Women's rugby league numbers are continuing to grow in Canberra, and with an NRLW bid locked-in for 2023, the code's managing body wants to build on the momentum to make the region a hub and create a pathway to keep talent in the area.
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Canberra Region Rugby League is planning to expand its female competitions and junior pathways in 2022 to go hand-in-hand with the NRLW bid, dip into the southern NSW area talent pool and build a hub for talent in the region, with details expected to be announced on Monday.
It follows an almost doubling of participation numbers in the ACT in the last four years and 1150 female players taking to the field this season.
CRRL general manager Mark Vergano said female participation comprised about 20 per cent of the code's 5800-strong playing pool in 2021.
"That's important, obviously, to the bona fide ease of the growth in the area to help support any NRLW bid or increasing the participation in the Katrina Fanning Shield," he said.
"Women's rugby league is front and centre. And it's expanding."
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Pathways for female players in the region in recent years have been limited to playing in one of the seven Katrina Fanning Shield sides, the Country Championships or the Raiders' Tarsha Gale Cup side for under-19 players. Beyond that, players wanting to play at a higher level in the NSWRL Premiership or NRLW have to move away.
Although participation numbers were growing, there swa not a clear pathway to the NRLW in the ACT. Vergano said the Raiders' NRLW bid and expanded competitions in the region would help create that pathway for young players.
"We have great local people that aren't playing here at the moment, people like Kezie Apps, Millie Boyle and Tess Staines who come from this region," he said.
"They're the sort of people that can be related to by young female rugby league players but we don't want them leaving the area to go elsewhere."
Raiders chief executive Don Furner in April confirmed the club would begin to put a team together in 2022, with the view to being part of an expanded competition the following year.
The ACT government was on board with the 2023 bid, which was likely to cost between $600,000 to $700,000 for a Canberra NRLW side.
With two NRLW competitions, a World Cup and a State of Origin Series on the cards in 2022, Vergano said the game would promote itself ahead of the bid and likely attract even more players to the code.
"There's more opportunities now for girls and women to see what they can be," he said.
"[The expansion will] be huge for women and girls across the region ... and the CRRL, to become an important hub for women's rugby league in southern NSW."
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