HUNTER continued their NSW Country Women’s Championship dominance at Tamworth Rugby Park on Saturday, collecting their 17th straight title.
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Hunter have only not won two of the 19 championships contested, and after wins over Illawarra (19-12), New England (48-nil) and Central North (31-nil), set the tone early in their final game against Central West, jolting the ball loose the first tackle.
It was effectively a final, with the two sides undefeated to that point.
From that first tackle Hunter had all of the possession and territory and eventually scored about five minutes in.
They crossed again half a minute before half-time to lead 14-nil at the break.
That blew out to 21-nil after a brilliant individual effort from fullback Sarah Halvorsen, weaving her way through over 50m.
Hunter kicked on from there to win 41-nil.
It was the second time in five years Tamworth has hosted the championships and saw five zones battle it out for the silverware.
That was almost double last year.
“Last year we had three teams and one of those teams was put together by me from girls around the state,” NSW Country Women’s chairman Larry Thomson said.
“We were worried about the demise.
“This year we did a bit of research and we said we’d come north.”
So they did for what was one of the better carnivals they’ve had.
“Even though there’s been a few results that have got away it’s been competitive,” Thomson said.
In four of the games there was only a try in it.
Thanks to the inclusion of Sevens in the Olympics, women’s rugby has been enjoying a real surge in interest but in all that the 15-a-side game has been a bit lost.
Thomson is hoping Saturday might be a start to rebuilding interest.
One of the biggest problems is regular games.
“The only women’s competitions we’ve got in country rugby is in Newcastle-Hunter and Central West,” he said.
The advent of ladies league tag hasn’t helped.
It is flourishing at the moment and is drawing its share of rugby recruits.
Thomson pointed out about a third of the Jillaroos (Australian women’s rugby league team) are rugby players.
Saturday’s championships also served as a selection trial for the Country Corellas squad to play against Sydney, and participate at the Southern States Championships and the National Championships.
Hunter players, not surprisingly, dominate but there was some success for a couple of the Kookaburras and Lions, with Armidale’s Ellie Fordyce and Kelly Taylor, and Moree’s Ashleigh Walker catching selectors’ eyes.