David Maher has described the Central North under-15s girls as a “fantastically gifted team” after they finished third at the weekend’s State 7s Championships at Forster.
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The under-13 boys Red side likewise placed third and played some fantastic rugby over the three days.
For the under-15s girls side which contained Gunnedah’s Charlotte Eather, Beth Andren and Eliza O’Donnell, the result capped off an outstanding year.
Eight of the players were part of the Kookaburras side that won the Country Championships (10-a-side) and were runners-up at the State Championships.
Maher took over the coaching duties from Jeremy Maslen and Kath Little for the 7s championships, and couldn’t have been prouder of how they performed.
“They were amazing,” Maher said.
After accounting for Hunter, Central West and West Harbour in their pool games, the girls faced Sydney Magic, which are an invitational side, in their semi-final.
The eventual champions lived up to their moniker outgunning a plucky Kookaburras.
”It was a close game and we went down fighting,” Maher said.
They then went on to thrash Illawarra 38-nil in the third/fourth play-off.
He said their defence was fantastic over the championships and spoke with admiration of the attacking flair of some of the players.
Co-captain Jada Taylor is one of those.
“She’s a pretty special talent,” Maher said.
That was emphasised by her selection in the under-17s girls state wider training squad despite playing in the under-15s competition.
Pirates pair Miah O’Sullivan and Phoebe McLoughlin, and Narrabri’s April Smith were also named in the state squad following their sides’ fifth finish.
The under-13 boys Red side featuring Gunnedah’s Harrison Louis and Jacob Roberts started on fire beating Mid North Coast 58-nil.
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They then went down to eventual champions Randwick 24-16, three tries in the first four minutes cruelling them, before securing a semi-final berth with a commanding win over Far North Coast.
Parramatta were a bit too strong for them in their semi running out 31-19 winners but the Kookaburras boys really “dug deep and had a crack” co-coach Chris Fowler said.
”We were the first team to put points on Parramatta,” Fowler said.
“To score three tries and really give them a shake-up was very satisfying.”
“They were quite big and quite fast. They had the state 100m champion on the wing.”
He was hard to pull down, he said.
The Kookaburras then defeated Illawarra 26-12 in their play-off for third.
“We had a good mix. We had some big forwards that were mobile and had some skillful halves and speed outwide,” Fowler said.
He and Warren Park were particularly pleased with the way they manned up and defended, especially against Parramatta, who won the state 15-a-side state championships.
They also weren’t intimidated and ran hard when they had the ball.
“Everyone had a go in attack and defence,” he said.
The under-13s girls Red team were meanwhile victorious in the Plate Division defeating Liverpool, while the girls White, under-13s boys White, under-15s boys and under-17s boys acquitted themselves well against some tough opposition.
Mary Grant played for the under-13s girls, Jack Louis the under-15s boys, and Dakota Durrant and Elsie Hunt the under-17s girls.