Group commitment needed for future Western Rams selection

So when the Wellington captain-coach spoke about the representative program in the Western Rams region at the Group 11 annual general meeting on Sunday, people sat up and took notice.

A passionate player who has almost always put his hand up for representative selection, Toomey-White described playing for Group 11 and the Western Rams as some of the proudest moments in his career.

But he added in recent seasons it's sometimes felt like most representative matches were being played "just for the sake of it".

Plans to play Indigenous All Stars matches have been discussed in recent years but a game has never gone ahead while the annual clash between Group 11 and Group 10 has struggled to attract the very best players from both competitions.

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As someone who has coached the Group 11 senior side, Toomey-White has been left with a team which looks vastly different to the one originally selected when game day against Group 10 has arrived.

It was only in 2019 when the Group 10 representative team ran out at Forbes with 16 players, and it could have been 15 if Keelan Bresac hadn't got the call-up from the crowd pre-match.

It was confirmed on Sunday the Group 11-Group 10 representative fixtures for first grade, league tag, and under 18s will still go ahead in 2022 despite the formation of the Peter McDonald Premiership.

The issue at the moment, according to barnstorming forward Toomey-White, is the match is played after the Western Rams take part in the pre-season Country Championships.

That leaves very little incentive or motivation heading into the Group 11-Group 10 match later in the season and many agreed with that comment at Sunday's AGM.

To combat that, now only players who play in that match, and those who had a valid excuse for missing it, will be available for Western Rams selection the following year.

While the issue of new players to each competition potentially being selected could still be raised, NSW Rugby League regional manager for Western, Evan Jones, said it was a step in the right direction.

"I don't think we're unique in that we've struggled with player enthusiasm for rep selection in recent years," he said after attending Sunday's meeting.

"Those players who have put their hand up have been fantastic and they're the ones we want there.

"Last year both Groups discussed and determined the Western Division squad would be selected from the Group 11-Group 10 rep game, as it was in previous years.

"We're moving back to that model and we anticipate it will restore some of that pride and the ones who will be there are the ones who want to be there."

The chance to potentially tour overseas in the coming years will also add more incentive for players.

The Western Rams hosted the French national team at Parkes in 2019 and there had been talk of a return trip, only for the COVID pandemic to ruin any hope of that.

Toomey-White also pointed to the decision to turn the Country Championships into a purely under 23s tournament as a reason senior representative football has suffered.

The Country Championships was under 23s for four years in an effort to give younger players more opportunity to be noticed but it reverted back to open-age this season.

Jones and fellow NSWRL official David Skinner praised Toomey-White for his passion and for providing a players' view and agreed the under 23s format didn't work and that's why it was changed back for this year.