Two Wagga rugby players are putting in plenty of hard yards as they prepare for a chance on the national stage.
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Harriet Elleman, who has connections to the Cootamundra community, and Biola Dawa have been selected in the Brumbies Super W squad for the upcoming season.
It means three trips to Canberra each week for training to prepare to take on the best 15-a-side players in the country.
Six Southern Inland players made it through to the initial training squad after trials in November before a final squad was announced this week after a series of fitness testing and trials.
Elleman was part of the squad for the inaugural squad last season, but it will be a new experience for the 18-year-old speedster from CSU.
She’s excited for the challenge.
“They are all stronger, faster and better skill wise so you’ve got to live up to that level and step it from local to the next level,” Dawa said.
She’s looking to use it is a chance to springboard her dreams of representing Australia in rugby.
Elleman has more experience in the larger format and expects the side who went winless last season has learned plenty over the past 12 months.
“It was all so last minute and we were very thrown into it as coaching staff and a team,” Elleman said.
“We went very well for the short time we were together, but luckily enough we’ve had more time to focus on our skills and our discipline moving into the Super W in February.”
Elleman will play at hooker or flanker with Dawa either on the wing or at fullback.
They will be joined in the squad by former Southern Inland players Remi Wilton and Jane Garraway.
While Dawa still has a preference for sevens, and was part of CSU’s sevens premiership in 2018, but has enjoyed the transition to the traditional format.
Both will be back to play for their respective Southern Inland clubs in the new-look tens format this season.
Ag College’s Elleman is looking format to the expansion of the women’s game.
“I think it will be a good experience for clubs and a longer game time, which everyone has been pushing for for years,” she said. “It will be a greater opportunity for girls to develop their rugby.”
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