Sport
20 January, 2025
Women’s league starts
A TRIAL match last Saturday for a position to represent Cairns in the women’s BMD League had a great turnout and a few nice surprises, according to coach Colin Wilkie.
“Overall, it went really well,” he said. “There were a couple of players who turned up who I’d heard about and they exceeded my expectations.”
He was also pleased to see the three players he had earmarked – Indianna Tillett, Etuina Suavai and Jonah Donovan – “didn’t disappoint”.
“They played as I had hoped they would,” he said.
As for the now selected extended squad, he is satisfied with the mix.
“We’ve got young and old and everything in between. I’m really pleased we’ve got a group of very experienced players in the squad.”
The Kenfrost Homes Northern Pride 2025 BMD trial game at Barlow Park also drew a good crowd of onlookers.
The match was an open trial but also included players with plenty of form, giving the crowd a chance to see what is in store for them when Northern Pride enters the state league in June for the first time.
Saturday’s match was a fantastic atmosphere,” Mr Wilkie said.
“It was a good crowd, I was surprised,” he said.
“We had about 15 girls who are already contracted, who came to watch. And a lot were family and friends of players, but I was really pleased to see some coaches and trainers also coming to support their players.”
Since the BMD announcement in October last year, Mr Wilkie has been working hard to secure a mostly locally grown team which includes a good number of state league players coming back to play for their hometown.
The trial match was the final step in developing an extended squad, which began its four-week training on Tuesday night.
“After that they will go back to their various clubs in the NQ league or finish up in the under 19s and then we regroup in April,” Mr Wilkie said.
Assessment for the final squad of 30 players will be based on their training, how they performed in their respective seasons, and whether there were injuries.
“We’ve got a way to go yet,” he said.
Spectator Elaine Addo, on Facebook, said it was “such a good turn out. Love watching women in league”.
