Not even COVID-19 could stop the Tamworth Kangaroos women's coach, Shannon Campbell, from inspiring her side to a come-from-behind victory on Saturday.
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Up against the New England Nomads, who Campbell said are one of the most talent-rich teams in the division, she knew that the Kangaroos would need to be at their best to win.
But, with a squad decimated by the coronavirus and absences for personal reasons, they were forced to field just 15 players.
Once Campbell herself came down with COVID, she was sequestered at home and received live updates from an unnamed "spy" watching the game for her.
"It was tough not being able to be there," she said.
"I had someone who was watching the game live commentating it for me, and then I was calling the coaches at quarter time and half time."
Initially, the Kangaroos struggled to overcome the absence of most of their most experienced players. With a very young and raw team on the field, Campbell said the pressure was weighing so heavily on the girls that they had forgotten the most important tenet of sport: having fun.
Down 2.5.17 to 1.4.10 at half time, Campbell called her fellow coaches and had them put the phone on speaker so she could address the group.
"The pressure of being in a side so under-experienced compared to what we normally have ... I think they had all gotten in their own heads a little bit," she said.
"I said you guys just need to go and have fun. Win or lose, you need to enjoy it, and that's apparently what they did."
Indeed, the Kangaroos took Campbell's words to heart. In the third quarter, the Nomads went scoreless as Tamworth piled on 27 points.
The primary architect of the comeback was teenage star, Ruby Spark, whose three goals all came in that one quarter and earned her a handful of accolades after the game.
"[Her performance] wasn't surprising to me at all," Campbell said.
"I've known Ruby since she was about 13. She's someone that I feel that I can coach very well ... she went out and did exactly what I told her to do.
"I know what she's capable of, it's just about trying to get that confidence into her."
That third-quarter surge was enough to secure the Kangaroos a 15-point victory, 6.8.44 to 4.5.29, by the end of the game.
It is their second straight win, which puts them third on the ladder behind the Gunnedah Bulldogs in first and Inverell Saints in second, who Campbell expects to lead the competition this year.
This Saturday, the Kangaroos will take on the Saints at Varley Oval from noon.
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