In the space of six months, the Dubbo Devils under 14s went from a “park footy team to a very capable and competitive side that can compete with the best teams in the state”.
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That’s the view of coach Andrew Tomlins after seeing his squad hold its own at the elite NSW Junior State Cup on the weekend.
After taking out the Don Green regional championship late last year and then impressing at the Peter Wilson Tournament in Nelson Bay, the Devils 14s took on some of the most exciting talents in NSW at Port Macquarie.
While Dubbo didn’t make the finals after finishing with one win, two draws and three losses, Tomlins was still delighted by what he saw.
“I was really happy with how the team has built and improved over the season,” he said.
“They performed well against the very highest quality sides in the state.”
Dubbo opened its Junior State Cup campaign with a thumping 6-1 win over Hornsby but that was followed by a tight 5-3 loss to the Northern Beaches Renegades.
An error late on in the next game, played on the main stadium ground, against the Port Makos resulted in a try on the bell and a painful 3-2 loss and then Wests Magpies handed Tomlins’ side a 6-1 defeat.
But the young Devils showed plenty of resilience when drawing with both the Peninsula Piranhas and the fancied Easts Roosters, 2-all and 3-all respectively.
“The standout was beating Hornsby, a Sydney-based team from a strong area,” Tomlins said.
“We drew with both the Peninsula team and Easts Roosters which exceeded out expectations because they’re from very strong coast and metro competitions and the Roosters are closely affiliated with the NRL club.”
With only a handful of players returning from last year’s 14s, Tomlins said it was impressive to see the way the new-look team gelled.
“There was only a couple of combinations from last year so developing that and the leadership skills throughout the team is one of the rewarding things for me,” he said.
“The form improved and they went from a park footy team to a very capable and competitive side that can compete with the best teams in the state.”
Tomlins highlighted the impact of Latrell Fing and Broden Konz at Port Maqcquarie, singling them out as standouts this season.
The coach also said plenty of thanks had to go to team manager Rebecca Jones for all her work with the team during its competitions.
The structure of the Junior State Cup, which brought roughly 18,000 people to Port Macquarie on the weekend, changes from next year with NSW being split into north and south divisions.
Dubbo will play in the south division and after the success of his team this year, Tomlins wants more Devils sides to go on and play at the highest level.