The OPS girls qualified as one of the best teams in NSW after securing a thrilling Western Region crown in a 4-3 victory over Dunedoo.

The Orange outfit scored the winning try after the drop-off reached a three-on-three stage.

Coached by Darrell Cole, the OPS girls will line-up against Wallsend South PS in Monday’s opening stage of the final eight.

Jones believes a combination of speedy wings and staunch defence through the middle can lift OPS to a semi-final spot.

“There’s a bit of (speed and strong defence),” she said.

“We’ve got three girls who represented Western. I guess they’ve played together as well.

“Hopefully we go ok. The boys have always done well but I think this is the furthest the girls have gone.

“It’s a good team we have this year.”

OPS has won six games straight to progress through to the final eight.

The school beat Mulyan Public School (5-2), Middleton Public School (6-0), Glenroi Heights Public School (6-1), Orange Small Schools Association Central (7-0), Calare Public School (5-1) before beating Dunedoo in a tense Western Region final on September 22.

Orange has had success at the NSWPSSA girls’ touch football knockout, with Bletchington winning the crown in 2015.

Bletchington will represent Western in the boys’ draw in 2017 after its open boys team swept its way to the regional final before securing a place in the final eight in thrilling fashion.

Bletchington scored an average of 12 tries per game on route to the final, but only just scraped through courtesy of a 7-6 win over Wellington Public School in the final.

The Bletchington boys opened their campaign with a 16-1 win over Orange East Public School before going on to knock out Bowen (15-1), Calare (10-3), Parkes (10-4) and Mulyan (11-4) public schools on the way to the western final.

The boys’ and girls’ final eight round of the NSWPSSA touch football knockouts begin on Monday, the boys beginning at 9am and the girls at 9.55am.

Games are at Gwawly Bay Oval, Taren Point.