Oztag: Four Northern Rangers teams set to play in Junior Australian Championships

Once there, the four Northern Rangers teams will take part in the Junior Australian Championships, where Tamworth Junior Oztag convenor, Katrina Davis, believes they will be competitive.

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"In our region, our teams have been competitive all the way through," Davis said.

"Those age groups at State Cup, which are very similar teams for us at least, had some good results, so that's positive.

"Hopefully they continue that form."

The four teams to attend the championships will be the under 16s girls, under 14s girls, under 11s girls, and under 9s boys.

The two older teams are experienced in the representative sphere, with some members of the 16s team having attended nationals as many as five times previously.

But their lead-in to this year's competition has been less than perfect due to the consistent wet weather.

"It's been very disrupted with the rain and the flooding and getting access to the fields," Davis said.

"It has been a little bit hit-and-miss in that regard ... they've been very much limited with their training sessions in a nationals lead-up."

Due to the congestion of the nationals calendar - the 2021 edition took place earlier this year after being postponed due to COVID-19 - the Rangers will have fewer teams than the usual number of 10 to 12 that they usually do at the competition.

This, however, is not necessarily specific to the Rangers. The nationals as a whole will likely feature fewer teams this edition, Davis said.

However, given the commitment that has been shown, particularly by some of the Port Macquarie players, she is optimistic.

"They've been making the effort to come across the ranges and train regularly," Davis said.

"Especially for the under 9 boys, they've had a few players that have made the effort to come across regularly, which is great.

"So that adds a little bit more depth to our teams."

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