IT’S often said behind every great man stands a great woman.
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And in the case of the Orange CYMS Rugby League Club, there stands a group of great women ready to kick of Sunday’s grand final day with a bang.
The green and golds qualified for their fourth consecutive premier league grand final with a 28-20 win over defending premiers Lithgow Workies at Wade Park last Sunday - a remarkable feat and one certainly not lost on the club.
But just as impressive has been CYMS’ ladies league tag outfit, earning a grand final berth with a 14-10 win over minor premiers Bathurst Panthers in the major semi-final two weeks ago.
Making the feat extra special, this is the first year CYMS has fielded a league tag team.
“At the start of the year no,” co-coach Matt King said when asked did he think his side would be in this position when he took on the role alongside Mick Gibson at the start of the year.
“But probably three or four games in I thought we could make the grand final because there was so much improvement and a fair bit of skill.”
And here they are.
Nearly 20 registered players, of which three-quarters attend training every Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
There’s mums, daughters, sisters and better-halves of CYMS players aiming to become the club’s first league tag champions.
What the introduction of the competition has done for Group 10 has been immeasurable.
“I think (Group 10 secretary) Peter McDonald summed it up best in his speech at last week’s Group 10 presentation, he said, ‘people, it’s here to stay’ and has even made it mandatory for all clubs to field a league tag,” King said.
What it’s done for the CYMS club is testament to McDonald’s sentiment.
“It really gives it a female feeling to the day,” King added ahead of grand final day.
“They’re talking pom poms and streamers and guys probably aren’t in to that too much. It’s massive. It really is. We love it.”
On the field, CYMS’ “spine” of Nicole Williamson, Nikki D’Aquino, Kate Foran, Mandy and Tori Moore helped lead the team to the decider with the memorable win over Panthers.
King expects the same quartet as well as “speedster” Olivia Patterson to hold the keys to one final victory.
“It’s going to come down to who wants it on the day and I’m 100 per cent sure our girls are going to want it. Panthers are going to have to be pretty good to beat us,” King said.
The ladies league tag grand final kicks off at Wade Park at 9.45am on Sunday.