WINNING a Group 10 league tag premiership might seem like the pinnacle for St Pat’s in season 2015, but next weekend they can add an even more prestigious item to their trophy cabinet.

Courtesy of their Group 10 grand final victory, the Saints have qualified for next weekend’s Country Rugby League League Tag Premiers Challenge at Charlestown.

The Saints picked up their second Group 10 league tag last month, beating two-time defending premiers Bathurst Panthers 12-4 in the decider.

Now St Pat’s will take on 15 other champion teams from across NSW in a bid to be named the state’s best side of the year.

Winners of the tournament will also pick up a handy $3,500. 

The format of the competition will see the Saints play a number of pool games before hopefully progressing to the semi-finals.

With four pools, only the top finisher will advance.

St Pat’s coach Mick Armstrong said while his team will only train once in the lead up, he believes the fitness of his players will be up to the rigors of the competition.

“We haven’t had any training since the grand final, but the girls will still be very keen to win. We should be able to have one session next week. We’ve had a lot of the girls away at the uni games,” he said.

“This competition wasn’t something that we talked about before the grand final, because you have to win to get there first. But afterwards it was something we discussed. We should get around 14 to 15 girls for this.”

Armstrong said if his team bring in the fighting spirit they showed to recover from a mid-season slump to be crowned premiers, then they can match the best outfits in the state.

“It will be really good to see where Group 10 is currently at compared to the rest of the state. I think our group is very strong, though there are other groups out there who have been playing league tag longer than we have,” he said.

“If we play like what we did throughout the year, I feel we’ll go well against most teams. We’ve been really strong across the park this year.

“I knew at the start of the year that we had a good side, but we’d still have to perform to get there. 

“We had those losses in the middle of the season and ... I think that made us work a lot harder.”

Pat’s will be joined at the tournament by fellow Western Region teams Dubbo Westside (Group 11) and the Eugowra Golden Eagles (Castlereagh).

The knockout stage of the tournament will be streamed live on the BarTV Sports YouTube channel.