Western Rams coach Cam Greenhalgh only has a week to put together his best squad for the looming Presidents Cup competition but after a healthy turnout at Brendon Sturgeon on Saturday the mentor is optimistic about not only the crop of players he has at his disposal but the physical condition they're in.
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"We really put the boys through their paces and I wasn't expecting their fitness to be outstanding but they did a good job," he said.
"There were about 20 guys who turned up. Some were unavailable with other commitments but the turnout was good."
There were a few standouts for Greenhalgh but someone who could make an impact as part of an already-stellar forward pack is Orange Hawks import Tom Romer, who was shaping as one of the bigger two blues signings ahead of the cancelled Group 10 campaign.
Romer made his way to the Central West from St Mary's and Greenhalgh's looking forward to coaching the big boy.
"I had a good yarn to him on Saturday," Greenhalgh said, Ethan McKellar (Hawks), Harry Siekja (Mudgee), Jack Beasley (Mudgee), Mitch Burke (Forbes), Jay Slavin (Parkes), Cody Godden (Lithgow) and Liam Henry (Blayney) on deck for the Rams' first training run.
"Tom was one of the guys who performed really well at training and I'm looking forward to seeing what he will do and what he can offer," Greenhalgh added.
The Rams circuit has most recently involved under 23s players but Greenhalgh was happy to see what he described as a '50-50 split' at Saturday's session.
"We had a good mix of older fellas there who have played a lot of rep football in the past," he said.
The looming July 18 kick-off could cause some selection headaches for the coach but they're headaches he's willing to live with, preferring a deep pool of players to select from than a shallow one.
Particularly given the opposition Western will face.
Dubbo CYMS will contest the Presidents Cup and have seriously bolsterd their squad ahead of the campaign, with ex-Sharks forward Jason Bukuya inking a deal to play with the Fishies.
Greenhalgh says the key to the Rams performing well will be ensuring competition for places continues to develop amongst a deep squad.
"I've got to be patient but I've also got to put together an initial side of 18 next Monday," he said.
"I've got a lot of players to choose from and that could make the selection a bit rough but we'll get there.
"Guys keep showing interest all the time and even though a lot of guys looked good at the first session, no one's guaranteed a spot."
