Canberra's best female junior rugby league players will get a chance to pull on the famous green Raiders jumper next year with the formation of a NSW-based under 18 tournament.
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The Tarsha Gale Cup is a nine-a-side tournament for women and will coincide with the Harold Matthews Cup under 16's and SG Ball Cup under 18's men's seasons from 2017 in the NSW rugby league.
The Raiders' team will be run by the Canberra Region Rugby League and allows young girls a clear pathway to advance their rugby.
In the past, girls had little options to play over the under 12 age bracket and CRRL general manager Mark Vergano said this sent a poor message.
He said it was important for young girls to know they can play rugby league.
"For many years the pathway for women wanting to take the next step in their rugby league journey had been a tough one, but with competitions like this we will hopefully see women from Canberra playing the game they love and aspiring to be the next Jillaroo," Vergano said.
Soccer, netball, cricket, rugby sevens and Australian football have all expanded their opportunities for women this year and Vergano said the formation of this league shows intent from the NRL.
"There's a good dedicated band of people right across rugby league that see this as a huge opportunity and we want to be in the forefront of that and we're determined to have the Raiders brand as associated to female rugby league as it is for male rugby league," Vergano said.
The 2017 Country v City game in Mudgee will have both a men's and women's match up.
"As a female in any sport now you can progress to a terrific level and it's only going to get better, I'm absolutely confident of that," Vergano said.
"We want rugby league to be a part of that future and when the girls do aspire they can aspire to rugby league."
The CRRL will hold an open tryout next Tuesday at Northbourne Oval for any players in the capital and 17-year-olds Zoe Podmore and Alannah Fraser said this is a chance for them to progress their rugby league careers.
"This is an awesome opportunity for women who play rugby league locally and to maybe have the chance to play for the Raiders would be a dream come true," Podmore said.
"It's also great to see the women's game starting to get bigger and bigger and one day hopefully we'll be able to play professionally as well."
