In the past month it has become customary for the Hawkettes to play in driving rain and the ACT certainly turned on a decent shower throughout the whole of the match – we thank our loyal supporters who stood out in the bleak weather and added to the atmosphere for the girls. Nothing was going to deter the girls’ excitement and enthusiasm as they were afforded the opportunity to use the Canberra Raiders dressing rooms, run out of the same tunnel as the Raiders and of course playing on the same surface as the NRL teams – Samantha Doolan and Clare Smith were at times caught leering at themselves on the big screen.

Whist the Hawkettes went into the match as massive underdogs, they certainly presented themselves very well and the final scoreline of 24-10 really didn’t reflect how close the match actually was. Given that their opponents had numerous rep players, the Hawkettes can be very proud.

Things were looking a bit grim early in the match as after 15 minutes the West Belconnen Sharks had already skipped out to a 14-nil lead with their pace surprising the local girls. To the Hawkettes’ credit, they stuck in the game and Georgia Smith took on the opposition and crossed for a great try, one that she rightfully donated back to her sister Clare, Emma James converted to make the score 14-6. The defence throughout the match was certainly tough with both Grace Smith and Georgie Butt requiring medical attention. In fact, the sharks swam right through the sink hole that opened up whilst Grace was attending to her bleeding nose.

Pollard’s speech at half-time was simple – ‘you’re in this match - just go out and enjoy it’ . We did, only to see the Sharks swoop on a loose ball on our in goal line, which pushed the lead out to 18-6. In reply, Emma James hit back well with a great touch finder from the kickoff. Emma was then rewarded as she drew the defence in and threw a beautiful dummy to cross for a four-pointer.

The scoreline of 18-10 remained right up to the full-time bell when the Sharks crossed the line on the to bring the full-time score to 24-10. 

The Hawkettes will now join the remainder of the club at presentation night, to be held at the country club on Friday night.