Orange Hawks coach Marty Lyden is confident the two blue girls can rise to the challenge of finals football and claim the club’s first Group 10 league tag title.
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The Hawks girls finished the 2017 regular season undefeated – the only blemish, if you can call a draw a blight, was a 13-all result with Blayney.
Still, 15 wins and a draw from 16 games is the single best win-loss record of any side, in any grade, in Group 10 this winter.
And Lyden, somewhat ominously, believes Hawks are capable of finding another gear when they take on the winner of this weekend’s qualifying semi-final between Bathurst clubs St Pat’s and Panthers in the major semi-final at Wade Park on August 27.
I’m confident the girls can rise to the challenge.
- Hawks league tag coach Marty Lyden
“We’ve beaten both St Pat’s and Panthers both times during the year, so we know how to beat them, but we have to be better again,” Lyden said.
“I’m confident the girls can rise to the challenge.”
The master coach revealed his side set its sights on starting 2017 well, but any further plans to continue on undefeated over the course of the second half of the year were never really made.
“I guess it was in the back of the girls’ minds though,” Lyden said.
“The further the season progressed the more likely it became. But I think we played better earlier in the year than we have been of late. We need to get back to that sort of footy.”
The league tag side is the only two blues outfit on show in the Group 10 finals series, with both the premier league and under 18s boys missing out on their respective top fives after final round results failed to go their way.
The under 18s boys can count themselves particularly unlucky, missing out on fifth by just three differential points.
“They were shattered, too,” Lyden said of the clubs juniors, the league tag girls now flying the Hawks flag in the post season.
“It’ll be great to get some of the boys down there to cheer us on. The club’s been great to us this season.”
Lyden said the team was looking forward to playing at home too, with CYMS’ minor title in premier league enabling Hawks to play at Wade Park in the major semi-final.