FIVE girls from Southlakes Junior Rugby League Club have been selected to join the inaugural Newcastle Knights Tarsha Gale Cup under-18 nines squad.
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Shenay Ball, Courtney Whitehead, Imogen Munro, April Brown and Cody Campbell will begin training with the Knights in December.
The girls are part of the Southlakes Roosters teams taking part in the inaugural Central Coast-Hunter Women’s Nines rugby league tournament.
Southlakes president and girls’ under-16s coach, Troy Agar, said the news was a great boost for the club and women’s rugby league in the district.
“It was awesome news. Great for the club. Great for the community. And it shows what depth we have in rugby league talent with the girls in the local area,” he said.
The Tarsha Gale Cup was launched this year, and featured nine clubs. The Knights will join the competition in 2018.
It’s considered one of the main women's rugby league nines competitions in Australia.
The tournament takes its name from the former Australian Jillaroos and NSW captain of the 1990s.
In the inaugural Tarsha Gale Cup grand-final, Penrith scored a thrilling 26-18 win against Canterbury at Leichhardt Oval.
Mr Agar said selection in the Newcastle under-18s squad was a potential stepping stone to selection in the Knights’ top grade women’s team.
He said the Southlakes girls’ selection demonstrated to other local female players and their families that there was a real pathway in place locally to higher honours.
He said the Knights were also likely to take a close look at some of the talented younger players being developed at Southlakes.
“Georgia Bragg is one of the girls in our under-16s who has been a real stand-out,” Mr Agar said.
“She was a bit too young this year (for Newcastle), but next year I think she’ll get a try-out,” he said.
Meanwhile, Southlakes had enjoyed a successful start to the Central Coast-Hunter Women’s Nines tournament, Mr Agar said.
The under-14s are undeafeated, and the under-16s are in the top four, he said.
“There really is so much talent out there. I hope that next year there is a proper 13-a-team competition for the girls.”
The opening rounds of the tournament had proved to be an excellent advertisement for the girls’ game.
“There were a lot of mums and families and friends watching, and I’ve started to get phone calls asking if there were any vacancies in our teams,” he said.
Mr Agar said a recent club meeting determined that junior players (girls and boys) would be offered free registration, insurance, socks and shorts next season.
The saving – of about $130 all up – was made possible due to the generous support of sponsors, Mr Agar said.
The Southlakes girls train on Tuesdays and Fridays, at the Dora Creek Workers Club field, from 6pm.
- Phone 0448 899640.