Keeping it simple was the secret to victory in the South Sydney Rabbitohs women's team's first ever game, according to Head Coach Danny Allende.
In what was a unique and ground-breaking match, the Rabbitohs women scored three first-half tries and followed up with six more after the interval to rack up a 54-4 victory over Newcastle CRL.
With an air of occasion and celebration at Redfern Oval after the historic win, Allende was direct when asked about his side’s nine-tries to one win and his first match as the Rabbitohs Women’s coach.
“It was good to get off to a win in the new colours, and it's good to get one on the board early in the season”, Allende said.
With an 18-4 lead at half-time, the Rabbitohs piled on six tries in the second half – including a three try blitz in a 10-minute period.
Coach Allende put his side’s change in form down to their simplicity in the second half – which allowed them to break open their opponents’ defences and to play their natural game.
“I just told them to control the ball a bit more and play the way that we wanted to play. If we held onto the ball and got down to their end, I was confident we could score and we did,” he said.
“I said to the girls that we have to do the one percenters – diving on the loose ball, helping each other out. We kept them scoreless in the second half, and that was most impressive thing for me.”
To say that the Head Coach was proud after at full-time would be an understatement, and true to his nature, Allende directed all the praise onto his players.
“I’m just excited for the girls, they deserve it and it was great to see Newcastle here in their colours,” Coach Allende added.
“They really worked hard for it. I’m speechless. It’s great to see them in the Red and Green colours and being rewarded for the hard work they’ve put in.”
