The Eagles notched their second win of the season, 24-20, over the Cougars to claim the inaugural shield and coach Aaron McDonald said the club was proud to support the White Ribbon initiative.

“I think one in three women are affected by domestic violence, one in four children so the stats are alarming,” McDonald said.

“As a club Berkeley put their hand up and the executive, particularly Paul Morris, did a lot of work to make it happen. We need to educate our players but we also need to educate the whole community on what’s a massive issue in society.”

McDonald is also confident he’s building a side that can build on their return season next year.

“I think we’ve got a core group of players that have great potential and ability,” McDonald said.

“We’re a really young side, I think our average age is about 24 and that’s shown at times. We’re lacking a bit of experience.

We’ve got a lot of good young guys coming through, your Matt Boss’s your Daniel Caprice’s your Matt Winchester’s are going to be a big part of the club going forward as are your locals like Benny Honan and Kane Edwards.

“We need to just really have here bring in another Taniela Lasalo and a couple of others to add that class and experience to our side. I’m confident the ability’s there.”