Two Goulburn Dirty Reds players have made the Super W Brumbies training squad for the 2023 season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Try-scoring sensation Krystal Blackwell will make her debut in the backs while Pearl Rakete will return in the forwards.
Pearl played with the Dirty Reds until this season when the Goulburn Women's team played in the 10s competition and she travelled to Tuggeranong Vikings to play in the XVs competition.
READ ALSO:
Should Goulburn re-enter the XVs in 2023, she is likely to return as a Dirty Red.
Brumby Scott Fava's first group as head coach features 20 capped Brumbies players, with the remainder of the 51-player squad being made up of up-and-coming talent from the ACT and capital region, as well as players from interstate and overseas.
The squad includes seven capped internationals: current Wallaroos Grace Kemp and Tania Naden, Siokapesi Palu, Jemima McCalman, Fijiana prop Iris Verebalavu and former Australian test stars Sarah Riordan and Rebecca Smyth, Smyth having also captained the Brumbies in 2022.
The club's longest-standing player, prop Louise Burrows was not included in the extended group, but will continue her legendary ACT rugby career in club rugby.
ACT Brumbies Super W head coach, Scott Fava said it was great to be in a position to select a wider training group pre-Christmas that will form the 2023 squad heading into the new year.
"We've approached this stage of selection with an eye to the future and we believe with a targeted rugby and physical development focus," he said.
"We can lay some important building blocks for the future for the club's Super W program.
"This club has always been a place for people who want an opportunity to come to work hard, improve and reach the next level and that will be at the centre of everything we do moving forward.
"That focus means a player and person of the calibre of Cookie Burrows misses out, but we know she's going to keep contributing to the game in the ACT and hopefully here at the Brumbies, helping to promote the pathway for young players to reach the highest level."
Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up below.
