ELLIE Baldwin describes a home nationals alongside her twin sister Hunter as "amazing".
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The New Lambton siblings, 18 and part of the Regals club, are together in the NSW women's under-21 squad for the first time, playing the Australia-wide age tournament in familiar surrounds at Newcastle International Hockey Centre.
"This is her [Hunter's] first under-21 state team so being able to play a home nationals with her has so far been an incredible experience," Ellie told the Newcastle Herald.
"Coaches often say we have an invisible string between us because we always know where each other are."
Ellie, who made her Hockey One debut for the senior NSW Pride towards the end of last year, has a few goals in mind for this carnival.
"Personally I like to focus on the carnival at hand. I would to win [the title] and selection from this is for Jillaroos, the under-21 national team," she said.
"I made that squad last year and they had a World Cup that I didn't make, so hopefully I make the squad again this year."
Ellie, lining up at striker for NSW, scored in Wednesday's opening-round loss to Victoria (4-2).
NSW rebounded with a 4-0 victory, featuring a Makayla Jones hat-trick, against Tasmania at lunchtime Friday.
The second match was "put back a day", originally scheduled for Thursday afternoon, "because a [water] cannon stopped working" at the venue.
It was the same postponed scenario in the men's competition with NSW instead meeting Queensland on Friday morning, the hosts going down 2-0.
NSW, including the likes of Ryan Woolnough, Bayden Smith, Kurt Walters and Lukas Gremm, were also defeated 1-0 by ACT on Wednesday.
Saturday's last round sees NSW up against unbeaten pool leaders Tasmania (men, 9am) and winless Northern Territory (women, 10am).
Crossover fixtures start on Sunday and are followed by Monday's rest day.
Semis, finals and classifications take place in Newcastle across Tuesday and Wednesday.
Josh Callinan
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
