The Northern Rangers impressed when they took to the field for the first time at the junior oztag nationals at Coffs Harbour on the weekend.
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Combining the best talent from Tamworth and the north west area, Port Macquarie, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens and Newcastle, the Rangers showed they can match it with the best teams in the country.
That was highlighted by the 14s girls. The predominantly Tamworth-based side, made it through to the semi-finals where they fought hard but were beaten by a strong Central Coast outfit 5-2.
"All the girls gelled really nicely over the weekend and played well as a team," Tamworth junior oztag's Katrina Davis said.
"And when they played no-mistake oztag they scored plenty of points."
Lake Macquarie's Jesse Southwell was a standout. The younger sister of multi-code star Hannah Southwell, Davis said she will be a name to watch.
The 13s girls were meanwhile knocked out in the quarter finals while the 9s girls just missed out on a semis spot on a points count-back.
The 9, 10, 12, 14 and 17 boys played hard all weekend, winning a few and losing a few, while the 12 and 17 girls fought hard all weekend.
Davis said it was a "really strong showing" for their first tournament under the Rangers' banner.
"Overall our results as Rangers teams better than our stand alone as Tamworth so that's a positive," she said.
There are understandably some kinks still to be ironed out, the tyranny of distance making it tough to train together as much as they were perhaps previously.
"We're looking at getting some feedback," Davis said.
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"Based on that feedback we'll try and make changes."
"We'll keep chipping away and see what is the best way forward."
She said the sport is booming with numbers growing across the state and some fantastic talent coming through.
"The skill level of some of these kids, boys and girls, is amazing," she said.
The senior Rangers will get their chance in a couple of weeks.
