By KELLY ANABLE

The Goulburn Dirty Reds Women were victorious in the Brumbies-hosted Wagga 7s tournament on November 10, winning the Plate grand final against Batemans Bay.

Eight women’s teams competed in the competition including Goulburn Dirty Reds, Marlins, Gungahlin Eagles, Bungendore Mudchicks, Tuggeranong Viqueens, Batemans Bay, Wagga Ag College & Bathurst.

On a very hot day, games started at 11am for Goulburn and didn’t not finish until after 5pm.

There were some very sore and sorry souls afterwards, but they were super pumped with our win of the Plate final against Batemans Bay.

The touring team for Goulburn consisted of : Ellen Anable, Pearl Rakete, Casey Barnes, Kelsey Betts, Paige Penning, Bella Sheen, Katherine Cudaj, Emily Banks, Monique Toppin (Tumut), Tara Arnall (Tumut) & Tammy Murdoch (Tumut). The coaching staff consisted of Rob Sheekey (coach), Kelly Anable (Manager) and Dave Anable (driver/assistant).

A HUGE thank you to our regular 3 lady fill-ins from Tumut Bulls. These ladies have played many 7s seasons with Goulburn over the years and we cannot do without them.

All the girls played exceptionally well and we managed to play the day out with no injuries.

Round 1 v Bungendore Mudchicks (Goulburn won 32-5) with tries scored by Paige Penning (1), Tara Arnall (4) + 1 Conversion & Monique Toppin (1). The first game was a great win getting the ladies to wash off a bit of nerves and move forward through the rest of the day.

Round 2 v Gungahlin Eagles (Goulburn lost 30-5) with a try to Bella Sheen. Very hard game against a fit and organised team.

Round 3 v Marlins (Draw 12- 12) Tries to Paige Penning & Sass Cudaj + 1 Conversion.

Then the play-offs….

Semi-final – Goulburn v WAC (Goulburn won 22 – 10) Tries to Emily Banks (2) and Tara Arnall (2) + 1 conversion. The girls wanted this win badly as they knew they would be in the grandfinal if they could snag a win. They played well against a very fit & much younger group.

Grand-final against Batemans Bay was very tough… girls energy levels were completely depleted but they managed to pull it from somewhere and run home with the Plate. Women played well sharing the ball around the paddock which resulted in 4 tries to 4 different players. They had the victory in their minds before they even took the paddock. Loved the day and wanted to end with a bang.

Goulburn 24 – defeated Batemans Bay 10 – Tries to Emily Banks, Paige Penning, Sass Cudaj and Tara Arnall + 2 conversions from Tara Arnall.

Related Link:

• Dirty Reds women take out plate