The Gunnedah women's 7's sides journey from rugby novices has continued its upwards trajectory with wins over Barraba on Saturday securing the Red Devils the minor premiership.
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The Cinderella story of the inaugural competition, the Red Devils overpowered the Rams 30-nil in both games to wrap up top spot.
Coupled with Narrabri's loss and draw against Quirindi, it pushed them 18 points clear of the second-placed Blue Boars with one round remaining and a maximum of 10 points available.
As things currently stand they will face the Blue Boars in the major semi-final. But defending champions Inverell are lurking only six points behind after accounting for Pirates 17-5 and 24-5 to leapfrog them into third.
The penultimate round results has set up an intriguing final round with Pirates still a chance to finish third. They face Barraba, while the Blue Boars tackle Moree and Inverell host Quirindi.
The Lions will head north imbued by a confidence-boosting showing against the Blue Boars.
After stunning them 29-17 in the first game the Lions were seconds away from victory in the second game, the Blue Boars scoring after the bell to draw 19-all.
Lions co-coach Nick Rees said it was an "outstanding" effort from his side.
He had said going in that they wouldn't be taking a backwards step and they didn't.
"The girls trained really hard through the week," he said.
"We emphasised starting well and that happened. I think the first try came in the first 30 seconds."
That set the tone.
"Everything came together in that game," he said.
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He said they had really put each other through their paces at training on Tuesday night as they look to finish their debut season on a high.
For the Red Devils, winning the minor premiership was one of the goals they set at the start of the season, but they know the job is only half done.
Assistant coach Lincoln Stewart said the excitement of learning they had accomplished that was quickly replaced by a determination to finish off the job and claim the premiership that just eluded them last year.
The Red Devils' defence again laid the foundation.
It has been the core of their success this season. They boast the best defensive record in the competition by almost 100 points and have now on eight occasions held their opposition scoreless.
Stewart said the nil against was was one of the most satisfying things about Saturday's performance.
"There is a lot of natural talent in attack and with a lot of new girls too we tried to focus on defending, and around the ruck as well," Stewart said.
"We focus a lot on second efforts and doing it for each other and helping each other with tackle assists."
Maddy Collison was dynamic in attack crossing for six tries for the day including four in one game.