“I am extremely proud of this bunch of young adults, three of whom had never never played touch at a rep level before,” Simon said.

“Over 13 weeks of training they began mentoring each other and continued to do so over three gruelling days of play which was played in extreme heat and rainy weather.

“After the first two days of six games we were running equal 8th on the table but had lost two players due to injury, therefore it was up to the girls to step up and replace the positions. They did so with a 14-1 win over Carlingford which took us to the quarter-finals.

“Unfortunately we lost to Westmead – sadly the score doesn’t reflect the way they played. In my eyes they are all winners.

“A fantastic effort coming from such a small community.”

The State Cup is held each year in Port Macquarie with teams from all over NSW participating.