Rising rugby star Georgia Cole is our Sportsperson of the Year, her achievements celebrated at a presentation dinner at the Forbes Sports and Recreation Club on Saturday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
2023 was an exciting year for Georgia, chosen for the Super W youth squad for Australia and invited to train with the Waratahs pre-season squad.
The selections saw her fly to Queensland for a week-long camp representing NSW, and join the Waratahs in Sydney for four weeks.
"It was really good training at that level, having access to their coaches and all that knowledge was really helpful ... just the exposure was really good," Cole reflected at Saturday's awards.
With a new season not far away, she's keen for another season with the Forbes Platypi with an eye on Country rugby opportunities - and the pathways that might open up from there.
Georgia was just 16 when she kicked off what's turning out to be an impressive rugby career, and going straight into the women's competition could have been intimidating.
"But all the girls were really welcoming and supportive which was really good, I love the team," she said.
Saturday night was an opportunity for our local sports stars to shine and Cole acknowledged our community is lucky to have such a dedicated committee who continue to put them on.
Our Sportsperson of the Year runner up is another Forbes rugby star, Oliver Walker.
Walker has come right up through the junior rugby ranks, described by his 2023 coach as "a really solid player who leads from the front".
His 2023 season on the rugby field was sensational, captaining his club side the U16s Forbes Platypi as well as the Under 16s central west representative team.
Walker was named best forward in his age group at the NSW Country Junior Rugby Championships, where the young Central West Blue Bulls finished third in their Rowlands Cup campaign.
He represented at the NSW State Junior Rugby Championships and was selected in the Under 16s NSW Country team.
