Nambour Toads savour maiden open women’s rugby union campaign on Sunshine Coast

A club first foray into open women’s rugby has continued a momentous 12 months for the Nambour Toads as they eye up a finals campaign.

Nambour Toads have savoured entering their first open women's team in Sunshine Coast Rugby Union. Picture: Nambour Toads

A club first foray into open women’s rugby has proven more than fruitful for Nambour as they eye up a finals berth alongside the competition’s frontrunners.

After a momentous 2020, in which they fielded their first junior outfit in a decade and their first girls rugby team after a 16-year hiatus, the Toads continued their growth to enter their maiden women’s team into the Sunshine Coast Rugby Union competition.

Sitting second on the five-team ladder ahead of the final round, coach Luke Zeremes said the debut season had been “everything we hoped for and a little bit more”.

“We’ve sort of hit our goals throughout the regular season and with one more round to go we’re looking forward to finals,” he said.

“I personally had a self belief that we would be capable of what we've achieved but to see it come to fruition has been awesome.”

Zeremes said Nambour had one of the largest female rugby programs on the Coast, with up to 60 players across the youth girls and women’s teams.

Nambour Toads have savoured entering their first open women's team in Sunshine Coast Rugby Union. Picture: Nambour Toads

He said many of the players had come across from, or formerly played in, school rugby at St John’s College and other schools in the region.

“The main goal of Nambour women’s rugby is to keep young women involved in sport at a time when they might otherwise dropout upon leaving school,” he said.

“The main objective is to have fun on and off field and any positive results are just a bonus.”

He praised the youthful squad for not just taking on the senior level of the game but for improving week-in and week-out.

“It’s a very young team and we have one 29-year-old and the next (oldest) is 20 so things are looking good for the future,” he said.

“The first few games you could see fear in the eyes of the girls but they have taken a lot of confidence out of every game and keep improving.”

The Toads were due to take on Caloundra at home (12.30pm) in the final round on Saturday, with the result determining who finishes second and third entering finals.

Meanwhile, Noosa sit atop the women’s standings, undefeated heading into the final round.

“Our goal is to make the grand final and anything is possible in the grand final,” Zeremes said.