Tamworth's junior oztag teams celebrated the local association's biggest ever Junior State Cup representation with a champion effort in trying conditions at Coffs Harbour on the weekend.
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None more so than the 14s girls who were crowned Division 2 champions.
The final day of the tournament was called off after Coffs Harbour received 100mm overnight on Saturday, and more rain was predicted for Sunday.
As per NSW Oztag's wet weather policy the top team in each division after the pool games were declared the champions.
Tamworth's high hopes going into the championships were well justified with all of the Taipans teams qualifying for the quarter finals and the the 13s and 14s boys also bringing home medals after finishing runners-up in their respective divisions.
For the 14s girls it was mission accomplished.
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"The plan was to do one more year in Division 2 and win it and then push up to Division 1," co-coach Geoff Sharpe said.
He and Steph Fulwood have coached the side for the last two years and they couldn't have been happier with their efforts.
"They were fantastic. They're a great bunch of kids," Sharpe said.
The cornerstone of their success was their defence, the tweaks Sharpe and Fulwood made to their defensive structure working well. They only conceded one try in their six games.
Not having a lot of recognised natural speed, Sharpe said they used a 'fullback' in defence so that if one of the faster players in their opposition made a break they had cover.
With one less in the front line it meant they had to "work really hard" in defence, but the girls did. He also noted that the fullback come up with some try-saving tags.
