Two weeks out from their first stint in the Western Women's Rugby League competition, the Midwest Brumbies are eager and awaiting their chance to contend for their respective titles.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Established late last year, the club is the brainchild of Brumbies president, Guy Pascoe who felt the need to be more inclusive by creating a blanket name that represents all corners of the Midwest region.
For this year's competition, the Brumbies have five age groups (13s, 14s, 16s, 18s and opens) and under 16s coach, Harriet Messner says while their numbers are on the rise, her squad's main aim is to establish plays that work in their favour.
"The vibe in the 16s is great. The girls have been putting in the hard yards at training and now it's just about finding those combinations on the field that work and hopefully it all pays off," she said.
"Our numbers have also improved this year which is good to see as women's sport continues to grow. We have about 20 girls turning up to training each week, mostly from Mudgee and a few Gulgong girls too.
"We've got some very handy players across the park with a lot of girls who have never played league before, but they have picked up the skills quickly. We also have some experience on the side which will hopefully give some of the girls confidence."
Up against last year's premiers, Messner says it will be difficult to gauge where her girls are at but it's an opportunity to grow and improve regardless of how the game results.
"I'm excited to see how the girls shape up in their first game. It's hard to tell how we'll go as our first game is against the premiers from last year, they are a very handy side," Harriet said.
Our goal is to better our results and be competitive each game and hopefully improve as we go and get a few wins.
- Midwest Brumbies under 16s coach, Harriet Messner
Learning and growing is also a takeaway that will come from the under 18s clash against Woodbridge with coach, Chad Chandler saying his side's main aim is to fine tune their techniques.
"The girls are all super keen to get involved and are building as a group really nicely. Each week we have been implementing another skill which will allow us to be firing come season start," he said.
"The first game will be a learning curve. If we play our style of football, we will be fine. If we get sucked into the opposition's style, it will make things a lot more difficult than it should be.
"Quick football in attack and slow the game right down in defence. Defence will be compressed right up, encouraging each opponent to try and go around us.
"The main focus has been getting the correct techniques for contact/tackling. Due to the fact most of these girls have grown up without having to use these skills, it's all a new learning curve."
Despite some of the squad's players being out for the season with injuries, Chandler is confident his side will be fierce contenders.
"We currently have 16 players due to a couple of season ending injuries which occurred during other hobbies. Lucky the girls are extra fit because we'll be playing light on all year which is no issue," he said.
"Most of the girls are past or current touch players which gives us a good basis to build off."
Both Messner and Chandler agree that the Brumbies are successfully making a change for women's sport and pay some thanks to the Mudgee community for helping the club get on their feet.
"We've been working hard to continue to build on our great club culture that we had last year under the Dragons banner, and even though COVID has restricted us in participating in certain events, there is a great feeling of excitement among everyone involved in the club," Messner said.
"We have been fortunate enough to gain some great sponsorship from around town which we are very appreciative of and we wouldn't have been able to get up and running without their support so huge thank you."
We are a club that is making an imprint on the community and something a lot of young women will want to be a part of.
- Midwest Brumbies under 18s coach, Chad Chandler
"You just have to take a look at our preseason 'give it a try' training session where around 80 to 100 girls turned up," Chandler said.
"Everyone seems to be having a great time and building some really good camaraderie throughout the club."
The Brumbies will head to Grenfell on October 11 to face Woodbridge in round one of the Western Women's Rugby League competition.
The side's first home game will be on October 17 at Jubilee Oval.
"We hope to see some Mudgee supporters there to cheer on the girls," Messner said.