After an encouraging hit-out at Wauchope on the weekend the Barraba/Gwydir women's 7s side are on the countdown for their Central North debut.
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After joining forces last season the combined outfit is one of three additions to the competition for 2019 with Quirindi and Moree also entering sides.
Coincidentally, after a first round bye, they will face Quirindi in their first game.
Barraba registrar, Ally Dixon is one of those who will be pulling on the boots, and, with the women's game continuing to grow in popularity believes it will be a good thing for the club.
"I've been a big believer in it," she said.
One of the main reasons is that it provides a pathway for young players coming through.
"The school has always had girl's rugby and quite a few girls play in the Friday night competition in Tamworth," she said.
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But until the introduction of the Central North competition last year there weren't a lot of avenues for them to continue with their rugby beyond school.
"Now they've got something to keep going with, rather than having to travel away to play," she said.
She said the girls were the ones that really got the ball rolling about the Rams being involved. They then approached the River Rats, who said they had a few players that were interested.
They have so far been training as separate sides but are planning to start training together from next week.
"The men train in Bingara on Tuesday night and in Barraba on Thursday night," Dixon said. The idea is that they will do the same.
Dustin Kelly has stepped up to coach the side which ranges in age from 17 through to about 30.
With a number of the side having not played before, they had to really start with the basics . As they've picked the game up more they've incorporated more skills and drills.
Dixon admits playing wasn't her initial intention when she put up her hand to help get the side up and running, but she has enjoyed it and said it was good to be able to put into practice what they've learnt in Saturday's trial.
"For me, who'd never played before, I said to myself I just want someone to tackle me so I know what I'm in for," she said.
And while they didn't come away with the win she said there were a lot of encouraging signs.
"It showed us we have a lot of potential," she said.
