More than 120 players from the Central Coast, Newcastle, Hastings League, Group 4, Group 19, Group 21 and the Western Region will take the field at Olympic Park on Saturday, with a Northern squad to be named to tackle Southern on Saturday, April 14, for selection in the Country Women’s Representative Team.

Country, chosen from the Northern v Southern trial, will then take on City at Mudgee’s Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium, as the curtain-raiser to the round 11 NRL match between the St George Illawarra Dragons and Canberra Raiders.

A spot in the NSW women’s State of Origin team could be up for grabs, too.

The Country team will also compete in the new National Championships in June, for selection in the Australian Jillaroos squad.

CRL female participation officer Kylie Hilder believes it’s a great opportunity for players to take the next step in the representative pathway.

“This weekend could be the first stage for some of these girls towards representing not only Country, but also New South Wales or the Jillaroos,” she said.

“The new national structure, along with initiatives like the CRL Women’s Nines, has created a clearly defined pathway from regional grassroots to the Jillaroos.

“It’s a really exciting time for female participants in our game.”

Group 21 coach Phoebe Desmond said the locals – from Aberdeen, Merriwa, Murrurundi, Muswellbrook and Singleton – were ready to perform.

“They’ve trained great,” she admitted.

“A couple of the experienced girls have also provided much-needed knowledge [to the squad]; and the newbies have soaked that information up.

“We’ve named Aberdeen’s Caitlin Albury as the captain – and she’s excited to lead them.

“We meet Central Coast/Newcastle first up at 10am and then Western from 2pm.”

The representative side will be announced after the completion of the Southern trials on March 24.