Organiser and player, Lorilie Haines, said in past years the Moree women’s team had been knocked out in the very first game.

“This year we played two games on the Friday and our first one was against Newcastle United. We won 34-0 and then won again 16-4 later in the day when we played Tamworth,” she said.

The women advanced to the semi-finals which were played on Monday against Minda River.

“We had a lot of youth in our team this year from as young as the age of 15 and they played extremely well. Everyone put in their best efforts,” Haines said.

Unfortunately, Moree’s Yinaar Mirri’s (their team name) were unsuccessful against Minda River losing 20-4.

“It is important to create opportunities for the youth so they’re able to experience these things and during the knock-out a few of the girls were watched and may be selected for indigenous teams to play in for different competitions,” she said.

Supporters, family and friends stayed during the semis to watch Moree Yinaar Mirri’s.

“We had people cheering us on from all over the sidelines; another booster for the girls.”

Haines hoped to have a strong, structured team to take away next year.

“Yeah, were all excited for next year’s event. We’ve made a great achievement going into the semi-finals and hopefully next year we do even better and win the grand final.”