Molong Bulls captain Jesse Fulwood opens up on love of her club

"I thought there was no chance we'd have a girls team," she said.

"We'd get three to pre-season and that was pretty much me, my sister and my dad. I was worrying that we're not going to get to play or that we'll have to play somewhere else."

As many captains around the country would know all too well, leading a team involves more than just duties on the park.

"It's about getting everyone ready, finding out who is playing on the weekend, getting them all dressed and out of the sheds in time. It's also about keeping that morale up," she said.

"In the beginning, I was going around trying to find people who were keen, just helping find players to start the team."

Currently in her third year of leading the league tag side, it was only during the Canowindra Knockout on March 12 - a month before the season got underway - where Fulwood felt confident the Bulls would field a side in 2023.

"We had about three subs and I thought we could survive off that," she said.

"Then we had a few people who would have happily played if needed. They were people who aren't super in to footy, but would've done it to keep the club going."

The club then received an "influx" of taggers a week before their round one game against Manildra and now have more than 20 registered and ready to go if needed.

"I also helped coach Cabonne Roos last year and that's helped get those juniors to come through. They're a great bunch of girls and all get along really well so it's actually a pretty easy job," Fulwood added.

"I've got my sister, some of my best mates, friends I've had since I was a kid. Getting together each weekend, knowing you're going to see them and have a beer after the game, there's no better feeling."

That feeling was known last week, when the Bulls took down the Trundle Boomers 46-4 in their first Friday night clash of the year.

"You're just so fresh," she said of the Friday game.

"You've had the week of work and normally you'd come for training, but knowing you're going to play in front of a great crowd on a Friday night when there's nothing but the weekend left to go is a great feeling."

Any footy fan knows how important it is to have a club competing on all levels - as the Bulls are with first grade, league tag and youth league sides in 2023 - but for the town of Molong, having success this season means that little bit more.

After floods tore through the town at the beginning of November last year, it left many a business, home and sporting facility unrecognisable.

This included Dr Ross Memorial Recreation Ground - otherwise known as the Bulls' home field.

"Just the fact we can even play on it is pretty great," Fulwood said.

"Cabonne Council have put in a lot of work to get that up and running again. Having everyone's support, the whole town's support is amazing. Even with sponsors, a lot of businesses who probably couldn't afford it at the time still support us."

So after months of hard work away from the field, Fulwood is hoping to give back to the community in the way of wins.

"It feels like we have definitely got potential to make it into the grand final," she added.

Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens.

Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.