Western Rams 20-man squad confirmed for Country Championship clash with Monaro Colts

Getting players together from the geographically largest region in the Country Rugby League (CRL) is the biggest hurdle facing Rams coaches.

For Western under 23s coach Tim Ryan, this season has seen even more territory covered.

The former Dubbo CYMS mentor has done more than 3000km since the start of the year in order to give his side the best chance of a drought-breaking win, while some players have travelled even more than that.

"It's taken a little bit of work and there's so much distance it was hard to get together," Ryan said, now in his second year as 23s coach.

"We had a bloke from Bourke who came in and another coming from Cronulla each time, he studies at uni in Bathurst, so we're fairly spread out."

The Western Rams haven't won a Country Championships match for the past six years, the most recent two campaigns coming after the CRL made the switch to the under 23s format.

This season the Rams are guaranteed two games, with a clash with the Monaro Colts this Sunday at Parkes and a game against the Greater Southern Region Wests Tigers a week later at Bathurst.

Ryan and his side have enjoyed a thorough build-up to this season's campaign with regular training sessions and impressive performances delivered in trial matches against St Mary's, South Newcastle, and Group 10 side Oberon.

The tries have flowed in those matches and while Ryan knows this weekend's clash with Monaro will be a whole different ask, he still wants his players to express themselves.

"Mainly I've just tried to bring them together," he said of his players.

"You can't do a great deal of training. It's not structured too much, we want them to play a bit of footy and in the trials they've shown each and other and the coaching staff what they can do."

A final squad of 20 was released on Wednesday but Ryan said he won't settle on a starting 17 until putting the players through their paces at training on Saturday.

The clash with the Colts follows and the side which draws on the Canberra region has been a dominant force in the two years of under 23s.

After trouncing the Rams in round one in 2016 the Colts went on to claim the title while last season they finished as runners-up.

"They'll be strong. They have been for years," Ryan said.

"They'll be coming out to put us under an enormous amount of pressure."

Dubbo CYMS' Wade Kavanagh, Forbes duo Ben Maguire and Mitch Burke, and Orange Hawks' Rakai Tuheke all played in the 62-0 loss to the Colts in 2017 and Ryan said they and the handful of players backing up from last year would be key on Sunday.

"We've got a bit of size this year, we haven't had that. But we still lose seven or eight from last season so you're almost back to square one, which is frustrating," the coach said.

"But the four or five from last year have helped … they know what it's all about and what they're up against after playing Illawarra South Coast last year.

"They definitely know how difficult it is."

Kavanagh is joined in the Rams squad by CYMS teammates John Ciappara and Jackson Bonham-Phair.

Sunday's match at Jock Colley Field kicks off at 2.20pm, capping off a massive day of representative footy in Parkes.

The Rams' Johns Cup and Daley Cup sides will also be in action their, while the Western women also meet Monaro in their first match of the Country Championship.