St George Illawarra Dragons hooker Renee Targett holds a special training session with Woodbridge under 14s

Targett wanted to go deeper into their dreams and aspirations, not only as an individual but as a team too.

"We sat down and had a yarn about team-work and explored team values and what's important to their team and that was pretty consistent across age groups," she said.

"They were all saying similar things, what it means to be a good team-mate, what's their personal commitment and how they can contribute to those team values."

A deep dive into their team first attitude was impressive, but it's the individual ambitions of the players that blew her away.

"Something that was wholesome for me to hear, after doing some goal-setting with them, every single one of them said they have ambitions to be in the NRLW one day," she said.

"That's fulfilling for me to hear as I'm currently there and still working my way up and to hear they have those aspirations to work their way up is beautiful."

The St George Illawarra Dragons hooker's presence at Canowindra came through a close friendship with 14s coach Kira Dargin.

Dargin - the first Indigenous women to play in America's Women's Football Alliance - and Targett met through their love of gridiron.

After COVID ruined Dargin's chances of playing overseas again, a season with Woodbridge's opens side was the next point of call.

After keeping in contact with Woodbridge's Andrew Pull, one thing lead to another and Dargin found herself coaching the 14s side, despite moving to Sydney after agreeing to the decision.

"Because I'd already made that commitment I didn't want to let the girls down, so every week I travel out to do a training session on Fridays and coach on Sundays," she said.

Last weekend (October 9), the side were scheduled to play Mid-West Brumbies with Targett on the bench offering assistance.

A washout meant that couldn't happen but instead the 14s girls were privy to a session they'll cherish.

"It was a good turn out, the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves, learnt some new skills and it was a good opportunity for them to be exposed to someone who's in the NRLW and have that direct connection and be able to ask questions and learn," Dargin said.

Targett's time with the women's side coincides with a new venture for the Dragons regular.

Studying a degree in psychology and a working background in life coaching means the dummy half's passion lies in the mental side of sport and with that she's created her own performance coaching business.

"I think there's a huge opportunity there to better people's skills, and share a bit of my knowledge as well," she said.

"That's where I want to help, especially in rugby league, because that's where my expertise is.

"There's a huge market to bridge the gap between how our mind influences our performance on the field."

And while professional sports clubs are afforded access to psychologists and world class resources, Targett believes players in country areas are too often left out of important conversations.

"In rural areas it's no secret the levels of resources and funding they get is less than what I would receive growing up in the city - purely because of geographic constraints ... and probably a whole other range of factors," she said.

"If I can help with raising awareness of how much your mind contributes to how you can perform or even how you see yourself performing ... than I feel obligated to do so because I do have the awareness and knowledge and am passionate about studying in this area. If I can share that with anyone whether they're from a rural area or old, young, whatever sport they may play (then that's my role). We have one thing we use 24/7 and that's our mind and it impacts everything we do or think or are capable of."

Along with a focus on sports mindfulness, the lessons Targett can pass on apply to other areas too and it's her passion project to ensure younger people can better themselves in all aspects of life.

"Sometimes (advice can be) on topics we don't necessarily talk about like being selected for teams, struggling with finding balance and all these things we do struggle with on a daily or seasonal basis," she said.

"The more we open the door and think about it and share our experiences the better the awareness will be and it'll only help the younger generations. It gives them options and tells them they're not alone and can choose to do things to combat all these things we've experienced."

And while the dynamic duo of Dargin and Targett travelled together to improve an outstanding 14s side, the latter enjoyed breathing in the fresh country air that can escape you when living in the big smoke.

"I'm a St George local but I do have a connection to the country because my grandma lives in Bega," she said.

"I spent a lot of time there growing up and do have a soft spot for getting out to the country. People are different to what it's like in the city so it's always refreshing and nice to get out (of the city) ... it's extremely therapeutic."

Woodbridge's 14s side will return to the field this weekend in the Western Women's competition, playing Wiradjuri Goannas in Nyngan at 10.20.