Do not, even for a second, write the Orange Lightning off from this year's Bing Lee West/Central West Regional League title race.
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That’s the word of new Orange Thunder coach Linda Macleod, who knows the Lightning’s players back to front through her role as Western Region Academy of Sport (WRAS) head coach.
The Lightning, Orange’s under-17 side, is headlined by almost-NSW reps Kate Mastronardi, Em Williams, Sophie Brisbane, Siara Jawai, Tabua Tuinakauvadra and Alex Emerson, and is bolstered by the fact the rest of the squad are all long-time junior representative stars.
“Kate made it through to phase three of the trials, [the rest] made it to phase two, so there is a lot of talent there,” Macleod said, reserving special praise for Tuinakauvadra and her sister Milika.
“Milika and Tabua, they’re just so good. There’s no better way to say it with them … they’ve got a great coach in Mikayla (Riley) too, she’s my assistant coach at WRAS and will have them ready.
“They’re a gun side. They won’t need anyone to take them lightly and they might even have a bit of extra motivation playing against the other side, especially with their WRAS coach in charge of that side.”
With that in mind, is there a chance of the Lightning making the final, or even winning the competition?
“I’d like to think there’s a real chance, yes,” Macleod said.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on any of the Orange players though, although we definitely want to win.
“A lot of it depends on what Bathurst brings to the table too. It’ll be interesting, there’s a lot of talent in this competition.”
The Lightning kicks off its campaign against Dubbo’s under 21s at 9am before facing the Thunder at 11.20am, and then defending champions Bathurst at 1.40pm.
- ORANGE LIGHTNING: Kate Mastronardi, Lucy Nagle, Farrah Staniforth, Sophie Brisbane, Siara Jawai, Em Williams, Milika Tuinakauvandra, Tabua Tuinakauvadra, Alex Emerson, Millie Lenehan, Ally Kaufman, Rhiannon Dennis