New England women to play at Festival of Rugby

Held in Narrabri on February 10 and 11, the Festival of Rugby brings together a wide range of athletes from emerging stars through to the NSW Waratahs and Queensland Reds Super Rugby and Super W teams.

New England's Charlotte Goldman, Skye Gordon Briggs, Tahlia Morgan, Lekah Mohena and Clare Harpley were named in the Corellas' squad of 23 to face the Queensland Country women's team on the Friday.

The squad is predominantly made up of the women who lined up for the Corellas at the Australian Rugby Championships in Adelaide in October.

Assistant coach and NSW Country Rugby president Luke Stephen said there's been a few changes, mostly due to members of the squad stepping up to Super W campaigns, but they will benefit from the bonds they formed previously.

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"And I think that shows the value of Adelaide in that we have four ladies unavailable as they are in Super Rugby squads," he said.

"The encouraging thing is we started with a big squad of 37 after the Country Champs at Tamworth last year and, for four of the ladies, it is just the next four up. And they were part of the squad prior to going to Adelaide and they can just step right in."

Stephen believes it is a good opportunity to further showcase the women's game and said they are "very keen" to show what they've got.

"Being part of the festival of rugby is a good experience," he said.

"We are lucky enough to get the opportunity to bring together the squad for one more game in this program.

"From NSW Country's point-of-view it is for a lot of these ladies their first game in 2023. So having some sort of cohesion in terms of the squad that played together in Adelaide, is really good."

After the Australian championships, head coach Paddy Bowen said it was positive to see women from not just a select few regions.

Stephen echoed Bowen's sentiments in reflecting on the makeup of the squad for the coming fixture.

"We had seven sides participate in the Country Champs at Tamworth in women's format and we have five of those zones represented today with Central North not having representation because their players are in squads at the next level," he said.

From a New England perspective, it's a positive to see five women ready to line up.

Of the five, only Harpley didn't travel to Adelaide but she was part of the extended squad.

Stephen said it is exciting to see her step up.

"These ladies played some exceptional football in 2022 and are thoroughly deserving of every opportunity, particularly for Clare who is in line to make a potential debut," he said.

"She is a player of incredible potential having won the Alana Thomas [player of the most potential] award and I am really looking forward to seeing how she stands up at that level.

"They all had some really good moments in Adelaide, those that played there.

"And I am certain they are building to bigger things and if they wanted to play higher on, they could do if they wanted."

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