The Central Coast Women’s 7’s side have finished in 3rd place at this weekend’s NSW Country Women’s 7’s Championships. Two close losses to the eventual finalists put the local girls into the 3rd/4th PlayOff which they won over Western Plains.
The draw on Saturday saw a replay of the 2019 Final as the girls first game which was a tough way to start the tournament, but the girls played so well, going down 19-17 to Newcastle Hunter. Immediately, the development of the players since 2019 was obvious to all, supporters and the team knew they had a great chance of winning this tournament. Two wins in the remaining games on Saturday had the girls well placed to make the Final but a shock loss to Central North on Sunday morning knocked out their chance of a final berth. The girls had to settle for 3rd but are confident that this experience will prove beneficial for the 15-a-side NSW Country Champs later this year.
Best for the Coast was Elise Conolly whose strong runs all weekend and multiple tries saw her named in the NSW Country Dream Team. She was well supported by Taylah Welsh, Prue Bright & Holly Johnstone. The team were led extremely well by Renee Staben and coaches Michael Burgess & Luke Mack, while disappointed not to make the Final, were very proud of the level of improvement from the girls. All competing zones had worked hard leading up to this tournament and the standard was much better than 2019 with all games being tightly contested.
The Coast did have some representation in the Final with local referee Kate Thomson appointed to referee the Final, which Newcastle Hunter won 12-0 over Central North.
It was a good weekend of rugby and the local girls can be proud of their achievements.