Jeremy Thurston scores six tries as Western Rams score Country Championships win over Greater Northern Tigers

The Dubbo CYMS star scored a brilliant six tries as Western produced one of its greatest representative performances in recent history.

The Rams defeated the Greater Northern Tigers 64-18 and in a warning to the rest of the competition, Western coach Cameron Greenhalgh said his side had more in the tank.

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Greenhalgh made an effort to get the very best players in the region to commit to rep footy this year - something that hasn't always been the case - and with quality across the park players like Thurston were able to thrive.

The leading try-scorer in last year's Peter McDonald Premiership had people scouring the record books to see if six tries was a championships record, and Greenhalgh had nothing but praise for the powerhouse outside back.

"You throw Jeremy in a quality side and that's what he can do," Greenhalgh said.

"Six tries in any game, let alone a country champs game, is a pretty massive effort and he was outstanding.

"He was right on yesterday (Saturday)."

As someone with explosive pace and real power when running the ball, Thurston is a handful for any defence and Greenhalgh allowed him plenty of freedom on Saturday.

He scored two tries inside the first five minutes during what was a dominant opening to the game for Western while he also switched positions with fullback Mitch Andrews throughout the contest.

"There's just something about him," Greenhalgh said.

"He's deceptively strong, he's obviously quick and he's got really good hands.

"On his day he's nearly unstoppable and that was him pretty much yesterday.

"He started in the centres and I swapped him and Mitch around a few times to keep both of them fresh and it seemed to work. I think he scored most of his points while he was on an edge but he was outstanding and everyone thought that."

As much as Thurston was the star of the show, there was plenty to like about the complete performance.

The coach wanted a strong start and that's what he got as a stellar forward pack of Jack Kavangh, Clay Priest, Jake Betts and co-captains Justin Toomey-White and Alex Ronayne set the tone.

A pinpoint 40/20 from halfback Nick Greenhalgh in the first set of the match led to Thurston's first try while the Rams were in again before the Tigers even got a chance with ball in hand.

Thurston had four tries inside the first 28 minutes as Western raced out to a commanding 22-6 lead.

A Corin Smith intercept and 80m dash helped the Rams to a 28-6 half-time lead and the second half was more of the same as Mitch Andrews, Will Wardle, Casey Burgess and Alex Ronayne all crossed while there was also time for two more four-pointers for Thurston.

Nick Greenhalgh also kicked 10 conversions in a fine day out.

"We spoke about getting the players to commit and they have committed and it's taken a little while with a group of such good players," the coach said.

"They're very competitive in their own team environment so you get them together and get them to gel and they're just starting to click.

"It was a really good win but I think we've got more in us."

With talk of the Tigers wanting to take the Rams in the forward pack in the lead-up to the game, Western's big men stepped up in a big way.

Greenhalgh credited props Priest and Kavanagh and lock Betts for setting the platform and allowing the likes of Thurston to dominate out wide.

The coach added it was a proud moment to see the quality turn into one of the best results Western has had in some time and boosted the belief the Rams can earn a drought-breaking place in the championships finals.

The round two draw is yet to be confirmed but the match is set to be played on the weekend of March 18 and 19.

In other round one matches on Saturday, the Northern Rivers Titans downed the North Coast Bulldogs 42-6 and Newcastle Rebels defeated Central Coast 36-14.

On Sunday, Illawarra South Coast cruised past Macarthur 58-12 while Riverina defeated Monaro 42-12.

In Sunday's games, Macarthur was taking on Illawarra South Coast while Monaro and Riverina did battle.

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