Group 4: Amy Barraclough hopes to rediscover kicking magic in preliminary final

The youngster instead opted to take part in soccer, but said that her heart was never really in it.

"When I was younger, we only had the option of soccer or netball," Barraclough said.

"There wasn't all the opportunities for girls that there are these days. I did play soccer, but I didn't love soccer. I've always loved footy, and my dad loved footy. He played, and I always followed him around."

While she didn't approach soccer with the same fervour, the sport did give Barraclough one gift which she would use to her advantage for the rest of her athletic career: the ability to kick the ball a very long way.

When the Group 19 Oztag competition began in 2008, Barraclough leapt at the opportunity. Two years later, it morphed into a league tag competition, and she hasn't looked back since.

After years of lining up for the Uralla Tigers, Barraclough played her first season with the North Tamworth Bears in 2018, before re-joining the club in 2022.

"I needed a bit of a change [in 2018]," she said.

"I'd played a little bit of rep tag with some of the Norths girls, and they said 'Come to Tamworth', so I did."

Upon joining the Bears, Barraclough was an obvious choice for goal-kicker. She is capable of generating power with her right foot that would put many of the men in Group 4 to shame.

But over the last few weeks, the 37-year-old's usual accuracy has deserted her. She kicked just one conversion from four opportunities in last weekend's major semi-final against the Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters, and intends to do better this Saturday in the preliminary final against the Dungowan Cowgirls.

"I don't want to let the team down," Barraclough said.

"There's a lot of pressure in goal-kicking, and you don't want to let the team down by losing the converted try.

"I haven't pinpointed what is going on at the moment [with my kicking], but if you start overthinking, it's going to make it worse."

This weekend's clash is a replay of the 2022 grand final, which Dungowan won, and which Barraclough said is "always going to be in the back of your mind".

But she and the rest of her North Tamworth teammates will be prepared for the Cowgirls to come out fast and firing on Saturday.

"A couple of weeks ago, we did get a good win out at Dungowan, which they've probably got in the back of their minds," Barraclough said.

"But it's a new game, and they're a strong side with some good players. We've got to come out from the get-go and play our game."

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