THE introduction of the Ferguson Cup to this year’s Central West Rugby Union competition structure came as a big boost to the women’s game in the region, but it was just the beginning.
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The Ferguson Cup saw teams from right across the region – 11 of them – unite to contest one premiership.
It saw the women enjoy rugby on a more regular basis against a greater number of opponents as well as attracting new players and teams to the competition.
Though that premiership ended in August – Bathurst Bulldogs downing CSU in the decider – the work to grow female participation has continued with the Women’s Summer Sevens.
“The whole idea of the competition is it’s a participation competition, so we’ve had experienced girls swapping teams every now and then to help the less experienced girls,” Central West chief executive officer Matt Tink said of the sevens competition.
“The feedback has been positive for the fact that we’ve made it purely participation. It was a little bit of suck it and see to be honest … but it’s been good. We’re running it with the Waratah development officers as well.
“I’ve been excited by how many new girls are playing, definitely, and I think what a number of girls have found is the culture of rugby is a little different to what they’ve experienced before.
“The camaraderie between the clubs has been really impressive and that’s one of the things we’ve always enjoyed in our game.”
One of the best examples of camaraderie has come from two playing groups who were fierce rivals during the Ferguson Cup – CSU and Bathurst Bulldogs.
“CSU couldn’t commit to a team because of prac and exams and various things, it was a bit hard to get them together for the entire month,” Tink explained.
“So some of the girls who were keen to play actually rang the Bulldogs and said ‘Can we have a run?’. Bulldogs said that was okay and that’s tremendous, there was a bit of a rivalry there throughout the year, I’m telling you.”
The sevens competition continues on Friday night with the northern pool matches featuring Dubbo Rhinos, Dubbo Kangaroos, Narromine, Coolah, and Mudgee.
The southern pool games sees Bathurst Bulldogs take on Orange Emus, Orange City, and a combined Cowra Eagles and Canowindra Pythons side.
The games on the Friday nights are made up of two seven-minute halves and have been well-received up to this point.
“It’s more about enjoying the game and participating, and the more serious comps will happen in the winter,” Rhinos president Ian Burns stated after his club hosted the opening round of the northern pool matches last month.
“There was a lot of good rugby played.”
That is exactly the kind of thing Tink wants to hear, as well.
“We’ve always promoted this particular competition as a recruitment and participation competition, so it’s great to see the involvement,” Tink said.
