by Thelma Leonard

Round 2 of the Western Womens Rugby League competition was played over the weekend, with the Castlereagh Cougars sides travelling to Dubbo to take on the Goannas. 

Under 12s

As usual, the Under 12s were first up for the day. 

The Cougars Under 12s team battled it out against the Goannas side in a close game, unfortunately ceding 2 tries early on to the opposition which meant they had to play catch-up for the remainder of the game. 

Try for try kept the Goannas ahead of the Cougars until the end, winning 30-18 and claiming the 2 competition points. 

Under 14s

Next up were the Under 14s, another close game for the Castlereagh club. 

A big effort was made by the Cougars girls but unfortunately they went down by 8 points, 26-18 to the Goannas. 

PHOTO: Temia Robinson takes on multiple defensive players during the under 16s game in Dubbo. (Photo: Carly Chynoweth)

Under 16s

The Under 16s Cougars side also went down in their game, a few injuries to their players on the day didn’t help. 

The final score for the game 50-4. 

Under 18s

Another week in and the Cougars Under 18s team were struggling with numbers, fielding 10 players with the Goannas matching them. 

The visiting side didn’t give up but unfortunately, fatigue was a big disadvantage, the Goannas eventually running away with a 54-14 score line.

PHOTO: Mikaela Cullen leaves Goanna defence in her wake during a sprint for the try line. (Photo: Carly Chynoweth)

Opens

The opens team came up against the Goannas for the first time since a narrow loss to them at the end of last season, with the hopes of redeeming themselves from that painful loss. 

In what was a rather warm afternoon the stage was set, the cougars applied pressure early and hit the score board first with a try to centre Georgie Lane. 

Goannas were the next to score crossing the line twice, a great cut out pass from half Tori Canham allowed winger Mikaela Cullen to score and the cougars were back in it. 

Strong running in the middle of the field from the likes of Hannah Carroll and Hayley Andrews and sharp decisions out of dummy half from Madi Masman continued to put the cougars on the front foot allowing the halves the time and space to utilise the fast running of the backs and gain crucial field position. 

It wasn’t long before Hayley Andrews would have a huge run to crash over and put the Cougars in front, Cullen would score again off a cross field kick from Canham. 

Shakaye Walker would be the next player to score for the Cougars which was a brilliant reward for the effort she put in all game, with some crucial carries from the back that troubled the Goanna’s defence. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be and the Goanna’s mounted a last-minute comeback in the final 7 minutes of the game to snatch a victory from the Cougars, bringing the final score to 34-24 in what could have only been described as a very hard hitting game of Rugby League.