Talent not a problem: Schwartz 15-a-side in Jess’s sights
THE talent is there for Townsville women’s rugby union to take on a 15-a-side competition.
All it needs, according to Jess Schwartz, are the numbers to make it happen.
The Womens Brolgas backrower has been excited by the teenage players beginning to showcase their skills and work towards senior representation.
But in order to keep them engaged, and aspire to the heights of the national Super W competition, they needed the incentive to persist.
Schwartz has called for an expression of interest from more women in the region and whether a 15-a-side format would entice them to the sport.
She said the extra positions opened the doors for more women to get involved and that would only make the skill levels of those already participating even stronger.
“We need that quality and regular game time to make our team better quality,” Schwartz said.
“We’ve got some teenage girls coming through who play weekly (but we need to) try get more teenage girls on the pathway and involved in the game.
“We want to include more people. We want to help grow rugby in Townsville and 15s is part of that.”
Schwartz has fond memories of last year’s tour to Brisbane, but not so much for the results.
Coming from a local competition with 10 players on the paddock, the jump to the complete package proved a difficult obstacle to overcome. Two 42-0 losses to South Queensland and a 12-5 defeat at the hands of Central Queensland sent them home without a win to their credit.
“I think where we struggled it was defensively being strong and confident,” Schwartz said.
“In attack we just hadn’t had that game time to develop together.”
While they await more numbers, there is still a women’s season to play, which all kicks off today.
Schwartz’s University side will meet North Ward and the forward said her team would bring to the fray an experienced unit eager to make an instant impression.
But she was under no illusions about the challenge they would face.
“They’re really tough the breakdown.” at