THE CHRONICLE | TRENT SLATTE | 3 MAY 2013
SOUTH Toowoomba women's coach Sophie Smith says her players can't wait to take the field for their historic first game on Sunday.
Warwick's Roddies Oval will host the first round of the inaugural AFL Darling Downs women's competition.
Teams from South Toowoomba, Lockyer Valley and Warwick will meet in a round-robin format with six rounds scheduled for every second weekend.
The top two teams will then go on to contest the grand final on Sunday, August 4.
The Darling Downs has proven to be a hotbed of female Aussie rules talent, with seven players named in Queensland teams this year alone, but they have limited chances to play in Toowoomba.
Smith said the South Toowoomba women were delighted to have the opportunity to play regular games.
"Skip Saturday football, let's just go straight to Sunday. We're all excited and ready to go," she said.
The teams will be missing some experience for the first round as Georgie Seaniger, Isabelle Baldock and Danielle Wall play for Queensland at the under-18 nationals in Victoria.
But Smith said the Bombers still had plenty of talent including a few converts from other sports.
"We've got good numbers signed up for the year," she said.
"One of our co-captains, it'll be her first game. She's come across from soccer and a couple of others have played before but only one or two games.
"They're starting to master the skills and they're working well as a team. The teamwork and enthusiasm they've shown is great.
"We're just about having fun this year."
AFLQ Club Coordinator Christopher Davis said it was fantastic that the Downs now had its own women's competition.
"Women's and girls' footy is going great guns," he said.
"It's really good we're giving an opportunity for local girls coming through the junior ranks and other female players to have a kick of the footy."
Matches begin at 12:30pm at Roddies Oval on Sunday with South Toowoomba, Lockyer Valley & Warwick playing a three-team round-robin.
Last Modified on 15/05/2013 10:16
