It was the realisation of a goal set almost 12 months ago, and for some a fairytale finish to their junior rugby days.
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At Eastern Suburbs Rugby Club on Sunday, the Central North under 18 girls were crowned the 2024 Country champions.
It's the second success for the zone in that age group in three years after the side featuring the likes of Charlotte Eather, Brooke McKinnon, Liliana Reardon, Martha Harvey and Eliza O'Donnell won the title in 2022.
This year's side was a similarly talented group, with a number of the players boasting various representative accolades.
Accordingly Kookaburras coaches Jeremy Maslen and Evan Geary had gone into the weekend with pretty lofty expectations.
Despite around half of the side being bottom age for the 18s, they knew they had a strong team and one that could win it.
And from the time they came together they were committed to that goal.
A shared vision
"We were all on the same page, all wanted the same outcome," Maslen said.
Clinching the silverware with 14-5 win over the Hunter Wildfires in the final, he said it was a complete squad effort.
"All 23 contributed to the win," he said.
"When we made interchanges they came on and made an immediate impact."
It's a reflection of just what a "gifted" group they are.
Maslen has coached most of them, on-and-off, since they first went away together as under 14s.
Last year taking away the 16s side, he had no qualms about the girls that moved up this year acquitting themselves in the older age group. They are all "very skilful" and "very determined".
Still, the achievement of winning with half the side underage, can't be underestimated.
The other thing that makes "even more amazing" is that it was 15s.
All the local rugby they play is either sevens or 10s.
"There's so much we have to coach for 15s," Maslen said.
Sticking to the plan
To that end, one of the keys to their success was their diligence to the structures he and Geary put in place.
"They just executed everything we've worked on since March (when they started training) well," he said.
"They did all the one percenters right."
He particularly hailed their defensive effort, conceding only four tries in their four games.
"We were always going to attack well because we have a lot of speed and size," he said.
"The work-on for the program was our defence: our line speed and our unbroken defensive line."
"Our defence was exceptional. So many times they (opposition) couldn't break our line or bend our line."
The only game they conceded more than one try was their round game against Hunter, who had five or six players that are part of the Wildfires seniors program.
Going down 10-5, Maslen said the biggest difference from that game to the final was their discipline. They took the referee out of the game.
Leading the way
Breakaway Holly Ford was adjudged as the best forward across all the teams.
Scarlett Slade meanwhile won the best forward award for the Kookaburras and Emily Dietrich the best back while Mia Montgomery was named the best and fairest.
Maslen also sung the praises of captain Regan Simpson, who was "an awesome leader" on and off the field.
"They're a great group of girls and I'm really proud to be part of it," he said.
They then on Monday contested for the state title against the top two teams from the Sydney Cup, which was played alongside the Country Championships.
After being beaten "pretty convincingly" by a red hot Sydney Uni team, they were then "in it for a while" against Two Blues.
The Kookaburras had teams from under 13s (the 12s championships were cancelled) through to under 18s competing over the weekend at venues across the state.
The 18s sides flew the flag, with the boys finishing third in their Country Championships.
