Orange Emus blazed to an 86-0 thumping of derby rivals Orange City on Saturday but greens gun Nikki D'Aquino sees the biggest picture.
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The classy Emus five-eighth has played rugby at the club for nearly a decade and concedes women's rugby has been a slow burn in the Central West but playing as the main game, under lights no less, at Endeavour Oval was a major step for her side and the Westfund Ferguson Cup.
"It's great," D'Aquino beamed, running in four of her side's 14 tries.
"At the beginning it was a struggle to get seven-a-side (competition). I left town to seek 15s rugby and it's great to be back and playing 10s and 12s, especially against some of the smaller towns."
Emus are considered one of the better sides in the 15-team Central West Rugby Union women's premiership and with someone like Em McDonald in the line-up, a player coming off the back of a Super W campaign with the Brumbies, expectation is high.
But D'Aquino hosed down some of that hype.
She says her side's sole focus is on improvement, not winning trophies.
"It would be nice (to win the title), but as a group we've got a few new players and we have to work together as a team," she added.
"We don't want to shine as individuals we need to come together, that's our main goal."
Which, in the long run, is designed to help Emus overcome two-time women's champs Bathurst.
D'Aquino's Emus outfit plays Forbes, Roos and Orange City again before a blockbuster rematch with the premiers, a side made to work for the win in round five via a 39-38 thriller with Cowra-Canowindra.
She concedes there's plenty to work on despite Saturday's thumping win but the Emus girls are determined to work hard to earn their results in 2019.
"And big props to Orange City out there, they came out with some new girls and we really loved the game. It was great," she added.
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