NSW coach left fuming

THE NSW women’s team is reeling from an injury crisis after last weekend’s brutal National Championship that has left coach Ben Cross fuming.

Cross, who will spend the next few days assessing the damage, risks losing up to seven players from his side in three weeks and he questioned the timing of the three-day tournament. Even with matches cut to 60 minutes, Cross felt the schedule and increased intensity were taking their toll.

“I’m not critical of these girls getting exposed to this level of football, but what I’m thinking about is there’s no data collection of what type of toll this takes on the female athlete,” he said.