Current Western Rams co-captain confirms where he will play in 2024

The representative player and former Raiders captain-coach took to the field for the first time this year on Saturday for Group 11, leading the team to a win and a loss.

Ronayne made the decision over the summer to step away from the dual coaching and captaincy role, opting to focus on his growing carpentry business instead.

It was this decision along with Jack Kavanagh being named as Macquarie's sole coach for 2024 which brought rumours about other clubs circling around.

However, Ronayne was quick to confirm where he will be playing this year.

"I'm definitely with Macquarie 100 per cent, I'll give them another year," he said.

"Jase (Boney) did well and it's good to see of our boys out there."

An experienced representative player, Ronayne is the current captain of the Western Rams side along with Justin Toomey-White and will now have to wait to see if he is selected in Kurt Hancock's squad.

Saturday's three-match fixture was flagged as a true Western Rams trial but the withdrawals of several big names gave the opportunity for younger and newer players to step up.

Boney was one of many incoming Peter McDonald Premiership players who took to the field on Saturday and looked lively in the playmaking role.

Jordi Madden partnered Boney in the halves for a mix of youth and experience, however, Ronayne believes it won't be long until the former is running things on his own.

"Jordi Madden is going to be a star of the game very soon, Group 11 has a really good team coming up," he said.

For almost every player, Saturday was their first match of the year with club trial matches to be played over the coming months before round one and the weather wasn't kind to them.

Across the whole day, players from all five games showed signs of struggling with the heat and it made for some sloppy play.

"She was hot out there but look it's good to get out here and get a few ks in the legs," Ronayne said.

The annual Group 10 v Group 11 fixture has always been one of the highlights of the season but this year it featured a third team, Castlereagh.

Led by Western forward Luke Thompson and the Burgess brothers, Castlereagh took the game to both Group 10 and 11 during their respective encounters.

Boasting arguably the best forward pack on the day, Ronayne believes Castlereagh deserves to stay around the representative scene.

"Absolutely (they should be here), they had a good team with the Burgess boys there," he said.

"It's good to see them there and I think they deserve a spot as well."