Hawkettes flying high ahead of premiership defence

On Saturday, the Harden Hawkettes will play for an incredible hat-trick of Blumers Lawyers George Tooke Shield (GTS) league-tag premierships when taking on the Crookwell She Devils at Bungendore’s Mick Sherd Oval.

Having defeated Boorowa 28-2 in the 2022 decider before their hard-fought 10-nil win over Cootamundra in the 2023 Grand Final, Harden won the 2024 Minor Premiership and will head into tomorrow’s match as the red-hot favourites. 

While Harden boasts an incredible record in the George Tooke Shield, winning five grand finals since 2016, Hawkettes’ stalwart Emma James doesn’t want to be focusing on the past ahead of a new challenge.

“There’s always been that talk, especially in years where we have gone through undefeated, and there’s been that pressure in Grand Finals,” James said.

“It’s not like that this year, and the vibe in the team is that we are taking each game as it comes, and everything else is just outside noise.

“I feel that with this year, we’ve taken in game by game and not looked too far ahead.

“Plus, this season is different; if you look through the results, you will see that.
“We had two losses and a draw, and players were coming in and out, and we had a few injuries, too, so it’s been a challenge.”

While Harden booked their date with destiny via a 6-nil victory over Cootamundra in the major semi-final, a week later, the She Devils won their way into the big dance with a surprise 4-nil win over the Bullettes.

Before that, Crookwell accounted for the Jersey Girls 10-4 in an epic Minor Semi-Final at Binalong Recreation Oval and James admitted that the She Devils kept finding ways to win big games.

“After their game on the weekend and their win over Cootamundra, they have fully proved themselves, and they’ve earned that spot in the Grand Final,” James said.

 “They have saved themselves a few times in finals, and they’ll be tough competition on the weekend.”

Led by the likes of Jayde Della, Tahnee-lee Della, and Annie Knight, Crookwell will head to Bungendore confident they can end Harden’s premiership reign.

“They are strong in the middle and right across the park,” James said.

“They are good with the ball and in defence, so we can’t focus on one thing, and for us, we just need to play a full 50 minutes and defend well.”

It has been a low-scoring GTS finals, with only 13 tries scored in five games, and James believes defence will be the secret to success on Saturday.

“I’m expecting a low-scoring game, and I can’t see many points being scored,” James said

“We need to be good in defence so when opportunities arise, we can make the most of them. “

Saturday’s decider will cap off a terrific season of GTS league-tag action and one of the closest ever.

Not only have Harden and Crookwell been strong, but so have Cootamundra, Binalong, Boorowa, and North Canberra, and James said it’s great to see the competition improving every year.
“I love seeing new girls playing well and the comp getting stronger and stronger each year,” James said.

“You want to be pushed to the limit by teams, and we love going out there each week and being tested, and we saw that a lot this year, which is great for our competition.”

The GTS league-tag Grand Final kicks off a big day in Bungendore, and following their game, the men’s tackle decider between the Tigers and Harden Hawks takes centre stage.

Click here for the GTS Grand Final draws.