Girls hoping for SCG appearance

An appearance on the hallowed turf of the SCG during a Sydney Swans game is a distinct possibility for some of the Riverina’s most talented young AFL players.

Wagga Public School will represent the Riverina in the Paul Kelly Cup girls division to be held in the nation’s capital, where they will come up against other winners from respective regions in the GWS GIANTS’ talent zones.

The girls at Wagga Public earned their place in the competition after they went through undefeated at a gala day held in Wagga Wagga approximately two months ago.

They will be hoping to go at least one step further than last year when they made it to the state finals, winning two of their three matches but unfortunately not being able to progress past the round robin stage.

If successful, the girls will make their way to the state final, and have the chance to run out onto the SCG during half-time in a Swans game.

Coach James Burgess is confident that the girls will give a good account of themselves in the face of some tough competition.

“I think we’ve got a very handy team,” said Burgess.

“You never know what the opposition is going to be like at these things.

“In our draw, we play the team from Finley that won the carnival last year, and teams from there whether it’s boys or girls always seem to be very competitive.

“I think we’ll be really competitive but it’s hard to say, as long as they go out there and enjoy themselves, have some fun, that’s the most important thing.”

Burgess also said that the girls were looking forward to the opportunity.

“The girls have had a ball.

“We’ve had a good term up our sleeve since the gala day and seeing as though we don’t have much grass at our school, we’ve been going down to the (Wagga) Cricket Ground on Wednesday afternoons for some training.

“The girls absolutely love it.”