WHEN Mel Waterford played her first game of women's rugby in the Central West competition, you could almost count the number of spectators on two hands.
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So on Saturday morning after Waterford guided the Bathurst Bulldogs to Ferguson Cup premiership glory over the Orange Emus in front of a huge crowd at Ashwood Park, she realised the significance.
Yes it was a special moment for her and her fellow Bulldogs, but it was also a reward for all those who have worked to grow women's rugby in the Central West.
"I just can not believe the growth in women's rugby, I am so proud," Waterford said.
"I come from the day when you'd be lucky to have your partner come watch you, so to now have people get up at 9.30am in the morning to come down and say that it's the only game of rugby they're going to watch in a day, it makes me so proud.
"I am so proud of women's rugby, I'm so proud of Central West and the support they've given women's rugby, they never gave up on us.
"Now we are playing 10s and they're the winners today, it was an absolutely amazing show."
Part of what has helped attract more spectators to women's rugby in the Central West has been the push to involve more teams - 15 competed in the Ferguson Cup this year - and the ever improving standard of those who play.
Bulldogs were a good example of that this year.
Not only did their squad include experienced rugby campaigners like Waterford, Marita Shoulders and Mandy Scott plus Australian sevens representative Jakiya Whitfeld, but a host of the women they recruited from different sporting backgrounds.
The women's squad also trained with the male members of Bulldogs - something that helped improve their skills and added to the unity within the club.
"The club has worked with us as a unit all year, the boys have trained with us, they've had patience with us, I do believe in the end we out trained the boys - it was just unbelievable," Waterford said.
"I know how hard these girls have worked, some of these girls hadn't even touched a ball at the start of the year.
"To see that development in them, to see them come away with that win today, that's special."
Orange Emus captain Stacey Britt echoed Waterford's sentiment that seeing such a strong crowd present for Saturday's grand final is a good sign for women's rugby.
"It's great, we never get a crowd like this, so we're so proud of it," she said.
"Both teams have a lot of talent, a lot of girls who have represented Central West, and I think we should be so proud of women's rugby."
While Emus were not able to clinch what would have been their sixth women's title since 2000, Britt was still praised the efforts of her team-mates.
"I'm definitely proud of them and I'm just glad we made it this far. We came almost this close last year, we made it this year and hopefully next year we'll go even better," she said.
"We actually came out harder than we normally do, we got the first try up which never happens.
"We fought hard, but at the end of the day I think they just pulled it together better than we did."
