Merchant was one of the standouts for St Pat's on Sunday as they posted a 40-0 win over the Cowra Magpies at Jack Arrow Oval.

She scored one of the seven tries the defending premiers laid on, put team-mates into space with some smart off-loads, made good yards every carry, was strong in defence and at one stage took an intercept.

"She's from Orange Hawks, she's had a couple of years off and lives in Bathurst now. She's a really handy pick up, she just runs onto the ball so well, has got great hands and a good head for footy," Saints captain-coach Mish Somers said of Merchant.

"It's been great having her out on the paddock. She's got all the skills and a bit of a touch background, so a very handy pick up."

While the Saints forced two line drop-outs in the opening 10 minutes of the match, Cowra's defence stood firm and in turn the Magpies created their own chances via a pair of Emilie Browne line breaks.

But after the hosts finally cracked Cowra's defence in the 14^th minute, what followed was the sort of football which has seen them dominate the Group 10 competition.

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It was Paige Hay who bagged the opener, stepping three defenders on a 35 metre run to the line.

The Saints scored off their next two sets in succession, Merchant rewarded for her efforts with a four-pointer before Amy Copping put Hay over for her second.

That made it 18-0 at the break and it was only a brilliant chase from Browne which prevented the Magpies being even further behind after Merchant put a team-mate into space on the stroke of half-time.

Five minutes after play resumed Hay was in again, catching out Cowra with a quick tap from a penalty.

Fullback Erin Naden bagged a double - the first of which was a 50 metre special - while Meredith Jones got on the scoresheet too.

"Cowra are a great tagging side, we know they are always good the first 10 minutes of each half, so that was a bit of a grind there," Somers said.

"We had a few girls out of position today with a few out, so it took us a bit to get into our rhythm, but when we did I felt the girls ran onto the ball well and played some good footy.

"It took so long to get going, but that's two weeks in a row now and it's nice to get a bit of footy under our belts. It helps to get some combinations because we've got a few new players."

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