But, being told your first game of rugby league since the winter will also be your Western Rams debut is another thing.

That's the scenario 21-year-old Toby Westcott faced last Sunday as the Orange Hawks' halfback filled in for the injured Harry Siejka on just three days' notice.

Western lost to Monaro 18-14 but were able to gather huge momentum in the dying stages and almost broke through for a try at the death.

He'll have more preparation this time around but he's set to throw on the seven again as the men in green will travel to Tamworth for a tussle against the Northern Tigers.

How's he feeling ahead of start number two? Cool as a cucumber.

In fact, Sunday's game didn't seem to startle Westcott or head coach Cam Greenhalgh.

"Cam was pretty cruisy about it all. He just told me to stick to my own game and not overcomplicate things," Westcott said.

"He gave me a call and asked if I'd be interested so obviously I took the opportunity when I could.

"I haven't had any involvement with the Rams because I was in the junior rep system at Sydney quite early. So, it was my first game for the Rams ever."

He admittedly took a while to warm into things but that was the case with the entire team, a tendency that wasn't overly surprising.

"For a lot of the boys playing Rams, they haven't played much footy in the last year because of COVID," he said.

"We were all a bit rusty in the first half but we started getting a bit warm towards the end of the game."

He couldn't pinpoint exactly what sparked the turnaround but an uptick in ruck speed had something to do with it.

"We started winning the ruck in the second half which made it a lot easier to play of," he said.

"We were going backwards and defending a lot in the first half. It was probably a credit to the big fellas that kept ripping in and were able to come out like that in the second half after defending so much."

He made observations of his own game too, starting with a few shanks.

"I dudded a couple of kicks early... I don't want to be doing that again.

"My lungers were busted about 10 minutes in. I got to play a bit of footy last year but still haven't really played in a while."

"I just want to be able to get us where we need to be and take the opportunities when they arise."

A quartet of Western sides will make the four and-a-half hour drive to Tamworth on Sunday as the under 16s team looks to have more on the line than anyone.

Tony Woolnough's side is winless through three attempts.

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