By Casey O'Connor
The Warwick Cowboy side may not have collected the winner’s trophy in the Grand Final of the TRL Ladies competition on Sunday but despite their disappointment they can be proud that they have written their place in rugby league history as one of the teams to contest the inaugural Toowoomba Sports Club TRL Open Women’s competition after their successful maiden season.
In front of a large crowd, the Hawks came out firing.
On the back of some strong attacking raids and helped by some poor ball handling and several missed opportunities by the Cowboy’s the Hawks went to the break leading 14-nil.
In a good period of play following the break, the Cowboys narrowed the margin to 14-10 after tries to Katelyn Anderson and Carly Cooper and the game became a real contest.
The Hawks had less possession than in the first half however the Cowboys failed to capitalise on their chances with ball in hand.
When the Hawks did get the hands on the ball, they made the Cowboys pay.
The momentum of the game changed as the Hawks shot away to an eight point lead as Courtney-Lee Nolan slid over from close range for her second try which Tahlia Sudhaus converted.
The Hawks had a sniff of victory and out muscled the Warwick girls who got no favours from ref’s calls in the late stages of the game.
Kimberley Dore put the game almost out of the Cowboy’s reach when she scored.
Hawk’s hooker, Courtney-Lee Nolan was a well-deserved Player of the Final and iced the win for the Hawks with a third try late in the game.
The final score 30-10. Congratulations to the Hawks and well played the Cowboys.
Captain of the Cowboys, Lisa Croft led from the front and had a great game as did Katelyn Anderson, Jayla Sefo-Wallace and Carly Cooper.
I must make special mention of the Warwick Captain Lisa Croft for her excellent post-match speech it was a credit to herself, her teammates and club.
It was great to see the support for the Warwick side with banners, balloons and streamers roadside from Warwick to Allora and plenty of Cowboys supporters in the crowd.
I have no doubt this team will build on the disappointment of a grand final loss and their experience this season and will be back bigger and better in 2022.
Well played Ladies.
