If it was me I would train a targeting behaviour first. So something that can be tugged on but then can be transferred to the tug of war rope in the right place. Maybe a cloth like a strong hand towel that can be wrapped onto the right place on the tug rope. So if she has a good tug cue you might skip the first steps of marking/clicking the hold of the towel followed by the tug on it etc and move straight to building a high value on the towel. Make it the most amazing new thing you have found and but extra energy into the game. Get her targeting as a chase game on a cord, then a chase from your hand, then a dead toy and then when it has great relevance to her then attach it to the end of the tug rope and snake it around. Next would wrap and tie it in another place on tug of war rope but offer it on a loop to make hitting that bit more likely. Last would be attachment to the place you want her to tug from the brief. Like with everything just how many of the steps are required and how long for depends on the dog but if a keen tugger can move through them pretty quickly and better to break it down smaller rather than skip ahead too fast. If she is a rabid tugger may want to choose a really strong target towel which is not too expensive to replace.

@Diane Gollowitzer whenever a prop or environmental cue is present you have to decide if the fading of it is not worth the value you gain from it. If you are just trying to adjust a behaviour that is 95% complete you may just be better to try rewarding the correct strike with a big game and not do the big play on a poor hit. Another option is to mark and reward separately the correct hit - all depends on the dog and what works. Trick is to recognise what is not working early and have alternate paths to the same goal when needed.

Have come out of a winter of rain so can sympathise but now a bit of a summer drought in northern NZ so now happy to be outside. Except agility competitions when closing on 30 degrees has its own challenges.

The food bowl was just the best thing for her as a young pup - reps everyday and high motivation. Even with toy driven dogs would be only a few who would not be keen for the dinner bowl but some will not be interested in a few kibble in a bowl when not so hungry. With an older dog I would go with what has proven value quicker once the basic behaviour was learnt but still train the 3 parts separately before putting it together. Focus forward without looking around to get direction, speed on the go out to get straight run and then the final behavior (down,sit or wait etc). Once you have all 3 independently use them for a short distance at the beginning of each session before adding distance. Use a variety of obvious markers at first and then start fading them smaller when the dog is confident that they should run and something will be out there. If you can get the reward delivered at a distance that is good (as with the ball thrower I use here) but you can try have the reward preplaced - just watch for them deciding to hunt for it before they get the distance (especially with spaniels) . So keep the odour part low as we are wanting more visual - if using food watch wind direction and use low odour with a good visual marker. Can also use a closed container on the target mat but then you have to get out to open it - but does teach them to stay and wait for release. The speed is all about finding what they really want - toy, food at dinner time when hungry etc - without something to spin them up hard to get the speed.