The Western Sydney Rams have answered a number of fans questions regarding the franchise and the 2016 National Rugby Championship season via their website.

The full article is available at: http://ramsrugby.com.au/news/questions-answers-2016/

On recruitment:

As part of the Q&A, the Rams confirmed their coaching staff with John Muggleton as head coach and Jeremy Paul and Joel Wilson to assist.

While the Rams admitted they hadn’t finalised their squad, they did confirm the signings of Waratahs Will Skelton, Hugh Roach and Senio Toleafoa as well as former New Zealand rugby league international Kevin Locke.

On the back of strong Shute Shield seasons, the Rams said they have their eyes on Dave Lolohea, Tyrone Viiga, Dewet Roos, Rohan Safaloi, Waldo Wessels, Mitch Walton, Matt Gibbon, Jarome McKenzie

Will the Rams be competitive?

“Yes. Our first priority though will be making the Rams ‘hard to beat. Win or lose, we want the opposition to know they’ve played a Western Sydney rugby team.

“Our scrum and line out must be functioning at a very high percentage in order to release pressure on us and transfer it to them. Secondly we must learn to use the ball wisely so that if we give the ball to the opposition at any time it is by design rather than by mistake.

“To do this we aim to attack hard and fast, kick with purpose and attack defensively.”

On rugby in Western Sydney:

“Substantial growth is possible and probable with strong leadership, planning and financial commitment from the ARU, NSWRU, Rams, clubs and local stakeholders.

“There is a huge opportunity for rugby and we don’t even have to compete head on with other major codes.

“The Blue Mountains, Liverpool, Blacktown, Rouse Hill and the Hills region need to be considered in detail as Western Sydney demographics have changed. It’s our view that rugby territories are outdated and unproductive.

“Historical strongholds like Granville, Concord and Penrith need more support to advance.”

On the name change – Western Sydney Rams:

“With the ARU altering the number of teams from four (Eagles and Stars merge) teams to three (Rays, Eagles, Rams), it ended up a fairly natural progression.

“Western Sydney is 46% of Sydney. In 20+ years it’s looking like 60%+. Our future home ground, training facilities and corporate support will come from the west.

It’s also clear the Rams and the NRC are here to stay and we want to establish the Rams for generations to come. All NRC Franchises were offered a 5 year licence in line with ARU broader commitments.”

On the relationship with NSW Rugby:

“Traditionally NSWRU has not been NRC focussed – although Greg Harris (ex NSWRU CEO) sought to effect changes that could help NRC.

“As it stands, Andrew Hore (NSWRU CEO) is still getting his ‘feet under the desk’. Our initial take is an intelligent guy who gets the importance of rugby from the ‘bottom-up’.

“More specifically someone who has worked hard for success and deserves the NSWRU CEO opportunity.John Muggleton knows Andrew from Wales. Andrew also reached out to the Rams Board swiftly and relationships have been established.

“Our expectation is by the end of 2016 greater ‘NSW operational’ alignment will exist between kids, subbies, community (Shute), elite pathway (NRC) and elite (Super). In our opinion this has been a monumental struggle since NRC inception.”