The Western Women’s Rugby League (WWRL) competition is allowing Lachlan District to prove it’s a region laden with talented young women eager for a taste of women’s tackle.
An incredible effort by a hard-working group led by Jenny Hocking, Richard Harper, Troy Gosper, and company, has Lachlan District fielding teams in the Open, Under-18, Under-16, Under-14, and Under-12 age groups.
They’re not just making up the numbers either with their Under-18s (pictured above) unbeaten and top-of-the-table following three rounds, while the remainder of their junior outfits have landed good results.
The Open competition has been more challenging, but Lachlan District is improving with every game.
Gosper, who coaches both the Open and Under-18 Lachlan District sides, said the talent was there - it was a matter of unleashing it in what is fast becoming one of the biggest country-based women’s tackle competitions in NSW.
“We’ve been competitive in our first year, and in the first couple of weeks, every junior team has had a win, and I’d be surprised if our Under-18s and Under-14s aren’t playing finals,” Gosper said.
“We’ve got some really talented players, and just in the 18s, five players have played (NSWRL) Tarsha Gale Cup.
“We had two with Penrith and players with the Roosters, Rabbitohs, and Canberra, and more talent is coming through those younger age groups.”
Drawing players from Rugby League nurseries such as Parkes, Forbes, Condobolin, Canowindra, Trundle, West Wyalong, and Grenfell, Gosper described a “triangle of towns with a few in between” that was now represented in the WWRL.
“Previously, a lot of local players would play for Woodbridge, and a few went to the Goannas in Dubbo because they wanted to play tackle,” he said.
“Now that we’ve got a team, we’ve got most of those players back, and we’ve brought in heaps of new players, which is great.”
Creating the Lachlan District Club and fielding five teams didn’t happen overnight, with this year’s campaign a few years in the making.
“It’s our first year, but there was a lot of work involved in getting it off the ground,” Gosper said.
“I got involved early when they talked about it and got on the committee and put my hand up to coach, but we didn’t think we would get an Open team to start with.
“I was coaching the Under-18s, and I told the committee that if we got an Open team, I’d coach, and we ended up getting a team and about 18 players, and they held me to my word.
“It’s been great, and I’d say it (WWRL) is the premier country tackle comp for women at the moment so it’s good to have Lachlan District involved.”
Lachlan District heads to Dubbo on Sunday to play the unbeaten Wiradjuri Goannas in their Round Four contests at Apex Oval.
“We want to improve every week, which we’ve done already in the two games we’ve played,” Gosper said.
“We’ve been beaten in both games, but we’ve learned a lot, and even on the weekend (against the Orange Vipers), we lost the first half easily but came back even in the second half.
“A lot of them have never played tackle before and they have all come in from different clubs. So, we are still working on combinations, and we’ll only get better the more we play.”
Other Open division Round Four matches on Saturday are: Castlereagh Cougars hosting the Orange Vipers at Coonamble Sports Ground, and the Mudgee Dragons taking on a visiting Panorama Platypi at Glen Willow Regional Sports Complex.
Click here for all WWRL results and draws.
