After describing Manly as the ‘best of the best’, Hancock went on to list how much his side will benefit from the experience.

“They went to a place they have never been with their footy before,” Hancock said.

“They have never played a game that quick and they’ve never played a side that was so big and fast.

“There were stages where we fought back and kept ourselves in the game but the speed of the match early made it hard.”

The Rams scored a try in each half but their opening four-pointer might have been the highlight of the afternoon as Mudgee Dragons’ winger Cody Lawson launched himself over just a few inches inside the corner post.

The game was in the balance towards the final 20 minutes but Manly ran away with it as their monstrous forward pack punched through Western’s ruck more and more as the match went on.

Hancock commended the strength and speed of Manly, attributing a fair chunk of that to their advanced training regime – something Kurt would like to implement during Western’s 2019 campaign.

“They train three to four times a week and they’ve got a heavy weights program with a high performance unit,” he said.

“I’m going to sit down with Peter Clarke and the other guys that help map out the program and I think during next year’s pre-season we’ll do a lot more of that – the body science kind of things.

“We want to get these guys to where they need to be for their careers down the track.”

Manly’s training routine more than trumped Western’s as the Rams struggled to get their side together more than once a week.

“Logistically, we couldn’t get together,” he said.

“It was too hard. We had a player from Bourke and one from Oberon.

These are the hurdles Hancock wants to combat in the coming years in order to close the gap in competition between country sides and the very best outfits from Sydney.

The Central West region boasts a strong crop of current and future rugby league stars and Hancock thinks that contingent will grow the more they introduce these high-performance training methods.

“We have some of the best footy players in the country but if we can give them some better tools to help them when they get there… well, that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it was great exposure from the kids and they learned a lot from it.

“That was our whole goal from it and I hope it continues and happens again next year.

“The score-line doesn’t mean anything. It’s all about exposure for these kids in the bush.”