The Penrith Panthers Ladies celebrated their first ever season with a memorable presentation night.
Over the season the team has used 45 players from the ages of 17 to 46, which was a highly creditable number for a new venture.
The team was celebrating an excellent first season which saw them win six of their 14 games. They drew one and lost the other seven which was a return better than anyone could have hoped for.
The Panthers were a brand-new team with brand new players and the development they have made as individuals and as a team has been huge.
Next season the Panthers join an official League and with what has been seen this year from the team it promises to be very exciting with big things expected from the players.
The award winners on the night were:
Top appearances: Di Gibson and Josie Scrimgour with 14 appearances each.
Top try scorer: Josie Scrimgour with an impressive 24 tries in 14 games.
Most improved player: Di Gibson, who was brand new to rugby so was having her very first season. She never missed a game and each one she played she got better and better. Her understanding of the game and where to be, and when, has improved loads and she has become a real force in the contact areas.
Player’s player: Helena Scullion, this is the only award voted for by the players and for some the most important one earning the recognition of team-mates.
Young player of the season: Polly Bowman, who is 17, was only able to play for the senior side once she turned 17. Since then her impact on the team has been massive!
Her pace and strength have made her a real force in the forward pack. In the two months she’s been able to play senior rugby she has just got better and better, so the future for Polly is huge.
Player of the season: Josie Scrimgour. This was a tough award for the coaches to award and the two runners-up are worth a mention.
Josie has been tremendous all season. Apart from the odd game here and there at youth level this has been her first proper season as a player, and what a season it has been for her.
Her scoring stats don’t lie and defensively she has been faultless.
At 19 her growth as a player in one season has been outstanding. Before Christmas she had all the raw ability and potential needed to be a top player and now at the end of the season, she has become a top player.
Playing at full-back all season she has everything needed from a full-back in attack and in defence. Like Polly her future in the game is huge.
Helena Scullion, one of the few with past playing experience and this showed as she made the fly-half shirt her own. She was outstanding all season and is quite possibly the complete player, rarely making a mistake. Caron Davidson was brand new to the game, taking it up in her early 40s and achieving what she has on the pitch is unheard of. She has quite simply been irreplaceable to the team.
She has captained the team and led from the front in every game.
The night started off with a two-course meal provided by The Little Griddle and ended with some fantastic music from Squeeze Box.
