Both the First Grade and Ladies George Tooke Representative sides took on the Woodbridge Cup representative sides in Canowindra on Saturday afternoon. The GTS ladies side ran out convincing 32-4 winners, with Harden local Clare Smith awarded the player of the match.
Eight of the 15 representatives in the George Tooke Shield were selected from the Harden Hawkettes side. Emma James captained the rep side, while Eliza Butt, Maddie Douglass, Clare Smith, Grace Smith, Georgia Smith, Abbie Grant and Mary-Lou Minehan all flying the flag for the Hawkettes.
Hawkettes Coach Jason Pollard also had the honour to once again coach the GTS ladies representative side. “All eight Hawkettes girls went well and were all strong players.
Clare Smith had an impressive performance and it’s the second year in the row she’s won the award,” Pollard said. “The Hawkettes girls represented more than half the side and we haven’t been beaten for a fair while, and they certainly proved why they were in the side.
“Mary-Lou Minehan was very good also, scoring a try. Clare’s sister Georgia was fantastic as always too.” Following their representative footy last weekend, the Hawkettes will take on the Bullettes at 3pm on Saturday afternoon at McLean Oval, in what will be a blockbuster clash.
The Hawkettes will be looking to keep their unbeaten streak in 2022 going. “We’re all good to go for the weekend. We didn’t have any injuries from the rep round.
The players are on board and are keen to go again this weekend,” Pollard said. “Coota’s a good side and are fairly competitive, so we’ll be looking to get on top of them early and restrict them as much as we can.
“The girls have had a great start to the season, but we’ve had a few girls away and are still building our side. We’ve been winning and playing well, but hopefully we can get everyone together and keep improving.”
The First Grade men’s side had a 22-all draw against the Woodbridge Cup rep side, with only Will Manwaring coming from Harden.
“I watched the First Grade game, it was a tough encounter. They both bashed each other. It could have gone either way. We had a chance to win it late, but we missed the field goal,” Pollard said. “Will had a good involvement with GTS’s last try to tie things up.” The Hawks and Bulldogs will play in the George Tooke Shield this Saturday afternoon at 4.20pm in what will be a thrilling clash between the two neighboring towns.
Tim Warren
