Some 10 years ago, the National Rugby League (NRL) launched its inaugural Women in League round, largely paying homage to the unsung female support base in rugby league. Women in League was the game’s “thank you” to the mums, the canteen ladies and other unsung female volunteers who were a stable support of the men’s game.
Fast forward to November 2017 and a blog by website the Dressing Shed rated the top 10 most influential women in rugby league as, among others, media commentators, lawyers, board members and the game’s first ever female CEO.
While volunteers have remained the backbone of the grassroots game, the wave of women’s participation in rugby league (both on and off the field) has advanced exponentially from a decade ago.
As reported to the Guardian by the NRL, female registrations in the tag and tackle versions of the game have grown by 32% this year alone. With 9,029 new women playing a form of rugby league in Australia, the demand for a national women’s competition has never been greater.
Sponsors and broadcasters have also taken note. Harvey Norman – the naming rights partner of the 2017 Women’s Rugby League World Cup and Australian national team, the Jillaroos – has led the way, providing valuable financial support for the junior competition through to the elite. The recent wave of interest in women’s sport has also caught the attention of the Seven network, which this year elected to cover the entire women’s RLWC tournament – not just the final – for the first time.
In another first, RLWC final day this Saturday – to be played between the Australian Jillaroos and New Zealand’s Kiwi Ferns – marks the first time both sexes of a team sport will be crowned world champions on the same day. This is an opportunity for women who play rugby league to finally share the main stage with their male counterparts.
Such symbolic breakthroughs follow recent, significant advancements in other women’s sport in Australia. In February, the Australian public embraced the launch of the AFL Women’s competition (AFLW). Its success was underestimated by its own administration, resulting in thousands of fans being locked out of the historic, inaugural Carlton v Collingwood clash at Melbourne’s Princes Park. With rugby league’s national women’s competition far less progressed, there is much the NRL can learn from the rival sport.
Legendary former Essendon coach and player Kevin Sheedy was responsible for infiltrating a rugby league heartland at the end of 2009, with the mission of establishing the less-popular sport in the Western Sydney region. In four years he helped developed local kids and, alongside Giants’ management, he built the GWS brand from the ground up. He can see similarities in the NRL’s bid to grow the women’s game.
“The best thing the AFL did was to appoint top coaches to train the women’s teams; leaders they could be inspired by,” Sheedy said. “Every competition is a valuable platform to providing a highway and a pathway to inspiring younger people. It’s essentially up to each sport to see how great they want to be.”
Dr Adam Karg, senior lecturer and course director in sports management at Deakin University, said the AFL had done an exceptional job building connections and points of attachment to the sport prior to launching its women’s edition.
“The AFL’s ability to create brand recognition; staging the launch at a fairly non-eventful time in Australian sport; and its decision not to rush into commercialising the women’s game have all contributed to its success,” Karg said. “In terms of challenges, a key question is: does the game of rugby league lend itself as well to female participation and can it capture the market on a national scale?”
Following RLWC 2017, it will be time for the governing bodies of the women’s game to review future competition formats and pathways for girls and women to participation. There is undoubtedly room for top tier competition expansion reliant on an increasing talent pool. There are numerous selling-points: the prospect of an intrastate contest, a three-game State of Origin series mirroring the men’s version and a natural affiliation with current NRL teams waiting to be explored.
However, Steve Litvensky, manager of the Mounties side in the Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership, said it was important to be mindful of “accelerating the girls too quickly”. The former Melbourne Storm head trainer has combined with head performance coach Darrin Borthwick to devise a training program aimed at transitioning female players into the rigours of contact sport.
“In the men’s game, boys might start training as early as four years of age and some of these girls are only stepping into a full contact sport at 18,” he said. “It’s bound to take its toll physically.”
But Jillaroos forward and Dally M player of the year Simaima Taufa will not be deterred. The 23-year-old has not only bagged a raft of awards this year but has also been a member of the winning Auckland Nines and Interstate Challenge sides. She said she hopes that soon women playing league won’t just be seen “as female rugby league players but simply rugby league players”.
For the women representing their respective nations on the field, Saturday will be a momentous occasion. But the real impact will be felt by thousands of touch footy and Oztag-obsessed young girls who are able to watch the game live and free-to-air and dream of playing the full version of rugby league in the future.
The Australian Jillaroos’ manager, Sally Clarke, said such exposure was crucial to the growth of the women’s game.
“Having the Jillaroos in front of a broadcast audience is always a win for us,” Clarke said. “It’s important to have a platform for little girls to look up to.”
Regular Australian five-eighth Allana Ferguson reinforced the significance of the tournament to her, stating that she sat on the sidelines for a decade because there was no pathway to elite competition for girls.
“I grew up playing with the boys and found it tricky to comprehend that I wasn’t allowed to play for the Sharks when I was older,” she said. “After my last season at 11 years old, I was shattered that the one thing I loved was taken away from me. It never made sense and I couldn’t watch the NRL for two years following my last game because I was just so devastated.
“When I learnt of women’s footy and rejoined the game at 21, my passion was reignited, and my dreams began to come true.
“[The coverage of] this year’s Rugby League World Cup has meant that all junior players, whether they be boys or girls, can turn on the TV and watch their hero.”
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