Woodbridge ladies rugby league coach Jack Nobes believes his side can match it with defending premiers Panoroma Platypi despite the side’s 30-4 loss to the Bathurst side last weekend.
Going into the match without Country Player of the Year Alicia Earsman, Woodbridge dominated the opening minutes of Saturday's game before what Nobes described as a “momentum swinging” try changed the course of the match.
“It was (disappointing),” Nobes said of the result.
“I knew we were up against it but I think the girls gave them too much respect and probably didn’t give themselves the respect we deserve,” he said.
Woodbridge opened their 2024 season with wins over Mudgee (16-8) at Sid Kallas Oval and Cougars (24-10) at Tom Knight Oval in Cobar before last Saturday’s game at Lawson Oval in Grenfell.
The win against Mudgee was also without Earsman and she played only a minor role against Cougars after suffering a season ending injury early in the game.
“We were in it (against Panorama) early and looked really good,” Nobes said, “maybe the occasion got the better of us.”
“I think coming up against Panorama, them being the benchmark and winning the competition the last couple of years, I think we got caught worrying more about them.
“We can definitely be more competitive against them.
“The first 15 minutes it was still nil all. We had all of the ball. We just lacked a bit of polish and couldn’t finish them.
“The first 10 minutes they barely got into our half. Our defence was really good, we had a couple of good chances but lacked a bit of polish, didn’t execute and then they got their first points.
“It was a real momentum swing, we were on top and they jagged a try first time down our end which took the wind out of our sales pretty quick.”
Another positive from the match, according to Nobes, was the side coming through relatively unscathed on the injury front.
“The week before was a bit of a nightmare,” he said with obvious reference to the loss of Earsman.
“She’s definitely a big loss but we played Mudgee without her and we were well and truly in it on the weekend in the first half without her again.
“She’s a huge loss but the girls have proven they can do it (without her).
“The girls have shown a lot of improvement right across the park,” he said.
Woodbridge’s only points on Saturday came from a try to Caitlyn Boswell.
Woodbridge have the next two weekends off before taking on LDWRL at Red Bend in Forbes on October 20.
In other games on the weekend Woodbridge Under 12s defeated the Platypi 24-20.
The under 12s points came from two tries to Isla Douglas, two to Billie Nelligan and one each to Zoe Maynard and Poppy Douglas. Evie Smith successfully converted two of the Woodbridge tries with Hunter Taylor adding the extras for one try.
Woodbridge under 14s went down 34-10 to the Platypi with their 10 points coming from two tries and one conversion.
Woodbridge under 16s and under 18s also found Panorama too strong with the under 16s suffering a 30-16 loss and the under 18s defeated 50-6.
Indigo Heard scored all of the points for the 18s with a try and a goal.
The under 16s points came from tries to Amber Taylor, Rachel Tomlinson and Sianna Adams. Hallie Haines converted two of the tries.