Melissa Watson: Winton farmer has replaced James Cooper as the Bears' league tag coach

And the people at the centre of Watson's world are her fiance, Jon Weekes, and their children, Sophie, 15, and Mitch, 11.

The family lives on a Winton cattle farm.

"I've been engaged for many years," Watson laughed.

"Nah, too busy now," she added, when asked if a wedding was on the horizon.

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The farm lost cattle during the drought, but Watson said there was "plenty of feed now".

Hailing from Sydney, she loves the fact that her children are growing up in the country. Sophie and Mitch were her greatest achievements in life, she said.

"The kids love living out here. And it's great to bring them up in an environment like this."

Watson's appointment as Norths' league tag coach marks a return to the sport for the former Kootingal-Moonbi and Oxley Diggers player.

It will, however, be her first league tag coaching role - although she has captain-coached Tamworth's over-40 women's oztag team for several years.

It was on the "street" that Watson said she first learned that James Cooper was looking for someone to replace him as Norths' league tag mentor.

However, she said she "didn't take much notice" of the talk.

"But then he [Cooper] rang me," she added, "and we had a meeting ... I thought about it for a bit and decided that I'd like to have a go."

Coaching the Bears, Watson continued, "would be a great opportunity to do something different".

She feels "pretty excited" about what lies ahead, the task becoming more real when she meets this weekend with senior members of her squad in order to pencil in a preseason start date.

"The girls there, I've played with most of them, or played against them in oztag," she said. "So I know most of them."

Watson also knows that she will oversee some "very handy players".

"And we've got some new ones coming through as well," she said.

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