So Port Macquarie trio Laura Cudmore, Mandy McKinnon and Raquel Lievore have every right to be thrilled about their selection in the women’s 27s Tagaroos.

They have made their mark with the Mid North Coast Sharks side in previous years, playing integral roles throughout their State Cup and national title campaigns.

Step by step they have gradually improved, worked hard and finally been rewarded with a place on the team for the Four Nations trip to the Central Coast in September.

Coach Steve van Gemert knows better than most the amount of sacrifices that have been made along the way.

“These three haven’t missed a training session in the 18 months to two years I’ve had them,” he said.

“Laura and Mandy are mums too, but they’ve made this a priority; they got close last year and instead of being bitter about it, they got better.”

Van Gemert said the trio have done two extra training sessions every week to be the best they can be.

“There’s been no bullsh*t,” he said.

Cudmore admitted it was satisfying to know that their hard work had finally paid off.

“We have trained pretty hard over the last 18 months to two years, play Wednesday night games as a team and then we train every Sunday morning at 8am.”

It’s that sort of commitment leading into tournaments that makes it all worth it in the end.

“The whole team goes there every week religiously (at 8am); we don’t miss (a session) and it’s about putting in the hard yards in the hot sun,” she said.

Cudmore admitted their team’s improvement had played an integral role in their names being a little higher on the list of players to watch.

“You get more of a look-in when your team is more successful so we do owe it to a lot of people,” she said.

The 28-year-old has had to wait 10 years for her first Australian oztag jumper after making the switch from touch football.

“When I first started it was for a change to get away from touch football, but once I came into the women’s 27s team, Australia became a bit of a goal that I thought had been a bit out of reach,” she said.

Lievore has had five years worth of experience on the field and said her selection came as a surprise.

“It shows the quality of our team that we were able to get a few people in there,” she said.

“It’s very exciting; I’d like to go well individually, contribute to the team and help them have success.”

McKinnon conceded she would be one of the older members of the team, but she welcomed the challenge.

“It’s an amazing achievement for me because I was probably one of the older girls in the team,” she said.

“So for me to still be able to do that when I’m up to 17 years older than most of the other girls running around is something to be proud of.”

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