The Panthers and Rams have been drawn to face-off in the opening fixtures of both the under 16s and under 18s country championships, which will be at Lithgow on February 16.

Saturday’s games, though, will be each sides’ final hit-out of the pre-season, with Western training together since the beginning of November.

The Oberon Sportsground trials on Saturday afternoon follow two pre-season games with the Central Coast Roosters at St Mary’s, Penrith a fortnight ago.

With Johns Cup winning mentor Kurt Hancock moving up to coach the Daley Cup side in 2019 Tony Woolnough has taken charge of the Rams under 16s and both championship contenders will hope to put the polish on their respective build-ups with solid performances against the mountain men.

The Johns Cup boys will kick-off at 4pm while the under 18s are expected to start at 5.15pm.

Both Western squads still include over 20 players, but given the length of the 2019 championship – the country titles run from the middle of February to the beginning of April – Rams officials are expecting to use a large amount of players this season.

Both squads will take part in a camp at Burrendong on the February 9.

Cowboys juniors Elijah Colliss and Riley Blackhall helped Western to Johns Cup glory in 2018 and are again in the frame to appear in the green and white after trialing strongly for Hancock’s under 18s side.