MICK Carter is only new to coaching in the Western Women's Rugby League competition, but he's seen enough to know how important it is to female talents within the region.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He's seen enough to believe an expansion from the current seven-week format into a full season is something which should be seriously considered by officials.
"I love it, I think they should make it a full-on tackle comp through the year," he said.
"Like girls who play tackle with the boys up until they're 12, after that they're lost or have got to go and play league tag or are looking for something else.
"This is great at the end of the [Group 10] season, but I think it would be great if there was a tackle comp all the way through the year. If you want to play in an NRL women's side, where do you go? This comp would help that.
"It would be a great concept if they could do it."
While Carter had not previously coached a junior girls side before signing up to guide the under 14 Panorama Platypi this season, he has a lengthy junior coaching record with Bathurst Panthers.
He has seen how they have benefitted from having good development pathways in place and is keen to see the region's female talents get the same opportunities.
Western Women's Rugby League has already produced players who have linked with Sydney and NRLW clubs.
Since Western introduced a women's tackle competition in 2016 it has gone from an opens only nine-a-side competition played on one evening to now seeing six clubs competing across five grades.
While there was initially talks of having the current season run for 10 weeks, it will consist of five rounds then a two-week finals series.
That is part due to it being postponed from last September to February-March due to the COVID-19 lockdown of regional New South Wales.
The pandemic and timing has also had an impact on numbers, so Carter is on the hunt for more players to join his under 14s. The Platypi are seeking more players for all their junior age divisions.
"The girls that I've had at training have been good. The first training session I had at Carrington when footy was still going I had about 19 people then, it was a good hit out, but COVID has scared players I guess," Carter said.
"It is very exciting, hopefully we get some more players. Because of COVID a lot of players who were going to play are out, so I think I'm down to 12 or 15."
While hoping to boost the numbers in his squad, Carter does have a number of experienced Platypi such as his daughter Abbey.
He thinks they have the potential to play finals football
"They've got five rounds now so it's still a decent hit out for them, couple of home games, couple of away games. That calibre of players we had training before Christmas, I think we're a good enough side to contend in the semi-finals," he said.
"A lot of the girls have a lot of skills so it will be interesting to see how it goes."
The season kicks off on February 12 with Panorama facing the Orange Vipers in Orange. Their first home game comes the following weekend when hosting Woodbridge Cup at Jack Arrow Oval.
Any juniors interested in joining the Platypi can email the club at panoramaplatypi@gmail.com
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.westernadvocate.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News