Gunnedah and District AFC Poochettes are well represented in the 2024 AFL North West women’s representative side, contributing seven players to a formidable squad that’s scheduled to represent the region against an AFL North Coast women’s side in Newcastle on July 20.

Poochettes captain Katrina Rekunow and vice-captain Casey O’Connell in combination with other senior players, Laura Ewington, Abbey Ruttley, Meg Leaton, Georgia Tibbs and Lexi Walker, are all selected for the representative side.

Their selection honours the influence of the septet in the women’s AFLNW competition thus far, and furthermore a testament to their form for the Poochettes in their unbeaten 2024 season.

All players combine to form the core of key performers for the Poochettes so far this season, and their representative selection is justified on the back of consistency that has been crucial to the side’s ability to churn out wins throughout the season thus far.

Current Bulldogs men’s coach, and 2023 Poochettes premiership coach, Jakob Vearing, takes the coaching reins of the representative side, honouring his efforts in marshalling the Poochettes through their premiership season of 2023.

Midfielders Rekunow, O’Connell, Leaton and ruck/forward Walker are likely to form the crux of the representative side’s midfield, aiming to take their coercive influence into the side in the same manner they have for the Poochettes in the 2024 season to date.

Together, they form a strong combination and it’s Walker in particular who has stood out this season, whose tap ruck work from centre bounce and stoppages around the ground is essential in affording the likes of Rekunow, O’Connell and Leaton the ability at garnering first use of the sherrin.

Rekunow is a credentialled ball magnet who continually finds the footy around all sectors of the ground. She possesses an ultra-fit mantra that sees her accumulate the ball consistently through a high gut running work rate in defence and attack and is a true leader within any side she represents.

O’Connell plays a crucial defensive role, while Leaton is an in-and-under ball winner who is tough in the contested ground ball and consummately, in combination with Rekunow the trio create a mixed balance of defence and attack.

In the defensive posts, Ruttley has been a rock for the Poochettes this season at full back, rarely losing one-on-one contests through a strong body of work but it’s her ability to clear the defensive lines through a booming kickout of the backline that inevitably pays dividends for fellow team mates further afield.

Evidently, Ruttley’s assets in turn allow Ewington the freedom to zone off her direct opponent and intercept opposition attacking entries but also, run freely off the half-back line.

Abbey Ruttley.

Ewington, the reigning Poochettes best and fairest in the 2023 premiership season, floats across the ground effortlessly, showing the footy smarts beyond her years, with an innate ability of intercept marking but importantly, she is also adept at finding the ball in broken contests at ground level to quickly turn defence into attack.

Tibbs is the joker of the Poochettes pack and has the ability to cover several positions across the ground.

Primarily used in defence, Tibbs is a strong overhead mark and like Ruttley, possesses a booming kick out of defence but can also be swung forward through her prominent aerial marking ability.

At both ends of the ground and sporadically in the midfield, Tibbs has been used by coach Don Woolaston to plug various holes on a week-to-week basis for the Poochettes, predominantly on the back and forward-half lines and impressively, it’s been in the forward line that she has shone.

In developing a long, set shot goalkicking ability into her repertoire of skills, Tibbs has added an extra dimension to her footy and a further string to her talented bow through an ability to hit the scoreboard and create defensive pressure in the attacking half for the Poochettes.

While senior representative football has suffered a stop-start response following the Covid-19 pandemic, all participating AFLNSW leagues at the carnival are excited to have it return for season 2024.

Community football and competition manager of the Hunter-Central Coast, Emily Brown spoke with excitement of the return of the representative concept, particularly in the female spectrum that sees the AFL North West join the representative schedule.

“The women’s programs have been built to the point where there’ll be two additional regions taking part in the event (AFLNW and AFLNC),” she said.

“We’re glad that there’s an opportunity to showcase how strong women’s football is getting in NSW and we’re excited to be hosting the matches,” Brown said.

Community Football and competition manager for Northern NSW, Brad Greenshields, shared Brown’s belief emphasising that the feeling among clubs in the AFLNW and AFLNC is

evidenced by the fact that all clubs were thrilled to gain the opportunity for players to represent their clubs via the region’s representative side.

“There has been no shortage of feedback from the women’s players in both leagues (AFLNW and AFLNC) that there’s an appetite among them to play representative matches,” Greenshields said.

Meanwhile, in the latest action of the AFL North West competition, Gunnedah and District AFC Poochettes took a step further towards the AFL North West women’s minor premiership, following a thumping 44 point, 47-3 victory over arch rivals the Inverell Saints in round eight of the competition last weekend.

With four rounds remaining in the regular season, the Poochettes are in the box seat to secure their fourth minor premiership in a row dating back to 2021, as they continue to resonate a juggernaut in the AFL North West women’s competition.

In contrast, the Bulldogs men fought valiantly against premiership favourites and reigning premiers the Inverell Saints men, who in the last outing between the two sides touched up the Bulldogs by 164 points.

At the weekend though, the Bulldogs were in the fight for the majority of the match, albeit the scoreboard reflecting an 82 point, 117-35 loss.

Ultimately, a scoreless third quarter cruelled the Bulldogs and although not able to hit the front at any stage of the match, kept the ladder leading Saints in check baring that scoreless third term, where the Saints kicked five majors to extend the margin too far for the Bulldogs to be able to reign in.

James Mack booted four impressive majors for the Bulldogs at full forward, while centre-half forward Travis Oakley also slotted a major for the side on the day.

It was the Poochettes, though, that continue to impress and another milestone was reached for their season on the weekend, keeping the Saints goalless for the entirety of the match.

Conversely, the Poochettes hit the scoreboard in every quarter and impressed through multiple goal-scorers on the day.

In the representative realm, Walker was the main contributor to the victory as the only multiple goal scorer with three majors, assisted on the scoresheet by fellow representatives in captain Rekunow, Ruttley and perennial back turned forward Kelly Ewington, also contributed to the victory by slotting solitary majors of their own.

To order photos from this page click here