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.
History 1920s 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. The crowd of 34,000 was the largest ever for women's sport in Australia for many years. 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. Date Team 1 Score Team 2 Venue References 17 Sep 1921 Metropolitan 21 11 Sydney Agricultural Ground Sun DT 24 Sep 1921 Metropolitan 3 9 Sydney Agricultural Ground Sun 17 Apr 1922 Metropolitan 10 25 Sydney National Park, Newcastle NS 7 Aug 1922 Metropolitan 13 0 Sydney Newcastle Sports Ground NMH 2 Oct 1922 Metropolitan 11 11 Sydney Sydney Sports Ground DT Sun
1950s In September 1950 a women's rugby league game was played in Toowoomba, Queensland in support of fund raising efforts for a candidate as queen of the Carnival of Flowers festival. A Toowoomba team defeated a team from Warwick by 16 points to nil, scoring four tries kicking two conversions.
In June 1951 two women's teams played a rugby league match in West Wyalong, New South Wales as part of a weekend sports carnival to raise funds for the local hospital. In September 1951 a game was played in Longreach, Queensland which raised £21 for charity as the Red Gnomes defeated the Blue Fairies by four tries to two for a twelve points to six scoreline.
In August 1954 two women's teams played a 24 minute match as part of a programme of charity cup rugby league games in Rockhampton. The Blues defeated the Greens by five to nil, with the day raising £227 for the local ambulance.
On 22 July 1956 an interstate women's rugby league match was held on the Athletic Ground in St Marys, New South Wales between the Belles of St. Mary's and the Queensland Bonfires. The match was in part refereed by Clive Churchill. The Queensland side won by 22 points to 3. The St. Mary's team had played and won three games prior to this interstate match, including a match against the Riverstone Rubies.
1970s In the mid-1970s Women's Rugby League teams were organised in Perth, including South Perth and Cottesloe.
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.
1990s 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. 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. In the final of the 1994 tournament, Picton defected Bulli.
Competition rules for the 1995 Sydney Women's Rugby League season had modifications to team size. On-field teams were between seven (minimum) and ten (maximum) players, with the number for a match being determined by the availability of players on the day. Including players starting on the bench, teams were limited to fourteen players. The number of interchanges been on-field and bench was unlimited. Scrums were three players per team in a front row formation. Game time was two thirty minute halves.
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.
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. Great Britain, however, won the Second Test in Brisbane and the Third Test at Redfern Oval in Sydney to claim a series victory.
The Australian national team toured New Zealand in 1997 (both matches lost) and Fiji in 1998 (both matches won). 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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
2000s 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.
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.
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.
2010s 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 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.
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.
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.
On 14 May 2017 the first Women's City vs Country Origin game was played.
National Championships 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 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 1993 East Canberra 24 0 Northern Districts Illawarra 25 Jul 1993 O'Connor Oval 1994 Picton 32 0 Bulli Eagles 12 Jun 1994 Kippax Oval, Canberra 1995 Illawarra 26 0 Canberra 11 Jun 1995 Hunter, Riverina, Sydney 1996 Sydney 1997 Illawarra 12 10 Brisbane 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, ? 2001 Queensland 12 6 NSW Rooty Hill RSL ACT, Australian Under 23's 2002 Queensland A 32 10 NSW Ipswich 2003 Queensland Whites 20 12 Queensland Maroons West Belconnen; Canberra ACT, NSW 2004 Not held 2005 South East Queensland Queensland Barbarians Runaway Bay; Gold Coast NSW City; NSW Country 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 2008 South East Queensland 14 4 Sydney City Sydney NSW Country, North Queensland, Barbarians 2009 Brisbane NSW City Runaway Bay; Gold Coast NSW Residents; North Queensland North; North Queensland South 2010 to 2017. Unknown. In some years only State Championships were held. 2018 NSW Country 16 12 NSW City 3 Jun 2018 Owen Park ; Combined Affiliated States; Qld City; Qld Country 2019 NSW City 34 4 NSW Country 2 Jun 2019 Pizzey Park, Gold Coast ; Combined Affiliated States; SEQ; Qld Country 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 ; NT; SA; Victoria 2022 NSW Country 24 0 Western Australia 12 Jun 2022 Pizzey Park, Gold Coast ; First Nation's Gems; NT; Victoria For the 2022 National Championships, a four-team Under 19 tournament was run in addition to the six-team open age tournament. Queensland Rubys (10) defeated NSW City (4) in the final. The other Under 19 teams were NSW Country and the Queensland Sapphires.
2023 and 2024 Tournaments