They’ve flown under the radar ahead of this year’s Australian Rugby Shield but Kestrels coach James Erwin has high hopes for his squad in 2024.
While incumbent men’s Shield holders ACT & SNSW Griffins will miss next week’s ARS due to scheduled fixtures against the Brumby Runners, the Kestrels are eyeing a Shield win of their own following last year’s bronze in the women’s draw.
Watch the Australian Rugby Shield from October 2 via rugby.com.au/videos.
“We’ve been through a City v Country trial process and there’s really good young talent we’re looking to let loose coming out of the Bentspoke 15s, SIRU and South Coast Monaro,” Erwin told rugby.com.au.
“We’ve also got lots of returning players that have underpinned our Brumbies women and we’re excited about our potential to go better this year.
“The Shield’s a tough format – obviously there was that tricky pool game against SNW Country (lost 17-20) last year.
“We were confident we’d run them over them late and losing that game really hurt us but I felt we were dominant in the third place game last year.”
The presence of incoming Brumbies women’s coach Andy Friend at training has been keenly felt with Erwin eager to cement Kestrels as a keystone of the region’s elite pathway.
“Kestrels is a big part of our women’s program and you can see that in the players that have come through.
“Eight of our Kestrels from last year earned Super contracts for the first time in 2024, Martha Fua and Lily Bone both represented Australia A in Samoa this month and of course there’s Biola Dawa who’s currently with the Wallaroos.
“It’s something we’ve spoken about with the girls – the pathway ahead of them and the players who’ve already taken those next steps – and Andy Friend’s been a big driver of that too.
“He’s been great at training, he’s really invested not only in the Super Rugby piece but also that pathway piece and developing our women.”
The ACT & SNSW Kestrels take on SA Black Falcons, QSRU Kelpies and the Australia Defence Rugby Union before a final placing game (TBC).
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