But if Rutherford thought winning a gold medal was impressive, she was shocked to learn a day later that she had also made the Australian squad that will travel to South Africa in 2020.

"I was unprepared for the selection; I was just ecstatic to see my name on the page," Rutherford said.

This will be Rutherford's fourth selection for Australia, after playing in the Trans-Tasman in 2005, the World Cup in 2016, and in the Netherlands for the Invitationals in 2017.

READ MORE: Lithgow talents selected for State Masters competition

"I believe the additional training this year really helped me improve my skills," she said.

"It's such a huge commitment, but I'm ready."

Rutherford, who plays in the over 60s, said this was something she had wanted to do for a long time.

"To wear the green and gold is going to be amazing; to stand there and hear the national anthem while wearing it will be special," she said.

"This is a dream come true; to play for NSW is amazing and anything else is just a bonus; this has become the icing on the cake."

Australian selectors watched all of Rutherford's Masters games to see if she had what it took to join the prestigious squad.

She impressed, constantly improving with each match.

Results:

Coming in second, the side made it through to a must-win semi final against Queensland One, which they won 2-1.

"It was a hard game; Queensland was always going to be tough, we thought we could beat them, but I think they knew they either had to win or get a draw to beat us, so we bustled them out of the game," she said.

"We worked hard on our defence and played really well as a team."

READ MORE: Lithgow golfers selected to represent Blue Mountains team in NSW country champs

The final gold medal match was against Victoria, and the NSW side went into positively.

"We managed to hold them out, getting a 3-1 win; our team was cohesive and we settled each other and came together as a unit," she said.

Rutherford was a lot happier with her performance this year.

"This is my 18th year representing NSW and I think my self control, passing and supporting of colleagues gave me a bit of an edge after doing additional skills training with the local Panthers team," she said.

First time NSW representative Tracey Baker came home with a silver medal, something she wasn't expecting.

"We went all the way through the competition without a loss until the final, unfortunately," she said.

Results:

In the final against Queensland One, it was a tight match which ended one-all at full time, meaning the side had to play one-on-ones for eight seconds each, which saw the Queensland side take the win 3-2.

"I'm very pleased with how I went; I didn't expect to come home with a medal; that was an extra bonus. I was very, very happy," she said.

As a left and right half, Baker had to defend, attack and do a lot of running.

READ MORE: Lady golfers bring home the trophies from Club Championships

"I tried to play to the best of my ability, and with all the experience around you, it really makes you step up and play your very best, because you don't want to let your team mates down," she said.

"The coaching staff, managers, assistant coaches, they are all there to support you and let you know what you are doing right and wrong."

Baker, who plays in the over 55s, said she only knew a couple of the girls on the team before joining but they were a great group of women to play with.

"Since it was my first time, I really was the virgin of the team," she joked.

"I need to thank my family, the Lithgow Workies Club, Coles and Lithgow Hockey Association for their kind donations to help me get to this level."

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Lithgow Mercury. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.