JESSYCA Morgan and Taneika Landsborough received deserving honours when the Greater Northern Tigers ladies tackle side celebrated their first representative season at North Tamworth Bowling Club.
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Former Northern Division (now Greater Northern) hooker Mick Schmiedel coached the Tiger girls in their baptismal year.
They played two games, losing to North Coast in their first and then beating Northern Rivers Titans in Armidale.
It was a steep learning curve in the infancy of ladies league tackle representative, said Schmiedel.
"I have to admit we were underdone for the first game and didn't know what to expect," Schmiedel said.
"They did come out in the second game against Northern Rivers and had a good win."
Merriwa's Jessyca Morgan won the two major awards, claiming the players' player award as well as the representative player award - as awarded by coach Schmiedel and Greater Northern officials.
For the 28-year-old pre-school teacher it was a nice reward for playing a game she loves.
"Been playing since I was five," she said at the recent Greater Northern Ladies League Tag Championships, when she was part of the Group 21 league tag side.
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Her Hunter Valley Group side lost both its games, 18-10 to Group 19 and 12-nil to winners Group 4.
"I love the tackle," she said. "Played with the boys all the way through the junior age groups.
"Love it. It's 10 times better than playing league tag."
Schmiedel said Morgan deserved her awards after two huge games.
"She won our players' player award in one game, and Taylah Blackadder (won it in] the other," Schmiedel said.
"Jessyca did a mountain of work in the front0-row in both games."
Landsborough is 10 years Jessyca's junior and until this year had not played 13-a-side tackle.
She was named the GN Tigers' first ladies tackle rookie of the year.
"I really enjoyed it," the lightly built young flyer from Armidale said of her tackle experience.
"I'd only played a few nines games before this year. I did enjoy [them] more than league tag."
The humble and happy teenager has a few goals for her tackle league but was reticent to say what they are, although she eventually confessed she wants "to take my tackle as far as I can".
That could mean moving to Sydney and trying out with one of the big tackle clubs playing in the NRL competition.
Schmiedel said she oozes natural ability and could be a real star in tackle.
"For a girl who turned 18 during the championships, she was outstanding. Her ability to read the game was great. Her attack and defence was outstanding."
