Women's rugby league in Australia | |
---|---|
Country | Australia |
National team(s) | Australia |
First played | 1921 |
Registered players | 180,000 [1] |
Women's rugby league is a popular women's sport in Australia. The sport has a high level of participation in the country both recreational and professional. Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) is the national governing body of the sport in Australia, organising the Australian Women's Rugby League, the Australian women's national team, and the nine state governing bodies of the game, among other duties. Women's participation of modern rugby league has been recorded since the early 1920s. It has since become one of Australia's most popular women's team sports. [2]
The first Women's Rugby League match in Australia was played in Sydney, on Saturday, 17 September 1921. Players, who had been training in the preceding months, had been divided into two teams, named Metropolitan (who played in blue jerseys) and Sydney (who played in maroon jerseys). Metropolitan won the match 21–11. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The crowd of 30,000 was the largest ever for women’s sport in Australia[ citation needed ] for many years.[ when? ] A second 'return' match was played the following Saturday, 24 September 1921. Three matches were held in 1922 in April, August and October. The organisation was disbanded prior to the 1923 season. [8] [9]
Date | Team 1 | Score | Team 2 | Venue | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
17 Sep 1921 | Metropolitan | 21 — 11 | Sydney | Agricultural Ground | Sun [3] [4] DT [5] [6] |
24 Sep 1921 | Metropolitan | 3 — 9 | Sydney | Agricultural Ground | Sun [10] [11] |
17 Apr 1922 | Metropolitan | 10 — 25 | Sydney | National Park, Newcastle | NS [12] |
7 Aug 1922 | Metropolitan | 13 — 0 | Sydney | Newcastle Sports Ground | NMH [13] |
2 Oct 1922 | Metropolitan | 11 — 11 | Sydney | Sydney Sports Ground | DT [14] Sun [15] |
In the mid-1970s Women's Rugby League teams were organised in Perth, including South Perth and Cottesloe.[ citation needed ]
In 1976, a Women's Rugby League team from Manurewa in Auckland, New Zealand toured Australia. The Manurewa club had earlier received junior boys teams from Goulburn and Lalor Park, Sydney and these two clubs offered to host a visit from Manurewa's ladies team. A women's team was formed in Goulburn to play against the tourists. They played two matches, one in Goulburn and another at Endeavour Field in Cronulla. The Lalor Park team had played and won four local matches prior to their match against Manurewa. [16] [17]
In the early part of the 1990s Women's Rugby League competitions were run in Sydney, the Illawarra and the Australian Capital Territory. Some of the clubs from those regions participated in an annual knock-out competition. [18] The East Canberra club won this knock-out tournament in three consecutive years: 1991, 1992 and 1993. Other participating clubs included the Albion Park Outlaws, Calwell Colts, North Sydney, Northern Districts Illawarra, Warilla Warriors, Woden Valley and the Wollongong Wildcats. [19] [20] In the final of the 1994 tournament, Picton defected Bulli. [21]
In 1995, Australia hosted a tour by the New Zealand national team. This was the inaugural series of Test Matches for both countries in Women's Rugby League. Tour matches were played in Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane. [22] [23]
In 1996, Australia hosted a seven match, three Test tour by the Great Britain women's national rugby league team. Australia claimed their inaugural international win in the First Test in Canberra. [24] Great Britain, however, won the Second Test in Brisbane and the Third Test at Redfern Oval in Sydney to claim a series victory. [25]
The Australian national team toured New Zealand in 1997 (both matches lost) and Fiji in 1998 (both matches won). [26] [27] Hosting duties for a Test Match series in 1999 were shared with New Zealand with games played at Leichhardt Oval and Penrith Stadium in Sydney and the third and final match played in Auckland. Australia beat New Zealand for the first time in the Second Test at Penrith, but the Kiwi Ferns won the series, 2–1. [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]
The women's game in Queensland expanded from Brisbane and Ipswich in 1998 when a competition commenced in Mackay. Souths beat the previously undefeated Norths in the Grand Final. [33]
During the later years of the 1990s National Championships were conducted with representative, rather than club, teams participating. In 1997, Illawarra beat Brisbane in the final. The 1998 tournament was held at Pizzey Park, Burleigh Heads and included teams from Sydney, Canberra, Illawarra, Brisbane, Ipswich and for the first time Western Australia. [34] The 1999 tournament was reconfigured to have four state/territory teams. New South Wales beat Queensland in the final, ahead of Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. [35]
The year 1999 saw the introduction of an interstate series between Queensland and New South Wales. The teams play for the Nellie Doherty Cup. Although this ongoing series was occasionally referred to in the media as the Women's State of Origin the respective teams were selected on a residential basis until 2017. Queensland won this augural match, 16–14. [36]
Australia participated in the inaugural Women's Rugby League World Cup in November 2000, playing two matches each against Great Britain & Ireland and New Zealand. The Australian squad comprised players from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. [37] [38]
National Championships were held at Belmont, Western Australia in 2000, Rooty Hill, New South Wales in 2001, Ipswich, Queensland in 2002, West Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory in 2003, Runaway Bay, Queensland in 2005, and Queanbeyan, New South Wales in 2006. Queensland won the tournament in 2000 and 2001. In 2003, Queensland Whites defeated Queensland Maroons in the final, ahead of ACT and NSW teams. The tournament was not held in 2004. In 2005, South East Queensland beat a Queensland Barbarians team in the final, ahead of NSW City and NSW Country teams. in 2006, Brisbane beat Sydney Metro in the final, ahead of NSW Country Monaro and NSW Country Southern Division teams. [39] [40] [41]
The 2008 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the first held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final between Australian Jillaroos and the Kiwi Ferns on 22 November. It was held at Stockland Park alongside the Police World Cup. Eight teams took part including defending champions New Zealand.
The 2011 All Stars match included the first Women's All Stars exhibition match which was won by the NRL Women's All Stars 22–6.
In 2016 the first local derby by NRL clubs was played Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and St. George Illawarra Dragons had a Women's rugby league nines match at Southern Cross Group Stadium which aired on Fox Sports it was a curtain-raiser for the main game Sharks won 16–12. [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51]
The New South Wales Rugby League announced the creation of a nine-a-side under-18s women's league for 2017 Named the Tarsha Gale Nines after the former Australian Jillaroos and NSW captain of the 1990s. [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58]
For the first time in the sport's history the 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup was held concurrently with the men's tournament. [59] [60]
On 14 May 2017 the first Women's City vs Country Origin game was played. [61] [62]
The Women's Rugby League Australian National Championships have continually evolved since their establishment in the early 1990s. The tournament was initially for club sides, with the ability of the players to self-fund their travel to the tournament being a factor in the number of teams participating. 1994 saw a change to regional representative teams. In 2018 and 2019 the tournament featured the best Australian-based players in the women's game. With the advent and success of the NRL Women's Premiership NRLW, the tournament was revised to have a development focus on emerging talent.
Year | Winner | Score | Runner Up | Date of Final | Host Location | Other Competing Teams | Ref |
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1991 | East Canberra | ||||||
1992 | East Canberra | 18 – 6 | North Sydney | 11 Oct 1992 | Rugby League Park | Albion Park Outlaws, Wollongong Wildcats, Warilla Warriors, Woden Valley and Calwell Colts | [19] |
1993 | East Canberra | 24 – 0 | Northern Districts Illawarra | 25 Jul 1993 | O'Connor Oval | [20] | |
1994 | Picton | 32 – 0 | Bulli Eagles | 12 Jun 1994 | Kippax Oval, Canberra | [21] | |
1995 | Illawarra | 26 – 0 | Canberra | 11 Jun 1995 | Hunter, Riverina, Sydney | ||
1996 | Sydney | [63] | |||||
1997 | Illawarra | 12 – 10 | Brisbane | CM | |||
1998 | Brisbane | Sydney | 6 Jun 1998 | Pizzey Park, Burleigh Heads | Sydney, Canberra, Illawarra, Brisbane, Ipswich, Western Australia (debut) | ||
1999 | NSW | 12 – 8 | Queensland | 13 Jun 1999 | West Belconnen Leagues Club | ACT, WA | |
2000 | Queensland | NSW | 11 Jun 2000 | Belmont, WA | WA, ? | AR | |
2001 | Queensland | 12 – 6 | NSW | Rooy Hill RSL | AR | ||
2002 | Queensland A | 32 – 10 | NSW | Ipswich | |||
2003 | Queensland Whites | 20 – 12 | Queensland Maroons | West Belconnen; Canberra | ACT, NSW | ||
2004 | Not held | AR | |||||
2005 | South East Queensland | Queensland Barbarians | Runaway Bay; Gold Coast | NSW City; NSW Country | AR | ||
2006 | Brisbane | 18 – 10 | Sydney Metro | 11 Jun 2006 | Seiffert Oval, Queanbeyan | NSW Country Monaro, NSW Country Southern Division | CT |
2007 | Brisbane | 12 – 6 | Sydney Metro | Kougari Oval' Wynnum | Cairns (debut); Central Queensland (debut); NSW Country National Barbarians | AR | |
2008 | South East Queensland | 14 – 4 | Sydney City | Sydney | NSW Country, North Queensland, Barbarians | AR | |
2009 | Brisbane | NSW City | Runaway Bay; Gold Coast | NSW Residents; North Queensland North; North Queensland South | AR | ||
2010 | to 2017. Unknown. In some years only State Championships were held. | ||||||
2018 | NSW Country | 16 – 12 | NSW City | 3 Jun 2018 | Owen Park | ADF Women; Combined Affiliated States; Qld City; Qld Country | [64] |
2019 | NSW City | 34 – 4 | NSW Country | 2 Jun 2019 | Pizzey Park, Gold Coast | ADF Women; Combined Affiliated States; SEQ; Qld Country | [65] |
2020 | Not held due to lockdown measures in response to Covid-19 | ||||||
2021 | Western Australia | 10 – 6 | First Nation's Gems | 23 May 2021 | Moreton Daily Stadium, Redcliffe | ADF Women; NT; SA; Victoria | [66] |
2022 | NSW Country | 24 – 0 | Western Australia | 12 Jun 2022 | Pizzey Park, Gold Coast | ADF Women; First Nation's Gems; NT; Victoria | [67] |
Women's rugby league is the female-only version of rugby league.
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The tour began inauspiciously, with Great Britain losing four of their first seven matches, including the First Test against Australia in Sydney. Moving into the Queensland leg, the Lions' results improved, and they won all nine of their matches in the state. This included victory in the Second Test in Brisbane.
A common feature of many of the tour matches was rough play, punches being throw in and out of tackles. The July 10 match against New South Wales was abandoned by the referee seventeen minutes into the second half due to persistent brawling by the players.
One week after the abandoned game, Australia won the Third Test to claim the Ashes by a 2–1 margin.
Moving to New Zealand, Great Britain lost the Second Test, but recovered to win the Third Test and the series, by a 2–1 margin.
The tour concluded with three matches in five days back in Australia at Sydney, Canberra and Maitland.
Despite being a British team – five of the squad were Welsh, two from Scotland and hooker Tom McKinney from Northern Ireland – the team played, and were often referred to by both the press at home and away, as England.
The 1956 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia was the eighteenth tour by New Zealand's national rugby league team, and the thirteenth tour to visit Australia. The fifteen-match tour included three Test Matches.
The touring team began with a pair of wins but then lost the next two, against Newcastle and the First Test in Sydney. Five strong performances in Queensland followed, with wins by wide margins in high-scoring matches. In contrast, the Second Test was a low-scoring match, Australia winning 8 to 2 to secure their first Trans-Tasman series win since 1935. New Zealand lost the Third Test, and thus the series three-nil, and also the two tour matches that followed.