Girls from the city travelled to the outback to test themselves against girls from the country in the Under 14 and Under 17 age groups – and to experience a different lifestyle.
The girls from Waterford (with a few friends they picked up along the way from other Brisbane clubs) travelled to Mitchell, located 600km west of Brisbane.
The girls from the outback were from Middlemount, Barcaldine, Charleville, St George, Roma and from areas surrounding Mitchell.
The girls witnessed Jack and his “miracle horse” performing tricks, learnt how to line dance on Friday before following that up at a Blue Light Disco on Saturday night.
Girls camped in swags and sleeping bags in the clubhouse, while others brought their own tents and camped on the grounds.
Some girls cooked their own meals while others visited the local bowls club for home-cooked meals.
As well as the canteen being supplied by parents from the Mitchell Magpies JRL, there were also freshly cooked scones and chocolate cakes supplied.
The original idea for this carnival came from Cara Joseph from Waterford who had been speaking to girls from Charleville at a carnival near Brisbane. She was informed that the girls don’t get to play much footy out this way, so she put the idea in motion to help them get some more footy.
The idea was then followed up by Wendy Clark from the Maranoa Magic Women’s Rugby League.
The two women worked together to get this up and running with the help of many others.
Special mention also to Cheryl Thompson from Barcaldine who organised the girls and the bus trip from Barcaldine so these girls could participate.
Grant Bignell and Mal McMillan from the NRL attended and helped with coaching and refereeing on the day.
There was also massive help from John Birkett, President of the Mitchell JRL and Senior Club throughout the day.
Trophies on the day were donated by The Western Star, Balonne Beacon, Central Division QRL, Beardmore Earthmoving and Girlz Tackling League.
Amongst the activities for the weekend, there was also some footy played between the Country girls and the City girls.
The girls from the Country, who play limited footy throughout the year and were meeting each other and their coaches for the first time, performed way above expectations.
The sportsmanship from all players was outstanding.
There was some incredible footy played during the day with some girls really standing out and obviously have a future in rugby league given the right pathways.
Hopefully this is the start of more footy for the girls in the Outback areas.
While fun was the order of the games, the results saw the City Girls win the Under 14 division while the Country girls won the Under 17s.
