There's no hotter stock in the Central West right now than women's contact rugby league, and it's about time.
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For years, ladies didn't have access to the same brand of footy as the men's, but since the inception of the Vipers program and the Western Women's Rugby League competition in 2019, numbers have skyrocketed.
The Orange-based open's side is riding back-to-back premierships and is coming off an epic title defence in November as they knocked off Wiradjuri Goannas 22-4.
But, not only are the adults playing at a high level, so are all the ages below.
Last summer saw the 14s and 18s win their respective titles, with the 16s bowing out in the semi finals.
In 2021, the club will introduce the under-12s age group, a team that will be coached by Wayne Clark.
With the season looming, the club took to its Facebook page to gauge interest ahead of the summer, and was blown away with the amount of feedback.
"At this stage we've got 25-30 players in each team," Vipers' president Martin Power said.
"We started with a team and-a-half in 2019, and now we don't know if we can accommodate everyone in Orange."
Since the start of the competition, there's been several leading ladies who have stepped out of the Central West and played at the highest level, most notably Lilly Baker who recently represented New South Wales in the Under-19s State of Origin.
It's figures like Baker - as well as Glebe Dirty Reds' fullback Heidi Regan - that give up and coming women the motivation to give tackle footy a crack.
"Those girls are role models for them," he said.
"They see Baker and Heidi do what they're doing and they can see a pathway to go higher.
"And, it's not just girls from Orange, players from around the Central West are advancing."
While overwhelming numbers forced the club to put a hold on incoming players, Martin isn't sure if all of the interested women will stick around after that first training session.
"We can get them to training but it doesn't mean they'll all play," he said.
At this stage we've got 25-30 players in each team.
- Marin Power.
"That's just because of the contact, it's a bit different once you experience that."
The women's competition is naturally comparable to Group 10 men's, but Power says the free-flowing style of ladies code is more watchable for the spectators.
"It's really entertaining and there's not as much wrestling," he said.
"It's a breath of fresh air. A lot of girls come down and watch and realise they want to play. The club first started on word of mouth."
The important dates aren't set in stone yet, but the proposed eight-round season is set to kick off some time in the middle of September.
Teams from Bathurst, Dubbo, Castlereagh and Woodbridge will contest the top grade, while numbers for the remaining age groups are still being confirmed.
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