LEETON'S Tess Staines has lived out a sporting dream after securing a premiership with her Wests Tigers side.
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Staines helped the team to the grand final win over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks on Saturday, July 16 in the NSW Rugby League Harvey Norman women's competition.
The competition is the premier women's open-age competition, developing players for the national stage.
Staines is also a player in the NRLW competition with the Parramatta Eels.
Saturday's grand final was a thriller, with the match going into overtime and then golden point, with Wests Tigers winning the epic, 21-20.
"I'm getting goosebumps now just thinking back to it," Staines said.
"It was the best day. We were the underdogs all season, so to now have won the premiership, it's amazing.
"We played hard all season, but apart from a couple of girls, we didn't really have the big names in the side like some of the other teams.
"I could tell straight away we had a special team though because everyone just gelled from the start and we all get on really well."
Staines has continued to grow and develop in women's rugby league, progressing through the ranks while at school before representing in the NSW under 18s State of Origin team.
She was also a member of Yanco-Wamoon's league tag premiership side, which took out an inaugural grand final win in 2019.
Staines grew up playing sport with her four older brothers, two of which were able to travel to Sydney to watch her win the grand final on Saturday.
Her biggest supporters have always been her parents, Bruce and Kathleen, who were also on the sidelines at the grand final.
"They didn't miss a game all year, they traveled up every weekend to watch, which is just massive," Staines said.
"I'm so grateful to them."
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If the grand final win wasn't enough of a thrill, Staines is also the leading try scorer for the competition.
She said while that was a nice addition to a successful year, it was the team who she was most proud of.
"Everyone just played really well in the grand final," Staines said.
"It was the most amazing effort and the best feeling ever when we did win."
With plenty to celebrate, Staines could be forgiven for wanting to spend plenty of time enjoying the festivities.
While that was the case for the couple of days that followed, she was straight back into the first training for the next NRLW competition with the Eels on Monday.
The fifth NRLW competition gets underway on August 20. Staines will also stay on with Wests Tigers in the NSWRL fixture next season.
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