In Saturday's 28-12 grand final victory over the North Coast Bulldogs the Rams attack was far from its best, but the defensive effort was once again top notch when it mattered most.

Rams allowed the Bulldogs to almost draw level with them during a second half comeback and the Western women had to rediscover their discipline when the pressure was high.

They showed their class back picking up several late tries to put the result beyond doubt.

Player of the game Alicia Earsman picked up a brace for the Rams and made big metres with every hit up.

Alahna Ryan, Xanthe Booth and skipper Rebecca Smyth were the other standouts in attack for the Rams, though it was a team effort in defence that the grand final victory at Woy Woy will be best remembered for.

The win completed a premiership double on the day for the Rams, whose Lisa Fiaola Cup team won their grand final just over an hour earlier.

Coach Kev Grimshaw said the threat of a Bulldogs comeback kicked his team back into gear.

"We were cruising early on. We controlled the ball, attacked and defended well, and then we probably got a bit ahead of ourselves and we got a kick in the arse for it," he said.

"They regathered and I never felt after their second try that the Bulldogs were getting another one. They relied on their defence to turn the game around and they did that."

Grimshaw said his squad recognised the importance of wearing a Western Rams jersey, especially in the 50 year anniversary of the famous Amco Cup triumph.

"We all got together for the first time at the St Pat's club, where we had talks from Jess Skinner and Peter Clarke about the history of what it means to play for Western Division," he said.

"These girls have taken that on board one game after another, and that jumper means so much to them.

"They can't take that '2024 - Western Rams' off the trophy now. They've earned it."

It took just three minutes for the Rams to make the scoreboard tick over when Booth dived across from dummy half.

Her opposite number, Belinda Anderson, had to leave the field with an injury during the play and the lack of direction at dummy half hurt the Bulldogs.

Both sides were playing rushed in attack and making mistakes but the Rams line speed in defence was helping them stay clear of any danger.

Following several missed chances Rams eventually got in for another try in the 17^th minute when quick hands from Smyth and Ryan put the ball into the hands of winger Emilie Browne.

On their next trip downfield Rams ran an identical move to the left side, only this time Ryan held onto the ball and picked the gap to push the score out to 14-0.

When Earsman dragged three defenders over the line for an early try in the second half, making it 18-0, it looked like the Rams might run away with the contest.

However, Western's attack fell to pieces following the try and the Bulldogs quickly got themselves within six points

Anderson returned to the field and scored her side's first try of the day with just under 20 minutes to go.

That was followed on the next Bulldogs set by a try to centre Tiarna Dunn after a great run from her five eighth Nakita Binge.

The Rams could never quite shake the errors completely out of their game but a much more composed final 10 minutes saw them picked up two more tries to put the game away.

Quick hands to the right edge put Kiara Sullivan over the try line and an ever-dominant Earsman followed that up with her second try of the day.

WESTERN RAMS 28 (Alicia Earsman 2, Xanthe Booth, Emilie Browne, Alahna Ryan, Kiara Sullivan tries; Sarah Colman 2 conversions) defeated NORTH COAST BULLDOGS 12 (Belinda Andersen, Tiarna Dunn tries; Tina McRae 2 conversions)