Harvey Norman Sky Blues coach Kylie Hilder will be on the sideline at the NSW Women’s Country Championships (WCC) this weekend, where representative team jerseys are up for grabs.
After five years, the 10 teams in the 2023 WCC will be split into Northern and Southern Divisions with five rounds played over Saturday-Sunday (15-16 April) in Coffs Harbour and Queanbeyan.
The five Northern teams are: Maitland-Newcastle Region Knights, Northern Tigers, Northern Rivers Titans, Central Coast Roosters and North Coast.
The five Southern teams are: Monaro, Illawarra, Western, Riverina and Macarthur.
“We are selecting a NSW Emerging Country side that will go to the Women’s Rugby League Nationals in May,” Hilder said.
“We’re also aiming to pick a Country Under-17s squad out of these Country Championships.
“So representative jerseys are up for grabs.”
Australian Schoolgirls coach Melissa Sperro has been appointed coach of the Emerging Country side and she will be on hand at Queanbeyan’s Taylor Park to watch all the Southern Division games.
Hilder, who lives at Forster on the mid-north Coast, will be at Coffs Coast Sport and Leisure Park on both days.
The U17s Country-City match will be a first, now aligning the girls with the boys U16s which has been in existence for several years.
They will play at the NSWRL’s Country-City Championships on 6-7 May at Sydney’s Netstrata Jubilee Stadium at Kogarah featuring Men’s, U18s, U16s boys; Physical Disability, U19s, U17s girls matches. The Wheelchair Country-City game will be played in Queanbeyan.
The annual Open Women’s Country-City game, after which Hilder will finalise her 2023 Origin side, will be played on Thursday 4 May also at Kogarah.
“We’ve never staged an Under-17s for the girls before so it shows the growth in the female game that we now have the teams and numbers to do so,” Hilder said.
“It is so exciting because these Country Championships are giving female players in regional areas the chance to be seen, and a pathway to other teams and levels in our game.”
