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The future of woman's RL

10$ Ferret

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IF you are interested get down to see some Tarsha Gale. In past years I may not have said this but its different.
Its gone from quarters to halves, from 9 a side to 11 a side to 13 a side.
Is gone from have 1 or 2 fast players and getting them to run around everyone to structured rL.

Today I saw a Roosters side demolish a Bulldogs team. Now this is not a terrible girls RL they have some good players including one that ripped the best teams apart at the edges last year.
But the Roosters could defend, they made a couple of errors but backed it up. They scored points by playing RL not just a more physical game of oztag.

The point is not the score, the doggies will come back, but it was good RL and thats a great sign
 

girvie

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It's good to see the Tarsha Gale Cup has been able to progress to full rugby league.

The Roosters side should be strong as they also have a number of players from the Central Coast.
 

10$ Ferret

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Well I put a curse on the poor Roosters TG. They have now gone and lost 2 in a row.
I hear the game against Illawarra was very good but a complete stitch up
The same people told me they were not good against a Knights team that were very good, .although without a blue shirt trainer and the new rules their orange shirt was spending alot of time on the field apparently

Looks like it could be anyones comp almost
 
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there is also the investment in the womens game. Cricket Australia is the best example of investing in the womens game paying dividends. I believe the National Contract is just shy of 200k for the girls and with strong marketing and the increased growth of the WBBL, interest is at an all time high and with more girls in cricket, that makes it more popular as a whole as cricket is a sport throughout history that has struggled with the womens demographic. Footy is behind on the wages front but the fact they are now into their 5th season of a semi professional national comp with games now having paid tickets with teams selling out means Footy wont be falling behind with womens fans. Compare this to NRL once again where there complete lack of attention for the womens game with still only having 4 teams. The minimum wage is only 8k for an NRLW player whereas AFLW is double that and cricket being well ahead of both. This means that females in established Rugby Leagues areas of NSW and QLd will be more likely to have an interest in footy and cricket at a young age, once again, leaving Rugby behind.
 

10$ Ferret

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I am not sure where you get the 8K minimum from. That would be the base maybe for one of the elite players (ie what was the top 40) .
The difference between NRLW and AFLW is the quality of the teams/ players. I have seen some reasonable AFLW games but there is a lot of rubbish simply because they grew it too quickly and many players if not teams are not up to elite quality.
The premise of the NRLW has always been to only have the best players. The quality of the HNWP is increasing as is the the number of teams and the number of NRLW teams will increase when the players are ready and that will be sooner rather than later
The big problem is going be managing the relationship between the state comps and the NRLW
 

Hello, I'm The Doctor

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9,124
I think the NRLW is missing an opportunity by playing at the end of the year. The comp gets lost in the hype of the mens Finals games.

Id start the season now during the preseason while everyone is sports starved (maybe hold the Grand Final on Anzac Day or Easter or something)

Then repleace the womens club games at the end of the year with international teams in a Four Nations tournament
 

T-Boon

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I think the NRLW is missing an opportunity by playing at the end of the year. The comp gets lost in the hype of the mens Finals games.

Id start the season now during the preseason while everyone is sports starved (maybe hold the Grand Final on Anzac Day or Easter or something)

Then repleace the womens club games at the end of the year with international teams in a Four Nations tournament

Yep. Its like the womens game starts during the credits when everyone is leaving the theatre.
 

siv

First Grade
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6,546
I think the NRLW is missing an opportunity by playing at the end of the year. The comp gets lost in the hype of the mens Finals games.

Id start the season now during the preseason while everyone is sports starved (maybe hold the Grand Final on Anzac Day or Easter or something)

Then repleace the womens club games at the end of the year with international teams in a Four Nations tournament

The comps that everyone wants to play in is in Qld and NSW is about to start soon

Pity we dont have a playoff between the premiers.

There even is a proper rep weekend in rep jerseys
 
Last edited:

T-Boon

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That will always be determined by the market.

Yep, they should get a big percentage (bigger than the men) of what they bring in which is probably not much if anything. Some of the women players should be making more of a song and dance about getting exposure on nine and fox commentary teams rather than the women they get on there like Erin Molan who does not need the gig anymore.
 

ALX25

Juniors
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2,493
Hopefully the addition of the Titans and Sharks into the WNRL this year or in 2022 will help.

In QLD it is a worry that a few teams have chosen to not run sides in the BHP Premiership this year. Hopefully the QRL will assist these clubs financially to get them back in 2022.

An increase in Talent ID camps will also help.
 

10$ Ferret

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Hopefully the addition of the Titans and Sharks into the WNRL this year or in 2022 will help.

In QLD it is a worry that a few teams have chosen to not run sides in the BHP Premiership this year. Hopefully the QRL will assist these clubs financially to get them back in 2022.

An increase in Talent ID camps will also help.

Will be interesting who gets the new teams license. I feel it will be one in NSW and one in QLD. The NSW will be between Tigers and Parra and I agree Titan are favs for QLD.

I think Cronulla's original poor application will go against them and geographically there is no need with St George Illawarra already in. the Bulldogs think they have been promised a spot but the way they disposed of their HNWP team I don't think they have a hope in hades.

I do like how its being taken slowly as I think the AFLW got it wrong by expanding too quickly, there are some really bad games in that comp
 

10$ Ferret

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An increase in Talent ID camps will also help.

I meant to comment on this, there have only been 1 identified out of these camps, Brydie Parker
Kirra Dibb was spotted at one but had already signed with Norths before the camp I understand.
 

Twizzle

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Will be interesting who gets the new teams license. I feel it will be one in NSW and one in QLD. The NSW will be between Tigers and Parra and I agree Titan are favs for QLD

Parra's TG team is not too flash, they would need to buy a lot of senior players
 

10$ Ferret

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Parra's TG team is not too flash, they would need to buy a lot of senior players

Every team does and the fact they have committed and even built a facility in the Hills district specifically for women's RL goes a long way.
Not many players play in the WNRL soon after TG cup anyway
 

10$ Ferret

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Well I might have put an initial curse on but they have come back all guns blazing. The Roosters TG side will take on the Dragons in the Grand final this weekend.

The standard of the grand final qualifiers on the weekend was sensational.

tthe future of women's RL is in great hands
 

Brick Tamland

Juniors
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https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/nrlw-set-for-immediate-expansion-to-six-teams-20210430-p57nxi.html

NRLW set for immediate expansion to six teams
The NRLW is poised to expand to six teams and have a longer season this year as the code plans for its most aggressive push to grow the women’s game in years.

Having been restricted to just four teams since the competition’s inception in 2018, the NRL is on the brink of adding another two teams to this year’s league before expanding again in 2022.

High level talks of Australian Rugby League Commission directors on Friday agreed about the urgency required to grow the women’s game at both the elite and grassroots level. The Herald has been told of the NRL’s preferred option for NRLW expansion.

It would involve two new franchises joining the Roosters, Dragons, Warriors and Broncos in the 2021 competition, paving the way for clubs to make their pitches for immediate inclusion into the league.

But so desperate are the NRL to keep the momentum going in the women’s game, they have discussed expanding the competition twice within the space of 12 months to include an eight-team format next year.

The news will be a godsend to advocates of the competition, who have argued the NRLW risked becoming stale without adding to the four inaugural teams which have played a rapid four-week season adjacent to the NRL finals series.

The sides only meet each other once in the round robin format with the top two teams qualifying for the grand final.

The format of the preferred six-team competition this year is yet to be determined with NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo to escalate talks with major stakeholders, including broadcast partners and potential naming rights sponsors, before deciding on the length of the season.

But the NRLW is destined to begin in the latter weeks of the NRL’s regular season, providing a greater platform to showcase the women’s game in the lead-up to the men’s finals series.

Abdo and ARLC chairman Peter V’landys met with the Rugby League Players Association’s newly-established women’s advisory group earlier this week to outline their vision for the game.

The players learnt the NRL eventually want to have every club represented by a women’s team, which will be a long-term plan.

The expanded competition is likely to be a potential lure for cross-code stars like rugby union sevens players Charlotte Caslick and Ellia Green, who used the banning of international travel last year during the pandemic to sign short-term NRLW deals. They had led Australia to Olympic gold at Rio in 2016.

Jillaroos pioneer Ruan Sims wrote in her Herald columns last year it was imperative for the NRLW to expand in 2021 if it wanted to continue to attract the best female athletes from a variety of sports.

The NRL will assess the candidates to be immediately added to this year’s competition after several expressed anger and frustration in 2018 when the NRLW was established with just four teams.

The decision aggrieved several clubs who had established women’s pathways programs, including the Sharks and Rabbitohs.

The NRL’s vision for the women’s game doesn’t just involve expansion of the elite competition, it’s also set to include a detailed blueprint about how to encourage more junior participation.
 
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