RACHEL Brown didn't get the undefeated premiership she had hoped for in her final season with CSU, but what the talented forward did get is memories that will last a lifetime.
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When CSU revived its women's team four seasons ago, Brown was there charging hard, breaking through the opposition defence, stealing the ball at the breakdown and setting up tries.
From that maiden season where Brown was in the mix for the player of the year honours to a 2021 campaign that saw an undefeated minor premiership but then back-to-back defeats in finals, the forward has remained a star.
But when asked about her time at CSU, Brown instead marvels at the players who have stood alongside her.
"It never fails to amaze me each year how they start from almost absolute scratch then to achieve so much throughout a season, it's pretty remarkable," she said.
"To put a bunch of girls together, most of them who have never played footy, and then they are suddenly top contenders. Even if we didn't get the win in the end, you can't doubt that there's so much talent within those girls and they've got so much dedication.
"It's exciting to see, I've been with the club for four years and each year I get that same feeling of this is a special club. To be able to take those newcomers in and nurture them and chuck them out the other end with highest point scorer and player of the season and things like that, it's pretty great."
In CSU's return season in 2018, they made it to grand final day in the Ferguson Cup but missed out on a title as the Bathurst Bulldogs got the job done.
In 2019 they fell to Orange Emus at the preliminary final stage but the following season after the women's teams were split into three premierships, CSU emerged as the inaugural North Cup victors.
It's a record that Brown says she did 'absolutely not' predict. She also didn't predict just how much support the women's team would get from CSU's men's outfits.
"I think everyone was a bit questionable about it at the start, especially the boys, it's been a male-dominant club forever, so four years ago it was like 'Is this just going to be a political thing where we have girls at the club and try to expand it?'," Brown said.
"But that first year was really, really exciting and heart-warming how much the boys got behind us and it just made the club morale grow. I've seen that club morale just keep growing over the four years.
"I think my first year was my favourite year of playing footy ever, but to see how much the club has grown in the support of women, viewing them as players and not just club members, it's amazing."
As well as winning a North Cup, CSU's women's side has produced players of the year, highest scorers of the year, Central West and NSW Country representatives. It's something Brown is proud of.
"You walk anywhere with your CSU merch on and people say 'Oh you play rugby' and you speak to someone and they say 'My daughter wants to play', or I go home and they say 'Oh my niece is going to start playing'," Brown said.
"It's just so exciting to see that there is so much talent in the Central West and it's being recognised."
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