Goulburn open women’s Stockmen are gearing up for another red-hot crack at the Canberra Raiders Cup in the 2018 season.
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After losing in the grand final last year to Belconnen, Goulburn coach John Sykes says the team will have an impressive depth of talent and will look to intimidate their opponents this year.
“We’ve got pretty good numbers,” Sykes said.
“We’ve had a bit of a disjointed preparation because we have girls away at the Raiders and girls at the Sharks.
“Come next month, we’ll have pretty much everyone here. We’ve got seven former or current Raiders and Sharks representatives [in the team].”
Despite the high level of some of the players in the team, Sykes was quick to affirm the rest of the Goulburn players were more than capable when compared to the representative players.
“We’re looking very strong with the rep girls, and the girls that aren’t in the rep teams are holding their own with them,” he said.
A key to Goulburn’s game this year will be size. Many of the squad are big, powerful players, and Sykes is excited to be able to put that asset to use in games.
“We’ve got a lot of big forwards, so we’re going to play an intimidating game in the ruck, and enterprising game on the outside,” Sykes said.
“When they put that together, they’ll be quite a formidable force.”
Another key to continuing the success they enjoyed in 2017 will be maintaining the mental fortitude, which is a cornerstone of the Goulburn side.
“I went up and watched that grand final last year, they were blown off the paddock early, but they came back and fought hard, they’re mentally tough,” Sykes said.
“They don’t like any of the other girls on the team putting one over them.
“They're a joy to train because they know what they’re doing. They know the structures and they know what needs to be done.”
Along with coaching the Goulburn side, Sykes has also done a lot of refereeing in rugby league, and he maintains that he finds the women’s game the most gratifying form to adjudicate.
“The most enjoyable football for me to referee is the women’s,” he said.
“There’s not a lot of rubbish and NRL tainting the team.”
The Goulburn open women’s Stockmen will play their first trial game on April 8 against Yass at North Park.
The regular season will begin on Friday, April 27.