The Group 19 women’s nines representative side received a wake-up call after losing both their matches in Saturday’s Northern Country selection trials in Muswellbrook.
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Group 19, featuring nine Moree players, played Group 4 and Hastings.
Group 19 Coach Lorilie Haines said it was disappointing.
“It was really tough and really hot,” she said.
Group 19 – which is made up of players from Moree, Armidale, Narwan and Warialda – went down 16-8 to Group 4 and 32-12 to Hastings.
While Hastings proved too good for Group 19, Haines said luck wasn’t on their side in the Group 4 match.
“We went really well in the first game [against Group 4] but the other team had a trainer on the field telling the ref what to do, so there were a few bad calls which would have made a difference,” she said.
Haines said a break over Christmas and New Year, as well as not having the whole team attend training sessions didn't help.
I think the girls really did put in a great effort. Things just didn’t come together as planned.
- Lorilie Haines, Group 19 women's coach
“I think the girls really did put in a great effort. Things just didn’t come together as planned,” she said.
“Now that they’ve had a taste, they realise what commitment they have to make.”
Haines said it was clear that most of the other teams were much more experienced in the tackle game.
“In the other pool, there was Newcastle, Central Coast and Group 21, and their level of football compared to ours was totally different,” she said.
“It was a lot faster. You could really see that on the day.”
This is the first time Group 19 has had a women’s rugby league side, and Haines said the experience has been a great learning curve.
“We can only take the positives from it. It’s our first year in,” she said.