DOYALSON Dragons can etch their names in touch football history if they manage to win the 2017 NSW State Cup.
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No other team on record has won the three major events in the same calendar year in any open division in the Premier League.
The Dragons have already won the country championships and Vawdon Cup and a win in the final on Sunday will make them the first team to win the trifecta.
Coach Karley Banks said her team were looking forward to the challenge which would put an exclamation mark on an affiliate that has only been around for four years.
“History is calling our name a little bit,” she said.
“It’s a good opportunity and one we’ve worked hard to build a program in a very small affiliate from so it’s quite exciting for all the boys on the back of what we’ve already done.”
Banks admitted it would be the culmination of four years of hard work in a competition they traditionally performed well at.
We don’t want to be one of those flash-in-the-pan sides that have a great year and then people ask what happened to them when they sink without a trace.
- Doyalson Dragons coach Karley Banks
“We don’t want to be one of those flash-in-the-pan sides that have a great year and then people ask what happened to them when they sink without a trace,” she said.
They defeated Parramatta in this year’s Vawdon Cup and in the process achieved after four years what their opponents hadn’t for the last 17.
“All these teams that we play against have been in the competition for a long time so for us to do what we’ve done in a short time has been quite extraordinary,” the coach said.
“It’s also incredibly rewarding, because sometimes it’s a five-hour trip for us where we don’t play our games until 9.30 at night because of the travel.”
Being away from the Sydney basin ensured the Dragons could keep to themselves before the major tournaments – and Banks is happy for things to stay that way.
“Because we’re in the country, we’re not near Parramatta, Manly or Canterbury who are all in close proximity to each other,” she said.
“It’s a little bit in the same way to the Melbourne Storm and how they’re away from everyone else.”
Banks said while her team “didn’t have any superstars”, Australian representatives Dylan Thompson and Scott Bundy would lead the way.
The boys aren’t daunted by the prospect of what they might achieve – it’s more a challenge to see if we can do it.
- Karley Banks
“All the other guys play their part, but Scott and Dylan are the senior players who help us out a lot,” she said.
A win in Sunday afternoon’s final would wrap up a perfect year for the club where they would have claimed all competitive titles available to them.
“The boys aren’t daunted by the prospect of what they might achieve – it’s more a challenge to see if we can do it,” Banks said.
“For us to win the three-peat of regionals, country champs and Vawdon Cup, we’ve already created our own niche in history.”