The success of the Jillaroos 2017 World Cup campaign is set to continue the ever-growing participation of women in Rugby League.
The exposure of the women’s game on an international and state level is exponentially growing, much to the benefit of grassroots within New South Wales. Female participation in NSWRL affiliated competitions has seen the number of teams participating more than double over the past two seasons.
With the player pathway being complete and now offering female players the opportunity to play from U6 all the way through to Open Age competitions, more females than ever are choosing to play Rugby League.
The likes of Isabelle Kelly – who only took up Rugby League a few years ago – tearing it up for the Jillaroos, or Ruan Sims leading from the front continues to inspire a new generation of females to take up the greatest game of all.
The NSWRL launched the inaugural Tarsha Gale Cup – an under-18s female competition earlier in the year, which proved one of the key success points throughout the business for 2017.
Penrith took out the title, and due to increased participation rates, the competition will expand by two teams, and it will be complemented by an under-16s junior representative carnival in 2018, to be called the Lisa Fiaola Cup.
The Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership is the premier women’s competition in the state, and it will continue to host eight teams in 2018.
The following female-only grassroots competitions will operate within the state:
Open Age (13-a-side)
- NSWRL Harvey Norman Open Women’s Conference Competition (across all NSWRL Districts)
U14, U16 & U18 (9-a-side)
- Parramatta Junior League
- Penrith Junior League
- NSWRL Harvey Norman Conference Competition (all other NSWRL Districts)
U6 (6-a-side), U8 (8-a-side), U10, U12 (9-a-side)
- Penrith Junior League – These are the first FEMALE ONLY Junior League competitions being conducted for these age groups within NSWRL
For further information on playing Rugby League in 2018, please contact the relevant Junior League or email communityrl@nswrl.com.au
