Back: Simon Glover, Jaida Smith, Coralie Vasquez, Anna Slavin, Mel Peisley, Kace Brooks, Hayley Chesworth, Jordan Douglass and Harry Sachs.
Front: Sheena Gilmour, Georgia Murray, Cailin Ebbott, Maddie Douglass, Abby Perry, Izzy Duke Daley, Molly Glover, Gypsy Potts and supporter Landon Vasquez.
The She-Devils won the grand final game in a comfortable 26-10 win against the Young Yabbettes in Cootamundra.
The crowd were there in large numbers at Cootamundra Country Club Oval, with people from Cootamundra, Harden and Young all in attendance.
Harden coach Harry Sachs was impressed by his girl’s mentality saying, “the girls were pretty fired up. They’re on top of the table for a reason and I kept telling them that before the game. They were pretty keen to get out there and get the job done. Anybody watching it would say that you could tell through their intensity straight away from the kick-off that they wanted it.”
The Harden girls came out strong and tries from Maddie Douglass, Jordan Douglass and Georgia Murray were enough to solidify the win.
Pre-game nerves were in abundance on the sideline from the Harden coaching staff, with Sachs explaining, “for about two hours beforehand I was trying to keep my cool. I just needed to relax for a couple of hours, but once the girls scored their first try and I saw the intensity of girls I was pretty confident after that.”
The final blow that sealed the win for the She-Devils was a sensational try from Maddie Douglass, who burst through the Yabbettes defensive line to score in the muddiest corner of the field.
The muddiest game of the year didn’t affect the She-Devils as, “we pretty much stuck to the usual game plan and we’ve probably had three or four scrappy games leading into it. I said they were due to put them all together and they did it on the weekend. I think the intensity was there and they all worked hard for each other and managed to get the win,” said Sachs.
Adding to her trophy cabinet was Maddie Douglass, who received grand final player of the game award and the competition’s leading points scorer award, which consisted of over 20 tries.
After praising Douglass the efforts from the leader of the forward pack, Anna Slavin, were commended by Sachs, “she has always been a solid forward and she just stepped right up on the weekend. She finally listened to me and started tackling around the legs but they all played really well. Everybody ran hard, everybody tackled hard and even the young girls who have only played for four or five games just stepped up and just did it.”
The Harden She-Devils raised the trophy and are enjoying the moment until April 2023, where they will be looking to replicate their championship form.
Ed Dodds
