On the surface, playing rugby league is about scoring tries and making big hits.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And while the Woodbridge Cup girls love doing both of those things, the 2021 Western Women Rugby League program is about much more than that - it's about "love".
Woodbridge Cup president and first-grade coach Andrew Pull was as excited as ever on Monday morning after three of the four grades produced big victories over the Mid-west Brumbies on Sunday
"All the players from all the grades have that small-town mentality and they all care about each other a lot," Pull said.
"The organisation has a lot of love... the 13s care enough to hang around for first grade and the first graders care enough to show interest in them too."
Pull's opens side ran away with a 52-0 win against the Brumbies which surprised the head coach considering how well the opposition started the contest.
"I was surprised it got out to that much because they were really physical in defence," he said.
"They probably won the physical contest - they hit so hard."
A large part of an outcome is decided through the middle of the field but games can we won and lost on the flanks and that's what the Brumbies found out in the opening round as Pull's outside backs ran riot.
"Our backs are all class," he said. "We beat them on the edges for most of the day by throwing a couple of long passes and picking up our centres.
"We were scratchy in the first ten minutes but overall it was very pleasing."
There's certainly a long way to for Pull's side but after making a massive statement first-up, he's confident in not only the girls' ability to perform, but to rapidly improve as the weeks go on.
"They turn up to training every week and are eager to learn," he said.
"They play every game as it comes and they're always ready to compete.
"There's really good coaches across all the grades so all the teams are the same."
The Parkes Shire has a very healthy representation in most Woodbridge grades, with all those players listed below. Parkes also has representatives playing for the Wiradjuri Goannas.
Woodbridge under 13's
- Grace McGregor
- Josie Heraghty
- Kailen Butt
- Malia Morrison
- Nell Smith
- Sarah Herford
- Alana Folau
- Joselyne Folau
- Jemima Grosvernor
Woodbridge under 14's
- Elizabeth McGregor
- Aleah Fisher
- Georgia Rice
- Isabelle Miller
- Sophie Cronin
- Tyra Morrison
- Jazmen Terrill
Woodbridge under 16's
- Bridie Heraghty
- Lily Heraghty
- Macy-jane Morrison
Woodbridge opens/first grade
- Karla Karaitiana (Trundle)
Woodbridge will take on Panorama Platypi at Canowindra in round two, with under 13's kicking things off at 9.30am, under 14's at 10.40am, under 16's at 11.50am, under 18's at 1.10pm and opens rounding out the day at 2.30pm.