Andrew Pearson captured the Magpies LeagueTag team at the Clubs Presentation Night. Pictured amongst this glamorous group of young athletes are coach Neil John Nisbet, and team Manager and sprint trainer Blue Pearson - see if you can spot them

By Peter (Parra) Montgomery

During the Magpies time as a member of Group 20 Rugby League organisation, the Club has been able to field competitive LeagueTag teams.

 The sport has received great attention from the Riverina Development Coaches, as well as plenty of hard work put into developing the skills of the young ladies by local coaches.

Neil John Nisbet, Blue Pearson and Emily Nelson have been great at senior level, and the junior coaches Wayne Nisbet, Shane McGufficke Jason Gee and Cherokee Dixon have done a wonderful job in preparing the next ‘wave’ of LeagueTaggers coming through.

LeagueTag is well established in the three Hay Schools, and the success the teams have in the Trent Barrett Shieldand the Mortimer Shield is testament to the skills the teams have achieved.

The school coaches Katie Shermer, Donna Wade (St Mary’s), Leonie Booth, Adam Davidson and Emily Nelson (Hay WMHS) and Clem Ayres and Kate Burke are magnificient. They all give up their time to encourage and coach the kids to achieve higher skills, and coupled with the efforts of Dean Whymark, Adam Perry, and David Stevens with the Riverina Development Coaching, it is not hard to see why the game is progressing on an upward spiral.

Coach Neil John Nisbet said at the Club’s Presentation Night “It’s a good game, that’s why the girls enjoy playing it”.

That is a bit of an under statement by the bloke who piloted the team to successive Grand Finals, and to second position on the competition ladder again in 2012, until falling to a developing West Wyalong team in the preliminary final.

League Tag is a great game, adding plenty of spectacular action to an afternoon at the Park.  It has made Sunday's "a family day at the footy.."

Neil John told the crowd that, skills wise, his team was probably No 4 in the competition this year, behind Leeton, Griffith Black and Whites and West Wyalong.

“We probably over achieved. We were a developing team, with a lot of rookies, and I was pleased with how much we did achieve.

“The girls were a close knit group and trained hard for a long time.  It could have been easier to head off to the Pool on hot training days, or do something else, but the girls had a taste of success in 2010 and 2011 and wanted to go further” Neil John said

The leadership group Jess Jackson, Polly Lugsdin, Megan Pearson and Luci Lugsdin did a great job in encouraging the ‘new players’, and by the end of the season a whole new batch of Rising Stars were there for all to see.

The Pless sisters, Daisee and Lucy had wonderful seasons.

Lucy Pless with her deceptive speed and evasive skills was outstanding all year.

She bamboozled opposition players with her speed and determination.  I think a lot of teams saw her as the ‘token kid’ in the side, and they paid the price.

Lucy cut up most teams in the first round of the competition, and made them revise their tactics against Hay.

Lucy collected the Rising Star award from the Club, but really, several of the team were more than eligible.

Daisee Pless, wow what a competitive player. Daisee does not take a backward step from anyone, and refused to be intimidated by any opponent.

Daisee has that Stevens blood running through her..same as (her cousins) tough players Simon and Jason Bunyan, both more than handy Rugby League players.

I used to think Simon and Jason got their toughness from the hardest of them all “Packy” Bunyan, but starting to reconsider after watching Daisee in action this season.

Daisee is an accomplished goal kicker too.  Has an unusual style, but banged them over with ease when she got he chance. A definite RISING STAR.

Jodie Hicks, had a sensational debut season in League Tag. This talented young sportsperson has all the skills, doesn’t matter what sport it is..She is good at it.

She topped the century of points for the Magpies, a great effort in her first season, also collected the Group 20 Award for most goals kicked in the competition.

Jodie has great vision on the field. She has excellent kicking skills, can place a ball on a ‘five cent piece’ as the saying goes and can set up the team mates for tries. Wonderful wonderful player,

Keisha Gee-Harris also grabbed her opportunity with open arms,  Speed is something that can’t be coached.  It can be developed, but you either have it or you don’t.  Keisha is lucky, she does have it.

She took advantage of her speed on many occasions, and showed enough to suggest that her best “LeagueTag” is still to come.

She is a good tagger, and is another who knows how to spot a gap, and the pace to take advantage.

Ellie Darlow had a good year, scoring several tries by using her pace and step.

One she scored at Yenda in round 1 was a classic, stepping back inside the defence after throwing a deceptive dummy pass.

Ellie has the height to match her skills and pace and I expect her to be a key performer in 2013.

Luci Lugsdin,  won the Player of the Year and Player of the Finals, and she is an amazing athlete.  She will become a superstar of LeagueTag, in my opinion. She has blistering pace to go with her ‘smarts’ on the paddock. She is a star that people love to watch.

Yolanda Miller finished the season off strongly, and the coaches were very pleased with her development, particularly under the high ball. Yolanda, with experience and game time will only get better.

Cheyenne Hey, Fiona Cooper and Nadine Gee Harris all had good moments during the season and will only get better with more games under their belt.

Emily Payne pulled out of the team close to the finals and they missed her defence in the end of season games. Emily is a fantastic tagger, and I hope she reurns to the team next season.

Megan Pearson, Jessie Jackson and Polly Lugsdin are great team players and the young players are fortunate to have such skilled and accomplished players as their mentors and role models.

Well done also to this classy group of young ladies on how they presented themselves at the Club Presentation Night.  

One word – Stunning.