Fresh from their debut Central North season, the Quirindi women are preparing to make their Nick Tooth Memorial Rugby Tens debut in Sydney this weekend.
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Instigated in memory of the much-loved Lion, the "Toothy Tens" as it is colloquially known will this year see the introduction of a women's competition.
Fittingly one of the first to put their names down, it will be a bit of a baptism of fire for the Lions as they battle it out against Sydney University, who were last month crowned Sydney women's champions, Easts and Gordon.
After about a month off following the conclusion of the season, they have been training hard in preparation under the guidance of coach Nick Rees. Manager Erin Moore said they have really been focusing on some of the more technical aspects with 10s a lot closer to 15s than the 7s they have been playing.
She said the girls are looking forward to experiencing 10s, although with five minute halves it will be pretty "flat chat".
"It's going to be as fast as sevens," Moore remarked.
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HSC commitments have impacted their numbers a bit. They have 12 travelling down from Quirindi, and are picking up a few other players along the way.
Around 10 of the side lining up on Saturday were part of the Lions' 7s side.
They have picked a couple of star recruits with former Wallaroo and Quirindi local Brooke Saunders to play with them.
"Laura Cleal is also coming back to play for us," Moore said.
"She played in the original Quirindi team when we played exhibition games for Ladies Day."
But the day isn't really about what happens on the field. It's about remembering a great bloke and enjoying the game that he loved, and will be "really special" to be part of Moore said.
"A lot of the girls grew up with Nick," she said.
Now into it's fifth year, the tournament is being hosted by the Eastern Suburbs Rugby Club, which Tooth, who passed away after sustaining a head injury playing for the Lions in 2015, has strong ties to. He played colts with them.
The Lions will also field a team in the men's competition, which has this year drawn a record 21 teams.
After finishing runners-up last year on debut, the Walcha Maggot Taxis are back for another crack. Robb College is also sending down a team.
They have been drawn in the same pool as the Lions.
