Nyngan has celebrated its national Athletes in the past couple of weeks with home grown athlete Courtney Watt adding a gold medal to the tally - albeit not at the Olympics.

Courtney was part of the national women’s 27’s team that took out the top honour at the Australian Oztag Invitational Challenge held in Coffs Harbour last week.

In a thrilling final the Australian team took out the win against Great Britain 7-4 and the team were ecstatic.

“It was an amazing experience getting to debut playing for Australia with such a strong team of very experienced and knowledgeable women,” said Courtney. “I am truly grateful for the experience.”

With teams from Great Britain, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Samoa, Philippines, Timor Leste, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, China, Ireland, Niue, Cook Islands, Palestine, Greece, Malta, Italy and Cambodia, it was no mean feat to claim the title.

Courtney, who grew up in Nyngan playing all sports, really took to Oztag when she moved to Canberra for University, playing in several major representative sides during her career.

Photos courtesy of Oztag Australia and Courtney Watt

Oztag is the original non-tackling version of Rugby League and Rugby, which was founded in 1992. With over 140,000 people playing across Australia, the sport caters to every age group and gender.

Courtney has been supported on her sporting journey by her husband Hayden, two boys Archie and Lucas, and parents Brad and Sonia Lane.

A recent move home to Nyngan has her sharing her love of sport and her skills with the Nyngan community as part of the Bogan Bulls Tri Tag team and local Little Athletics club.