Northland team confirmed for women's rugby Farah Palmer Cup competition

The future of Northland rugby. These keen faces will be the foundation for Northland's new Farah Palmer Cup team. Photo / Supplied

It's official: Northland will see its first appearance in the Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) women's rugby championship competition and our players will be ready.

Being included in this competition, which will begin around September, marks a huge achievement from Northland Rugby and the wider community as well as a sign of where Northland women's rugby is going in the coming years.

After the announcement, a handful of players keen to put their hand up for the squad had come together for a testing day in Kamo on Saturday, where they were measured in strength, fitness and ball-handling skills.

"The players all learnt a lot and got a lot out of it," Northland Rugby women's development officer Scott Collins said.

"Hopefully they'll take this stuff back to their clubs and when they come back next time, they'll be able to improve."

The testing day only featured eight players along with two coaches, but Collins said this number would grow as more testing days were held across Northland.

"This is just the first brick in the wall because if we do five or six of these and get the same kind of numbers, that's 32 players who we can work with."

In what would be a busy time in Northland women's rugby, this year also marked the beginning of a formal senior women's club rugby competition, a high school competition and age-group competitions for under-15 and under-18 players.

Collins said with the spot open in the FPC, these local competitions would dictate how competitive a Northland team would be on the national stage.

"The competitions are all going to rely on each other and we've got to flow with that.

"The demand has been there for the FPC and now that it's here, the feet have got to do the walking now."

Women's rugby in Northland had a long and complicated history with clear divisions between the union and its players, still remembered by those who played in previous generations.

Collins said he hoped to build on that history to give the next generation of players an easier transition to top-level rugby.

"Hopefully, when those 15 and 16-year olds come through, they get the benefits of the hard work that's been laid down before by players from the past."

Collins saw the FPC inclusion as the starting point where Northland could build depth from the promising young players coming through age-grade competitions.

"We've got to see it not as the main goal, it's got to be the byproduct of all the other work we are doing in club rugby and coach development.

"Sooner or later, there's going to be enough players that we'll be able to create depth across our teams."

He hoped to get the services of ex-Black Ferns who were living in Northland to add their experience to the coaching stocks and attract more women in those coaching roles.

"Northland has that drive to be a leader and if we can be a leader by providing opportunities in the coaching role as well, it'll be awesome."

Collins said it was hard to tell how Northland would perform in the FPC before more testing days were held, but he said the upcoming competitions would give people an idea of the talent in Northland.

"We are going to have a wide variety of game knowledge and game awareness, which we will work on through club rugby and people will be able to see what's out there."

For more information on upcoming testing days, visit the Northland women's rugby Facebook page.