The Glen Innes Elkettes were lucky enough to have one of the best in the business give them some guidance on the training paddock this week.
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Glen Innes local, former Wallaroo and current Melbourne Rebels Super W head coach Alana Thomas was in town this week after the passing of a relative and made time to attend an Elkettes' training session to give the side some pointers.
The women's 10s team is a relatively new side.
There's a bit of experience in the team but a vast majority of players are new to rugby union.
"I was quite impressed," Thomas said of what she saw at Wednesday night's session.
"They were all willing to learn and have a crack at some things. It was quite refreshing, they would hang on your every word and when you said to do something or try something, they were willing to have a crack."
Defence was one of the areas they focused heavily on throughout the 90 minute session.
"They had a solid session, no body on body contact but there was a fair bit of a tackle pad work and stuff they wanted to work on," Thomas said.
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The Elkettes expressed their appreciation for having Thomas run through drills with current coach Mitch Swift describing her input as "extremely interesting and just as informative."
"She knows her stuff and was so forthcoming with knowledge that I intend to use moving forward, hopefully as the long term coach of the ladies team."
Giving back to the sport is something Thomas doesn't shy away from and it isn't the first time she has helped the Elkettes.
In 2020 she sent snippets of coaching advice back to the team via videos and was always willing to offer advice to anyone who asked.
"For me, coming back to country rugby, it is what rugby is about," she said.
"Play hard on the field and enjoy each other's company off it. That is definitely something you see in that group, they enjoy each other's company, have fun and they want to do well.
"That for me is the essence of women's rugby and country rugby is all about."
The Elkettes face Tamworth this Saturday in Tenterfield and Thomas believes "if they have a crack about what we talked about" they could stick it to the Magpies side.