Two of the region’s familiar faces will take to the field to at the Touch Rugby League (TRL) NSW state championships.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Griffith’s Lauren Salvestro and Hay’s Danielle Curtis will join forces to represent North Canberra in Sydney next month.
The championships will mark Curtis’ return to the TRL representative field after more than a year and a half away. For the last year, she says her focus has been on her amateur MMA fights.
After a year away, Curtis says she’s excited to see how far TRL has come in Canberra.
“I may not have been playing touch rugby league, but I have been playing touch football, which involves a lot of the same skills,” she said.
RELATED:
“It’s good to come back and it’s a good bunch of people. It’s a great sport to get involved with because it’s a lot more fast-paced than other sports. It’s also got a good community-feel in Canberra.”
Initially scheduled to fight that same weekend, she says a cancellation in her schedule was “fate”.
She’ll be joined on the field by 2016 teammate Lauren Salvestro. Salvestro says the side is already shaping up well.
“We’ve been having weekly training in the lead-up to the championships. We’re feeling pretty confident about this one. We’ve been able to have more structured training than in previous years,” she said.
“It’s great to be able to take playing to that higher level. It’s always a good way to build a relationship with people you play with and travel with.”
Salvestro has been playing at a representative level since the championships in 2016.
“I think I’ve improved a lot, but the sport has also come a long way since I started. Every year, we’ve been able to improve a lot and get more and more competitive.”
Sydney’s competition is set to be the largest ever held, with new teams forming in Canberra, Sydney, Newcastle and the greater region.
Both women agree it’s great to see how the sport has grown in recent years.