Western’s Country Rugby League Championship campaign may have come to end in Saturday’s semi-final at Raiders Belconnen, but Rams coach Mick Armstrong couldn’t be prouder of the way his side went about its business throughout the tournament.
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The Rams were handed a 32-4 defeat by a clinical Illawarra-South Coast unit, the second year running the green and whites have been knocked out a variant of the southern region.
But, last year’s loss came in round one.
Considering Armstong’s troops ground their way to the penultimate fixture of this year’s championship – the second edition of the league tag tournament – he says there’s far more positives than negatives to come from the campaign.
But, he did admit to being disappointed too.
“It is disappointing, obviously we would have loved to have gone through but we played a very good side on Saturday, they were quality,” Armstrong said.
“Admittedly we didn’t play our best but I think even if we did it would’ve been pretty hard work for us to get over that Illawarra-South Coast side.
“They were just so quick, too quick for us really. We went with them for the first 10 minutes or so but once they got a roll on we were on the back foot.
“But it is a positive campaign for us it’s the furthest we’ve gone into the competition and I know, speaking to the girls, that they all really enjoyed it.”
The Rams’ performance signals Western’s development and bodes very well for future years.
“Definitely, they’ll all be better for the experience and as I said they all really enjoyed themselves,” Armstrong said.
“All the girls got along really well and I was really pleased with the way they gelled together as a side, I know they’ve been speaking about meeting up during the off-season too.”
Bathurst Panthers’ Jess Hotham score Western’s only try.
Loathe to single too many individuals out from Western’s strong showings, Armstrong heaped praise on his entire unit but did highlight a couple of real standouts.
“Everyone did a really great job, they all played their roles in each game and performed really well,” Armstrong said.
Patterson and her Illawarra South-Coast teammates move on to next week’s final as a result of Saturday’s win.
They’ll take on Central Coast for the right to be called country champions.
Central Coast qualified for the final courtesy of a hard-fought, six-point, 16-10 victory over North Coast.
