RUGBY league fans were treated to a preview of what to expect in this year’s Group 2 Women’s Tackle competition when the Nambucca Roosters hosted the Woolgoolga Seahorses in a trial match under lights at Coronation Park, Nambucca Heads, on Friday night.
The game was played over three 20 minute sessions with the home side coming very close to getting the better of last year’s premiers.
Solid defence and good completions from both sides were a feature of the first two-thirds of the game with ball handling errors not creeping in until fatigue started to be apparent in the later stages.
The Roosters were able to find space in the Woopi defence close to the line 10 minutes into the game.
A delighted Wulaaren Walker scored a try during her first game with the Roosters and a successful conversion from Xanthi Hand took them to a 6-0 lead.
The visitors retaliated with a series of tackle breaking runs and had the home side under pressure against their line.
But despite getting themselves into great field position, they were unable to score before the first 20 minutes of play came to an end.
In the second term of the game, momentum shifted back to the Roosters as they held the Seahorses in their half for an extended period until a line break from Woopi took them 75 metres and across the line.
Hannah McGraw scored the points, and converted, to even the score at 6-6.
Both teams slogged it out to break the tie until Woopi’s Kia Archibald produced a try eight minutes into the last stanza that was not converted.
Despite both teams getting close to the line a number of times, they were not able to increase their points on the board and at full-time the visitors took the win 10-6.
The standard of play from both teams was a telling indicator that the Group 2 Women’s Tackle competition for 2025 is going to be a thriller.
By Mick BIRTLES
