Three Mudgee Wombats teams will be flying the red, white and blue in the finals this weekend as the rugby season reaches the business end.
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Although finals in the senior competition is only just about to commence, the juniors are already under way and the Wombats 17s – coming off of a win over Wellington – take on Forbes at Jubilee at 11.30am for a place in the Grand Final.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing for the team in 2016, with injuries, player unavailability through rep duties, and several coaches at the helm.
Under Greg Robertson in the last 10 weeks they’ve flourished and won their last six games.
“They’re a talented group and compared to some of the teams they’ve played they play good Rugby like it should be played,” he said.
“And it’s happened at the right end of the season, This weekend we want to pick up our intensity and play a good, solid 60 minutes.”
The Wombats women’s team will notch up another first in their debut season when they take on Bathurst in their inaugural finals match.
Although the local ladies have had a number of convincing wins over the side throughout the season, captain Meg Eisenhauer said Bathurst’s upset win over the ladder leaders last weekend showed they aren’t to be taken lightly.
“This weekend is do or die and we don’t want another upset like they had over Cowra,” she said.
“We’re definitely aware of what they can do and we’re preparing for them to come out stronger than before.”
She added that regardless of this weekend’s result it’s been a debut year to remember.
“To finish third in our first year is an amazing achievement considering the other teams have a lot more experience than we do, either way it’s going to be a success,” she said.
The Wombats Colts side has had a disrupted season in 2016, at one point missing six weeks with washouts, byes and forfeits, so coming off the bye in the last round of the competition is hardly likely to phase them.
Their coach Troy Leatham said they’ve been affected by the lowering of the competition age to 19, but that’s the case for all clubs and he’s confident in the team in their finals campaign against Dubbo Roos this Saturday.
“The boys have got plenty of heart and plenty of commitment, so they get there in the end,” he said.
“The whole year has been disrupted through lack of games, that doesn’t make it ideal, but we didn’t forfeit a match when we had them even if we were a bit short on numbers for whatever reason.
“[Against Dubbo] I think we’ll get them, mentally we’re a bit tougher and with a good referee and the bounce of the ball I think we’ll be alright.”