CENTRAL West have gained 13 NSW Country girls representatives following their excellent showing at the NSW Country Junior Rugby Union Championships in Kiama over the weekend.
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The Bullettes may have come up just short of a title in their under 14s, 16s and 18s championship campaigns but the strong representation in country squads bodes well for the future of Central West women's rugby.
Ashanti Pennell, Jesyca Pearson, Darby Richardson, Holly Jones, Meg Webster (under 18s), Annie Craig, Lexi Wood, Pollyanna McCarthy, Lily Bone, Angela Littler, Sarah O'Neill, Paige Lowe (under 16s) and Georgie Miller (under 14s) all impressed selectors with their performances, earning spots in their respective country NSW teams.
Bathurst were represented in the selections through Craig and Lowe.
Central West's under 16s came the closest to victory, going down to Illawarra in the grand final.
The Bullettes' under 18s were third and an inexperienced under 14s team impressed on their way to fourth.
Under 14s manager Jaynie Goodfellow said all the Central West players should be proud of the way they played against some of the state's top talent.
"We had quite a few girls selected into country teams, which was fantastic," she said.
"It was a successful campaign from all the girls and there was some fierce competition, especially for the 14s, but in true Central West fashion the girls all played strongly and were supportive of one another.
"They have this country spirit that you can't get anywhere else."
It was the first time an under 14s competition had been held at the championships and Goodfellow said the team never backed down.
"Most of our team will be coming back in the 14s comp next year which means they'll not only be coming back wiser but they'll carry more confidence, a better understanding of the game and they'll be stronger," she said.
"Most of them were in this for the first time so there were a lot of nerves but they did exceptionally."
Goodfellow said the Bullettes handled the high workload well.
"The 14s had two pools before meeting up in finals whereas the under 16s girls played each other a couple of times each," she said.
"Those girls finishing runners-up was a great effort because that's a highly contested age group.
"The 18s had a team pull out so they ended up playing a relay format where one team would come on after another every 20 minutes and keep rotating. They ended up playing a lot of rugby."
The boys' edition of the championships will take place this weekend in Armidale.
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