Group Four LLT gets underway as young stars shine

Four games were played on Saturday, and North Tamworth beat a game Manilla 36-nil on Sunday to complete the first round.

Both coaches were away for the North-Manilla clash, but Tayla King's two-try haul and impressive efforts from Bronte Harris, who garnered the three points in the Best and Fairest tally, Tegan Resch, Rhiannon Graham and Tyanna Kerr led the Bearettes to the top of the table.

Hine Reiro stood in for Manilla's Adelaide Monika and thought the Manilla girls "played real well".

"They'll be unstoppable, they love the game," she said of the enthusiastic and eager Tigeresses.

"They are passionate," she added, and noted the output of the "supertagger" Kiarnie Haines and Dinari Flett.

Out at Gunnedah the home side also defended well in their 26-6 win over the Jason Smith-coached Werris Creek Magpies.

New coach Jacqui Jones was delighted with the 20-point win.

"A great away to start," she said.

"We haven't had a trial, that was our first hit out. We did start off a little slow and we do have a few new players but we started to gel."

Maddy Buhagiar was a standout, while Dakotah Durrant and Amelia Beasley also earned plaudits and Nautica Eather polled the three points in the Best and Fairest. Meanwhile, Buhagiar received two and Werris Creek's Jasmine Verrell one point.

"Jasmine is having her first season," Werris Creek coach Jason Smith said of his newest recruit.

"We had a few new girls play today, a couple of 16-year-olds playing for the first time, that was real good.

"They all worked pretty hard for their first game together. Gunnedah have been a quality side for a while now and we only trailed 10-6 at half time. That 10 minutes after half time killed us."

While Jasmine Verrell excelled in her first game, he also thought Jamaiha Hunt "went real well".

In other games, Moree won its first round at home against Barraba 20-12 with Katerina Hinton and Sheldyn Briggs the stars, Dungowan shut out Kootingal 14-nil at Kootingal, and Boggabri won their derby game against Narrabri 28-10.

BOGGABRI 28 (Kaiya Grace-Hendrie 2, Molly Dawson, Antoinette Wenner, Ava Hannaford, Alice Donnelly tries, Telisha Henderson 2gls) d NARRABRI 10 (Amelia Gosper tries, Kristie Toomey gl) G4

Best Fairest: 3 Ava Hannaford (B), 2 Amelia Gosper (Narr), 1 Caitlyn Dewar (B).

GUNNEDAH 26 (Piper Rankmore, Zoe Flemming, Jacqui Jones, Carys Griffiths, Dakotah Durant tries, Zoe Flemming 3 goals) d WERRIS CREEK 6 (Jasmine Verrell try and gl) G4 Best and Fairest: 3 Nautica Eather (G), Maddie Bahagiar (G), 1 Jasmine Verrell (WC).

MOREE 20 (Sheldyn Briggs 2, Shakaya Williams, Codie Ryan, Leah Carr-Hancock tries) d BARRABA 12 (Jessica Lott, Courtney Barwick tries, Abbey Mallise 2gls) G4 Best and Fairest: 3 Katerina Hinton (M), 2 Abbey Mallise (B), 1 Sheldyn Briggs (M).

DUNGOWAN 14 (Elizabeth Thomas, Chloe Shanley, Paris Knox tries, Sarah Stackman gl) d KOOTINGAL 0. G4 Best and Fairest: 3 Georgia Horniman (D), 2 Kiara Briggs (K), 1 Ellie New (D).

NORTH TAMWORTH 36 (Tayla King 2, Tegan Resch, Tyanna Kerr, Bronte Harris, Bree-Anna Poetschka, Rhiannon Graham, Katelyn Atkins tries, Graham Tyla Endemi gls) d MANILLA 0. G4 Best and Fairest: 3 Bronte Harris (NT), 2 Tayla King (NT), 1 Joan O'Leary (M).

Round two: Saturday, April 23 - Moree v Werris Creek (Boughton Oval, Moree), Manilla v Kootingal (Manilla Showground), Boggabri v Dungowan (Jubilee Oval, Boggabri). Sunday, April 24 - Narrabri v Gunnedah (Collins Park, Narrabri), Barraba v North Tamworth (Barraba Sportsground).

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: