HAVING been one of the heavyweights of the Group 10 league tag competition since its inauguration, it stung long serving Bathurst Panthers players like Jess Hotham when the side failed to qualify for this year's finals.
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Hotham admits the 2013-14 premiers need to go through a rebuilding phase to see them again challenge for the title, but she has already made plans to drive Panthers on.
The talented Panther, who has spent time in both a Group 10 and Western Rams representative jumper, will coach both the under 18s and open women's league tag outfits in 2020.
Her idea is to foster a tighter bond between those two squads, following the example of Panthers' premier league and first division outfits.
"It's a bit to take on, we put it out there and tried to get a coach for the opens side but it's tough. Monique [Christie-Johnston] has had to step up the last few years, but obviously she's moving away so someone kinda of had to step up or we weren't going anywhere," Hotham said.
"So we're going to run it like first and reserve grade do, we are going to train together and then pick the sides. It just seemed right, I'm there coaching the 18s anyway, so we might as well put it all together and train as a club rather than separate teams.
"The under 18 girls have got to fit into the open team anyway, so it just made sense."
Having previously coached the under 18s, Hotham knows there is plenty of talent and potential in that squad. In 2019 especially she saw her players develop.
By combining the squads for training and giving those emerging juniors the chance to learn from the open age Panthers, Hotham believes it will further aid their game.
"With first grade and reserve grade training together, you've really got to push for your spot to get into that first grade side and I was thinking, this is a good way for the 18 girls to be really pushing themselves and seeing what opens is all about rather than when they finish 18s thinking 'Oh God, this is such a huge jump to opens'," she said.
"I am hoping this will help with the transition, I'm going to feed them through each week. We'll probably have four or five playing up.
"They've got touch football backgrounds and a few of them had played the year before, but not very seriously. By the end of the year there was some promising players in that side, so I'm actually very excited to see how they go next year."
As well as being of benefit to the under 18s, Hotham knows the move will aid Panthers' open age side. It will add to their depth and ideally make for a more competitive squad, while the coach is also encouraging any other women interested in league tag to get involved as well.
"It was our first year that we hadn't really competed which was sad ... a few things happened, it was just one of those years," Hotham said.
"That pressure that we put on ourselves, it's hard to keep it at that point, at some point we had to rebuild somewhere. You can't just expect to be at that level for however long.
"So I'm hoping that by helping those 18s and bridging that gap, it will help. Us opens girls are getting a bit older so there is a gap in between, but I'm hoping to bring that a little bit closer."
Panthers will begin training early next year and Hotham encourages any players interested to attend.
