Ashley Hanslow lines up for Northern Tigers in the Lisa Fiaola Cup decider

Narrabri and Wee Waa were both represented in Saturday’s Westpac Regional Under-17s Lisa Fiaola Cup rugby league grand final as Ashley Hanslow pulled on the number 10 jersey for the Northern Tigers.

The 16-year-old Narrabri girl, who is a Wee Waa High School student and is a member of the Wee Waa Panthers’ ladies’ teams, wore the number 10 jersey against North Coast Bulldogs at Canberra’s GIO Stadium and did the two towns proud as she produced a solid performance in the front row.

The Tigers went down 32-4 in the big dance against the North Coast girls, a year after they were defeated by the Western Rams in the 2024 final.

Ashley was a part of both campaigns and said while it was disappointing to have lost both deciders, she was proud of the team for getting there on both occasions and added that it was special to get the chance to pull on the Tigers’ jersey.

“I’m grateful that I made it on the Northern Tigers, because I really like playing with the team,” Ashley told The Courier.

“I like playing rep footy. You get to meet new girls and they help you out a lot more than the other football you play.

“There hasn’t been any league here for us girls until this year, so it’s been a good opportunity to play league too.

“It was really nerve-wracking there in the warm-up on Saturday, but when we got on the field there was so much adrenaline and I forgot about the things I was worried about.

“Finishing second was pretty good. I would have liked to have finished in first, but it is what it is. We tried our best anyway. We did pretty well to get there.”

“I love playing front row,” Ashley added.

“I like the contact and getting in and getting my job done.”

The Wee Waa Panther also said she enjoyed getting the chance to play at an NRL stadium, with GIO Stadium being the home of the Raiders.

Ashley started every game at prop for the Tigers this year. They kicked off their campaign on Saturday, February 8, when they went down 26-18 in a grand final rematch against Western Rams at Scully Park in Tamworth.

They bounced back with a 44-12 win away from home against the Riverina Bulls in their second game, and then went down 30-12 against North Coast in their third game in Scone.

Their fourth and final regular season game saw them bounce back again as they beat the Northern Rivers Titans 28-16 at Tamworth’s Jack Woolaston Oval, and that saw the side place third on the six-team ladder to book a semi-final battle against the Western Rams away from home in Cessnock.

The Rams were undefeated going into that clash but Northern Tigers rose to the occasion and registered a 28-18 victory.

North Coast won the other semi-final 12-8 against Northern Rivers and were far too dominant in Saturday’s decider.

Ashley said that she enjoyed playing both seasons for the Tigers and would be pushing to make the Tigers’ opens team from next year after aging out of the Lisa Fiaola Cup side.

Having signed up to play the sport at five years old, Ashley played several years of junior league in Narrabri until she turned 13 when she was no longer allowed to play with or against the boys any more despite wanting to.

That saw her switch codes to join the Narrabri Junior Rugby Club, who she played three seasons with in the Friday night regional youth competitions.

Following a season in the Northern Inland Academy of Sport’s league program and two under-17s seasons with the Tigers, Ashley is now keen to debut in the new Group 4 ladies tackle competition with Wee Waa Panthers.

She will play for the Panthers’ league tag side as well, and will continue to play her junior rugby union on Friday nights after switching clubs to join Gunnedah.