Three years ago, the Goulburn Dirty Reds did not have a women's team. One year ago, the women's team was playing its first season of 15s rugby and battling near the bottom of the ladder.
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Yesterday, for the first time in the side's short history, the Goulburn Dirty Reds women ascended to the top of the ACT Rugby Women's Premier 15s rankings.
The top-of-the-table berth came via a gritty win by the Dirty Reds over the Tuggeranong Viqueens at Goulburn's Poidevin Oval on Saturday, 14-7.
It was a crucial clash for both sides, who each had 2-1 win-loss records coming into the game.
The Viqueens were missing six of their players to Brumbies duties, while Goulburn was only missing Pearl Rakete.
But after a one-sided start to the match, in which the Dirty Reds dominated possession and led 14-0 at half time, Tuggeranong's experience shone through.
"They were very fired up at half time, and they were a lot more assertive than they were in the first half," Goulburn co-coach Peter Oliver said.
"They were putting on a lot of shots, and to our girls' absolute credit, they wore those shots and didn't let it slow them down."
As some of the Dirty Reds' newer and less experienced players came off the bench in the second half, they lost a little bit of shape and gave the Viqueens openings to score.
After clawing the deficit back to seven points, Tuggeranong's attempt to level the scores was cut short by a disallowed try late in the game.
The final horn soon rang, prompting relieved celebrations from Goulburn's women.
The win propelled the Dirty Reds to the top of the ladder, but that position was far from steady. A match later on Saturday afternoon, between the Queanbeyan Whites and the Royals, would have seen the latter go to number one if they beat their last-placed opponents.
Queanbeyan, however, pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season to claim a 37-24 victory and keep Goulburn on top of the table.
"We're three and one, if you'd asked me at the start of the season [if we'd get to that point], I'd be doing backflips," Oliver said.
Two key factors have enabled the Dirty Reds' rapid improvement over the last six months. The foremost of these is the leadership group within the team, which Oliver gave immense credit.
"It's certainly going to help Goulburn rugby long-term," he said.
"It's really good, I'm very lucky that I've got so many experienced players. I'm basically the bloke that names the team and yells from the sideline, that leadership group takes a lot of ownership of the way that our team plays the game.
"Ash [Mewburn] has so much experience, I couldn't ask for a better [co-coach] than Ash."
The second factor is the addition of several big forwards, who give the Dirty Reds the size that was desperately needed in 2020.
In its early years, Goulburn's strength among the backs often compensated for a lack of mass in the front row. This year, the team has recruited some new faces who have helped the side become much more well-rounded.
"We've been quite lucky, we've inherited a number of new front-rowers and we've had some old front-rowers make comebacks this year, and that's certainly really helped," Oliver said.
"But what I like about this team is it's a genuine mix. We've got a slightly bigger forward pack, but we've also got that back line. And our full-strength back line is a real Rolls Royce back line.
"We're not forward-dominated and we're not back-dominated, we're actually quite a balanced team."
Much of the side's success in 2021, Oliver added, can be attributed to the "amazing" work of former co-coach, Rob Sheekey, who stepped down from the role after the 2020 season.
That balance will be crucial as Goulburn looks to continue its strong start to the season in the coming weeks. After a bye in round six, the Dirty Reds women will next take on the Royals on June 5 at Phillip Oval. The match will begin from 1.40pm.
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