Blue Boars women’s sevens side enjoys Coffs Harbour pre-season trip

The Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s sevens team travelled to Coffs Harbour for a pre-season trip last weekend which included three games on Saturday.

At the Coffs Harbour Snappers Rugby Union Football Club’s home ground named Rugby Park located at Toormina, the Blue Boars lost their first game, won their second and drew their third.

Narrabri took on Southern Cross University Marlins in its first game on the day and was downed, before bouncing back to defeat the Kempsey Cannonballs two tries to one.

Then in the Narrabri side’s final match of the day it took on hosts Coffs Harbour Snappers in a match where the two sides contested the first Surf and Turf Cup contest.

Both teams scored 12 points each in a match which finished as a draw, but Narrabri claimed the cup following an alternate extra time method on what was a very warm day.

The Blue Boars women’s sevens side’s new coach Will Guest told The Courier that he was impressed with the way his team played on the day.

“We started off a bit scratchy with the first game against the Marlins but then improved out of sight,” Guest said.

“Against Coffs Harbour we kept up with a team that went through its comp undefeated last year that then lost the grand final, they were a pretty handy side.

“We’ve been training hard and talking about things, and then applying that is a different story but they started to get the hang of things towards the end of the afternoon.”

Guest said that he was especially pleased with the way the Blue Boars defended in the win against Kempsey.

“They defended for about six-and-a-half minutes in the first half, which was only a seven-minute half,” Guest said.

“They only let one try in which was at the very and of the half.”

The games were the first for the club for new recruits Bernadette Lai, Jamilah Kidd and Mae Harvey, as well as Jen Schwager, the sister of Jessie Schwager who has been a key player for the team in recent seasons.

Guest said that they all fit in well on the day and the trip was the perfect way to allow the team to bond as the 2020 season fast approaches.

“Gelling as a team has been one thing we have really focused on so far,” he said.

“Positive communication especially with new players is something we’ve also worked on.

“Working on those things was the main focus of the trip, if we lost every game so be it as long as we gelled and got to know each other more.”

Narrabri Rugby Club director and women’s sevens player Jessie Schwager said that the pre-season trip was beneficial for the playing group.

“I think that it was a good learning curve for the team,” Schwager said.

“There are a few players who either haven’t played before or are new to our side.

“We had a rocky start but we took each game, learnt from our mistakes from the first game to the second one to the third one and all in all on the day we were pretty good.

“Everyone was out there to have a good time but also to get a few wins and we did that.

“[The trip away] was really, really good and credit goes to Will Guest for being able to pull it together.

“We stayed right near the beach, that allowed everyone to go for a swim, and we had team dinners on both Friday and Saturday night.

“It allowed everyone to get to know each other and hang out in a bit more of a relaxed environment.

“It was definitely beneficial.”

Guest said that he hoped that the Surf and Turf Cup against the Snappers would become an annual event where the Narrabri team would travel to Coffs Harbour to play, given how successful the trip was this year.

Next up for the Blue Boars women’s side is a trial game against Roma at Dangar Park on Saturday, March 14, before it heads to the Croppa Creek Crows 10s Gala Day on Saturday, March 28, where it will go head-to-head against both Moree and Robb College in sevens matches.

The 2020 Central North Rugby Union season will then begin on Saturday, April 4, with the Narrabri Rugby Club to host Quirindi at Dangar Park in round one.