HISTORY was made on Myall Park, as the first ever Tea Gardens Hawks Women’s Tackle home game was played on Saturday, 18 May.

On a day that was just as grey and rainy as the rest of autumn so far, several girls’ and women’s teams rallied to play in their age levels, with the U-15s playing Morpeth before the main event, holding their own quite strongly until the last ten minutes saw the opponents ground two tries.

Rained out two weeks in a row, the Women’s Tackle side has been champing at the proverbial bit to get onto the field, and not even sheets of rain could stop them getting out to finally start off their season.

Playing against West Wallsend Magpies, there were some early lessons to be learnt, especially as many on the Hawks side had never played tackle rugby league before.

West Wallsend presented a strong attack for much of the game, reflected in the half-time score of 0-28 Wallsend’s way.

Despite the score, the Hawks side pulled together to defend, with one brilliant catch by Clarissa Mitchell on the back line saving another Wallsend try from being grounded.

The Hawks had some good kicking to push the ball in the right direction, but had more than one pass go into the gaps between players, especially after a crowded play.

The second half was just as gruelling for the home side, however there was a reassuring period of nearly 20 minutes where the Hawks valiantly held off the Magpies, making way for Dallas Jones to ground and convert her own try, finally getting the Hawks on the board.

The final score was a sobering 6-48 in favour of Wallsend, but clearly, through it all, the girls gave it their all, with most having nothing left in the tank, and still playing until the full-time siren, nonetheless stoked to be a part of this day in history.

By Thomas O’KEEFE