The Macksville Sea Eagles community is celebrating the club-wide spirit from a massive weekend of away games against Woolgoolga, while grappling with the difficult confirmation of its women’s tackle team’s withdrawal from the current competition.
Following a determined effort across all grades on the road, the club shared a message of praise for its members on Facebook:
“A big day on the road as we took on Woolgoolga across all grades. Plenty of effort shown right across the club, with some tough battles and strong performances throughout the day.” The message was an overall reflection of the club’s character and was shared alongside an image of the full time results for all grades (including U18s and Reserve Grade, see image_1.png). While celebrating “wins, lessons, and plenty to build on,” for the women’s tackle squad, the difficult lesson was that this season was one fight too many with a depleted roster.
The spirit of sheer commitment and effort was perfectly encapsulated by a recent pre-match reflection shared by the club from Macksville’s coach, Aaron Wood: “I like to attack… I’m trying to get the boys to not worry about whether they’ll pass it right. Who cares? Back yourself, back your instincts, you’ve trained hard enough – just have a go.” (cite: image_2.png). This philosophy of trusting one’s instincts and just ‘having a go’ in the face of daunting challenges is exactly what the women’s tackle team displayed in their brave final hit-out in round 1.
The scorecard from that Round 1 away trip reveals the extent of their commitment. The team insisted on taking the field and competing, despite severe player shortages, with only ten players in a 10-a-side match format. The eventual 44-0 defeat against Woolgoolga was a testament to their desire to fulfill their fixtures, but it was clear that they could not do the competition justice with a non-sustainable roster for the remainder of the season.
As shown in the club’s official Round 1 results graphic, that tough 44-0 scoreline for the women’s side is unfortunately confirmed. Shared by the club itself, this image provides immediate context, showing a mixed bag of results across the various grades.
The club later confirmed the inevitable in an official statement: “The Macksville womens tackle team has made the difficult decision to withdraw from this seasons competition. It was not a decision taken lightly and the girls themselves made the decision and will stick together as a group to make sure they can get a team with good player numbers for next season. They felt they could not do the competition justice with the player numbers currently available.”
The announcement has sparked an outpouring of support from across the Group 2 Rugby League community. Woolgoolga RLFC, who appreciated the effort Macksville made to travel and play in round 1, commented on the announcement: “Woolgoolga are sorry hear this. We appreciate you coming out in round 1 despite shortage on players. You have spent time recruiting new players over the past few years and have no doubt you’ll be back next year stronger than ever! We wish you the best of luck and will see you in 2027.”
Grafton Ghosts also offered their sincere well-wishes, stating: “Really sorry to hear this news. We know how tough that decision would have been for the players and club. Wishing all the Macksville women the best moving forward and hope to see you back stronger next season.”
The club has confirmed it will be in contact with women’s team sponsors over the coming week to manage these essential partnerships. For now, the entire Sea Eagles community is supporting the women who made a tough, unified call, knowing that the spirit displayed in Round 1 will be the foundation for an eventual strong return.
For a detailed breakdown of how the girls and the rest of the club went in this momentous weekend on the road, including a match report of their last 10-a-side contest, be sure to read our full coverage in the Group 2 Rugby League section.
