Nicola Robinson has gone from Pirates' foe to their "Mrs Consistent".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
That's how co-coach Anthony Barbara referred to the 20-year old, who joined the club last season after work opportunities saw her move down from Gravesend.
She had previously played with Inverell and been involved in a few good battles with Pirates.
"You know what you're going to get," Barbara said of Robinson, who he described as a "quiet achiever" and someone who "does the basics well" and "really leads from the front with her actions".
Like many Highlanders, Robinson's rugby journey started at Warialda High when she was recruited to play for the school team by teacher, and women's rugby advocate, Dale Beattie.
It was his association with the Highlanders that then saw her link up with them. That and Moree, which is around 40km closer, struggled for a consistent team.
Moving to Tamworth to work at Mainfreight in their customer service and admin team, it was long-time Pirate Alice O'Connor who coaxed her to the club.
Robinson had played with O'Connor for Central North, and when she heard she had moved to town, she got in touch.
On Saturday she co-captained them and scored a double as they beat Barraba/Gwydir 51-19 to make it three-in-a-row and jump to the top of the table.
"It was good," she said.
"It was tough."
Both in what the Ram-Rats threw at them and also for the fact that they only had the one sub. Robinson was one of several players who didn't get any time on the bench.
This weekend she will be one of four Pirates suiting up for the Central North open women's side at the Country Championships in Tamworth.
"I'm looking forward to it," she said.
"I think we've got a pretty good team.
"We've had a few training runs and we're looking pretty good. Jeremy (coach Jeremy Maslen) says we're looking pretty sharp."
Predominantly a half-back, Robinson has played for the Kookaburras all the way through from juniors, and is one of several players backing up from last year's opens side. She was also part of the side that created history for the zone in 2020 in finishing second at the country 7s championships.
The Ram-Rats will also have a few players involved in the Kookaburras' campaign with Emily Kelso, Natalie Phillpott and Amie Middlemiss making the squad.
They have so far only managed the one win but have been not far off in a couple of their games.
Even on Saturday coach Jack McCarthy felt like for the first three quarters they were "right in it". They were only about 15 points behind.
It was a sign of their improvement, McCarthy noting that last year they "probably would have been 60 points behind".
"A lot of the other coaches make the comment that they're getting better and better," he said.
One of the most pleasing things for him on Saturday was seeing them score a try off a move they had been working on at training, which is "a first" for them.
"It's good to see what's happening at training coming through," he said.
He was also proud of the sportsmanship they showed, with four of the side helping out Gunnedah and Quirindi (two played for each team) in the earlier game so they could play 10s.
The Red Devils then returned the favour helping them with a few extra numbers.
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:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News