The semi-finals of the Country Championships are this weekend, with both Monaro sides in action in Queanbeyan.
The Open Women’s side has been building nicely across the first two rounds, with a draw against the Western Rams and an 18-point win over the Macarthur Wests Tigers in round two.
But they face a strong Riverina Bulls outfit this weekend in a local derby. Riverina recorded two impressive wins throughout the season and boast a dangerous team.
Monaro Women’s head coach Adam Kyle has been impressed with his side’s resilience and expects another tough game on Sunday.
“We’re slowly building, I think our second half of our last game certainly showed that our attack is building well,” Kyle said.
“We’re expecting it to be really tough and competitive, hopefully our fitness and our speed will get the job done.”
This weekend is also the first time the side will be at full-strength, with 20 players available to be selected. Kyle says it has come at just the right time.
“This will be a big opportunity this week to hopefully put out best team on the park and try to progress through to the final,” Kyle said.
The Monaro team has been training alongside the Canberra Raiders Tarsha Gale side, giving both sides quality opposition to train against.
“I think it’s been beneficial to both sides. The Tarsha Gale girls haven’t had a lot of opposition through training this year so it’s been good for them to have some opposition in front of them to go through their training skills and their patterns, and it’s been the same for us,” Kyle said.
“We’ve got a few girls that’ve played in that Tarsha Gale system and now into open age so it shows that pathway between Raiders and the next step.”
Hear from Kyle as he discusses the team’s preparation, previews this weekend’s clash, and talks about his hopes for women’s rugby league in the future.
Both Monaro matches are on this Sunday March 21 at Seiffert Oval, Queanbeyan. The Open Women take on the Riverina Bulls at 11am, with the Open Men facing the Central Coast Roosters at 12:10pm.
The other Men’s semi-final between the Riverina Bulls and Illawarra South Coast Dragons will also be played at Seiffert Oval, kicking off at 2pm.
All the matches will be live-streamed on NSWRLTV, through the New South Wales Rugby League Facebook page.
