THE Coffs Coast’s best Oztag players have put their skills to the ultimate test, taking on the state’s finest at the NSW Senior State Championships.

Coffs Harbour had four teams representing their region at a state level on their home fields, fielding Mixed Open, Women’s Open, Mixed Senior, and Men’s 50s sides.

The Coffs Harbour Thunder Women’s Open team made the quarterfinals going down to eventual winners Central Coast.

The Thunder Women’s Open side began their second day of the championships against Ryde, who had the local side under the pump from the get go with a relentless attack which meant a mountain of defensive work for the Coffs team.

Coffs Harbour Women’s Open coach Mel Cowgill said her side was comprised mainly of youth who had previously played in the Junior State Championships.

“We have got a mix of juniors who have come up to seniors, and senior players with our oldest 28,” she said.

“The majority of our players are between seventeen and twenty, and all of the juniors coming into seniors have been with us for a lot of years.

“A lot of them it’s their second senior championships as they played last year as well.”

The Thunder made a good start to the state championships.

“The first day we went really well, we beat Wollongong 8-4 and Macarthur 9-0, and this game against Ryde was our first loss,” she said.

“Our attack was really aggressive and on point in our two wins, and the combinations were good and they did it really well,” she said.

“And they’re defence was really strong, and I was actually more pleased with their defence.

“And against Ryde we were the first team to score against them, and they beat another team 19-0, so considering that 10-1 is not too bad.”

Cowgill said the future was bright for Oztag in the Coffs Harbour region.

“It’s looking bright because it’s taken us so long to have a good solid team that’s competitive at this level,” she said.

“It’s good that we’ve kept them together coming up playing juniors together, and they’ve also been playing Ladies League Tag together.”

The Thunder women’s coach said there were a lot of obstacles to overcome with the State Championships being postponed to June.

“We’ve suffered once again with lack of training due to the wet weather, and at this time of year with winter sports it’s nearly impossible for them to commit,” she said.

By Aiden BURGESS