Western Rams coach Cameron Greenhalgh hopeful of a number of NSW Country selections

The Rams' campaign ended with a whimper on Sunday as they produced a hugely disappointing and scrappy effort in a 46-18 loss to the Newcastle Rebels.

While almost his players were below the best against Newcastle, Greenhalgh is confident a dominant round one win over the Greater Northern Tigers and a place in the statewide semi-finals is proof of the quality this region possesses and is enough to warrant NSW Country jumpers.

Fullback and Forbes star Mitch Andrews was the only Western player to earn Country selection after last year's championships and will be in the running again alongside a number of teammates.

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Jeremy Thurston appears the most likely to receive a call-up given he scored a stunning six tries in the win over the Tigers while the powerhouse centre also crossed in the game against Newcastle.

"Jeremy is very, very dangerous on his day and has probably played his way into a Country guernsey," Greenhalgh said.

Wellington captain-coach Justin Toomey-White was another consistent force for Western across its two matches while Greenhalgh was pleased with the performance of his entire forward pack against Tamworth.

"I think they might be in the mix," the coach said.

"You're a much bigger chance if you get to that final game of the year and there was two quality teams that played there today (in the other semi) that you need to take into account as well.

"It would be good to see four or five in there. It really could be any of them but that would be just rewards and hopefully spurs them on to do better things next time."

Front-rower Clay Priest failed to follow-up a strong round one performance on Sunday as he was sent off inside the first 15 minutes after he and Newcastle hooker Luke Huth traded blows.

Jack Kavanagh and Alex Ronayne, the Macquarie Raiders captain-coaches for 2023, were full of effort across the two games, as was halfback Nick Greenhalgh.

Country selection would go some way to easing the pain felt by the playing group on Sunday.

Greenhalgh said there was severe disappointment in the sheds post-game and while he felt like this year was a missed opportunity, there were still plenty of positives.

The coach reached out to the region's best players last year to ensure the strongest Rams team in some time was chosen for the 2023 championships.

Western coaches always face a huge challenge when it comes to bringing a team from such a vast geographical area together but Greenhalgh managed a handful of training sessions and a trial against Riverina prior to the championships while he also felt the players from rival clubs enjoyed their time together.

Given all that, he was hopeful this year can set a standard for the coming seasons.

"Especially when they know they can mix it and get some success out of it," he said.

"It's been a long time since Western has held the trophy up but I get the feeling if these blokes are picked again will stand up and represent."

When asked about his own coaching future, Greenhalgh said it was too early for any decisions to be made but said he would still be able to keep an eye on players from around the region this year when he spends time watching sons Nick and Connor play for the Forbes Magpies.

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