Recap

Lucky 13 as women run riot

By PETE OLIVER

The Goulburn Women’s Rugby side have opened their 2019 account with a 75-0 rout of the Bungendore Mudchicks, in front of a vocal home crowd.

Goulburn ran in 13 tries to nil against a brave Bungendore outfit at Poidevin Oval, with the home side in control from the kick off.

Lock Kathryn Cudaj wrote her name into the history books as the first female try scorer for Goulburn when she crossed under the posts in the second minute. From there, it was a regular procession of try scorers.

Chloe Waddell bagged a hat trick, with Karly Lachlan, Hollie Deaton and Cudaj all grabbing a double.

Bella Sheen, Angela Albrighton, Emma Price and captain Jordan Brooker also crossed the try line in a dominant performance.

Goulburn converted its chances, applying pressure at the breakdown and causing a number of turnovers. Coach Rob Sheekey was pleased with the side’s efforts, particularly the way they maintained their structure against a Mudchicks side who were willing to throw the ball around.

“The structure was really good, we practiced a lot of things this week, particularly sealing off and making sure the opposition can’t win our ball,” Sheekey said.

“We turned over a lot during the preseason, so we’ve worked a lot on that area in the past two weeks in particular. It was really pleasing that the opposition weren’t able to turn one ball over today; the only time we turned it over was when we dropped it.”

The game wasn’t just won at the breakdown, with a great defensive effort from Goulburn, along with some solid contact, putting the home side in a strong position.

“I thought our defensive line was really good, and if we continue to tackle really well, we’re going to have a lot of success moving forward,” Sheekey said.

“We didn’t miss any tackles; Bungendore didn’t have any line breaks against us, it got to the point where they were just trying to kick over the top of us because they were getting a bit frustrated that they couldn’t run it around us.”

In a genuine team effort, three points went to captain Jordan Brooker, two points to Bella Sheen and one point to Kelsey Betts and Kathryn Cudaj.

Goulburn will head to Nicholls Enclosed Oval next week to take on the Gungahlin Eagles, who had the bye this week.

Goulburn Women 75 (Tries: Chloe Waddell 3, Karly Lachlan 2, Hollie Deaton 2, Kathryn Cudaj 2, Bella Sheen, Angela Albrighton, Emma Price, Jordan Brooker; Conversions: Brooker 3, Waddell, Emily Banks) bt Bungendore Mudchicks 0.

Photos by Pete Oliver