“They were extremely nervous. One even felt as if she was going to throw up,” he said. So Davis calmly took the them to the field early and turned their minds to the task at hand.

“I just tried to crack a few jokes, then take their minds off it with some set drills,” he explained.

“I just wanted to keep them occupied so they didn’t have to think about it.” It worked.

When the girls returned to the dugout at half time there was not a sign of nerves to be seen. They were 22 points up against the Gungahlin Bulls and were dominant.

“Half the team had never played before, it was their first game so the moment was getting to them, but it was a really good result and exactly what we what we asked for,” Davis said.

“I told them to not put pressure on yourself, have fun and to be patient. The points will come if you’re patient.”

The girls continued their dominant performance in the second half, and despite a Gungahlin fight back, they held onto their lead to run out eventual winners 22-4.

It was the perfect way to begin their premiership defence.

“A few of the new girls in particular did very well. Elly Hazelton (second row) and Chloe Croker (sub half) were very good,” Davis said.

“At one point Chloe made five tackles all out of dummy half. A fantastic effort.”

“We concentrated more on set play and our forwards really powered through the middle, that’s where we made a lot of metres, then we would flick to our backs who are very quick and that’s where our points came from.”

Shakira Tyrell, playing out of hooker, was best aground for the Stockies.

Try scorers: Pearl Rakete 2, Bronte Wildin, Lauren Kelly, Rhiannon Roberts. It wasnt the same result for the under- 16s Stockmen boys, who went down to the Gungahlin Bulls 28-10.

Two quick tries to the Bulls meant the Stockies were on the back foot the entire game, although they never gave up.