After Elly Hazelton crossed for her second try in as many games for the Monaro Colts on Sunday, it's safe to say her move from fullback to the second row has been a success.
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The Colts travelled to Camden's Kirkham Park yesterday for the second round of the NSWRL Country Championships, where they took on the Macarthur Wests Tigers.
After their first round match ended in a draw, Colts coach Adam Kyle said the team was unlucky not to win, but had crucial improvements to make.
Sunday's 30-12 win was pleasing for Kyle, particularly as the Colts only had 17 players available for the game, due to some double-ups with representative duties.
"The girls did a wonderful job to put that win together, and everything started to fall into place," Kyle said.
"We were actually down 6-4 at half time, and the message to the girls was to be a little bit selfish and run like they really wanted to score a try.
"The next ten minutes after half time, we put on three or four tries and we really blew the game open from there. I'm really proud of that performance."
Hazelton, a Goulburn local, was one of the five try-scorers for Monaro. The decision to move her into the second row was not an easy one, but Kyle said he is pleased with the results thus far.
"She understands the game really well ... she's got a really good footy background and a good footy understanding," he said.
"The women's game as a fullback is a little bit different to the men's, where they do quite a lot of kick returns. She's actually probably getting her hands on the ball a lot more and having to do a little bit more work with the football than she normally would, and she seems to be really thriving in that environment."
Along with her skills on the field, Kyle said Hazelton brings a lot to the group off the field as well.
"As a person, she's one we love to have around the team," he said.
"She's a good laugh and the girls love having her in the group."
Following the win over the Tigers, the Colts have qualified for finals. Though the makeup of the finals is not yet certain, with one match still to be played, Monaro is guaranteed to finish either third or fourth.
"We don't know who we're playing yet, but to get all four sides through to finals - the 16s, 18s, men, and women - is really good for our region," Kyle said.
The Country Championships finals will begin on the weekend of March 20 and 21, with exact fixtures yet to be confirmed.
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