. Coach: Cameron Greenhalgh