AUSTRALIAN RULES
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
THE pointy end of the competition has come and the Assumption School girl's Australian rules team are ready for the challenge.
Today the team will travel to Sydney to defend their state title in the Paul Kelly Cup.
Coach Karen Smith said the side has been training hard in the lead up to the finals and are aiming to bring home the title for the second consecutive year.
Assumption has already enjoyed plenty of success in 2012; they won the local division competing against Bathurst schools earlier in the year before taking out the regional title in June.
Smith said the state titles are the culmination of 15,000 participants from 1000 teams across the state, with the top 16 teams vying for the title.
She said this year's team is in the main made up of a new faces, with just two players Mikala Bringolf and Zarlia Griffiths crossing over from last year.
Smith said there was a strong interest in Australian rules in the school thanks to the work of AFL development officer Peter Yandle, who she said had done a lot of work building up the sport over the last couple of years.
Smith said the girls love playing Australian rules.
"As soon as they start playing they're hooked," she said. "They've been training since the regional competition and training at lunch times.
"Last year I was worried we'd get annihilated. But we won the first game, then the second game and we just kept winning."
This year Smith is feeling confident the girls will be competitive at the top level.
"They have as good a chance as anyone," she said.
The state titles will be held in Blacktown today.