THE pride in the voice of Teejay Isbister is easy to detect when he talks about his St Pat's under 11 league tag side winning this year's Group 10 Junior Rugby League minor premiership, but he still wants more from 2020.
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This Sunday his Saints have a chance to earn a spot in the grand final should they beat Orange CYMS Gold in their sudden-death semi-final at Jack Arrow Oval.
It would be a huge achievement for a group of young Saints who have already impressed their coach across the eight weeks of the regular season.
"They snuck under the radar but they finally got there, they've done real well," Isbister said.
"We have about five girls who played on from last year, but the rest are all first-timers. They've just picked it up pretty quick.
"I'm actually real surprised considering we came second-last last year, we weren't going real good last year. I think those girls who stuck around from last year, definitely they've got the experience now, that's what has helped them out. The know where to be on the field and how to attack the tags.
"It was us and Panthers going for it [minor premiership] and it was only our for and against that was holding us in second, but then we got a good win against Cowra. They also had a good win against Lithgow, but our for and against ended up better than theirs."
St Pat's 38-6 win over Cowra last week saw them nudge out Bathurst Panthers for top spot on the ladder by 14 points on for against after both sides posted five wins.
Isbister, who jokes he "played about 100 years ago", has previously coached junior boys teams and said that working with a group of under 11 girls brings with it an interesting challenge. But it is clearly one he enjoys.
"You know what 11-year-old girls are like, especially when you get 13 of them together, they test you real good - but they're pretty good though," he laughed.
"I've got four main girls who have played touch before so they've got a bit of an idea how to throw the ball around, the other girls watched them and learned how to run and tag and that and they've come a long way."
Isbister's hoping his run with the team extends beyond this Sunday's must-win semi-final, and that his Saints have already beaten Orange CYMS Gold gives him confidence that can happen.
If the Saints win they will advance to the grand final and play the winner of the Panthers versus Mudgee match.
"If we lose this one that's it game over. But we played them a few weeks ago and we got up 30-24 so hopefully they play their same game and we can go on from there," he said.
Kick-off in both under 11 semi-finals is at 10am on Sunday at Jack Arrow Oval.
There are also four more Bathurst teams who have qualified for the league tag semi-finals.
The under 13s Saints and Panthers will square off at 11am, while in the opens St Pat's White faces Orange CYMS at 12.15pm. The under 18 Bathurst Panthers play their sudden death match against minor premiers Orange Hawks from 1.45pm.
