Sport
7 August, 2025
Pink Panthers wrap up spirited year
Giving 14 new players the chance to play league tag was the highlight of a challenging season for Gilgandra’s Pink Panthers in Castlereagh Rugby League (CRL) during 2025.
That was the assessment of Panthers president and Pink Panthers co-coach Shane Byrne after this year’s campaign wrapped up with a 60-nil loss to Dunedoo at Dunedoo on Saturday, August 2.
Gilgandra was actually able to cross the goal-line and score a try after the match scoring had officially ended due to the mercy rule, so the four-pointer and subsequent conversion were not recorded.
As she had across the season, fullback and captain Kiara Brown led Gilgandra well while Allira Riley (hooker) and Wendy Brown (halves) also played well against Dunedoo.
Kiara Brown grabbed the three points, with Wendy Brown (two points) and Riley (one point) also impressing, the latter pair being named as player’s players.
Played in cold and wet conditions at Dunedoo, Gilgandra competed hard in periods.
“They are a real good solid side Dunedoo,” Byrne said.
“We competed well in patches … the middle period of the second half was our best period. We made a few line breaks and we held them out for around 15 or 20 minutes. “We tried to the very end, which was nice. Played well in the second half.” Byrne, who co-coached with Luke Ritchie, said the most pleasing aspect of 2025 was introducing new players to the sport.
“The proudest part for me is having 14 out of 24 players that have never touched a football before,” he said.
“They all got better and better as the year went on. It’s a young side that has tried hard.
“Out of the other 10, there was a few ladies that had only played a handful of games and turned into real good leaders.
“The side can build on that as the years go on and hopefully next year we can compete a bit harder (in terms of the scoreboard).”
Saturday’s match concluded the 2025 season for Gilgandra.
It was a challenging year for the club who did not field a men’s first grade side for the first time since 2005, with the club electing not to field a men’s reserve grade outfit, it meant the Pink Panthers was Gilgandra’s sole Castlereagh League team in 2025.
The Pink Panthers will get together at the Collie Cup race meeting at Gilgandra and also for its presentation night at the Royal Hotel next month.
The CRL semi-finals will commence next weekend across first grade, league tag and reserve grade.
