Women in league

Originally published in The Nyngan Weekly

The National Rugby League (NRL) Women in League round is shining the light on the role of women within rugby league in its fifteenth year.

Nyngan Senior Rugby Club life member and secretary, Tara McDermott, has been working at the club for ten years. She says the club wouldn't survive without the efforts of women.

"If women weren't there, our club wouldn't function. It's the wives of the husbands that devote their whole lives to football. Our income comes from the canteen, the BBQ and gates, the majority of that has been run by women. We don't charge for registration or jerseys or anything, if we didn't have them, we wouldn't be able to afford it.”

Ms McDermott first joined the Tigers committee ten years ago, after she was approached by Allister Quarmby. At the time Ms McDermott was one of several women on the committee, but for the past five years she's been alone.

"When I started. Neroli was on the committee at the time, for the last five or six years I've been the only female on the committee.

"Years ago, when I first started, there was a lot of work. we didn't have the numbers and we had twice as much work to do. Now though, our committee is excellent, everyone gets along and there are no dramas. Everyone does their own little bits,” said Ms McDermott.

League tag was introduced across Group 11 in the past five years, bringing a senior women's competition to Nyngan for the first time. Ms McDermott said the change was exciting for the club and has had nothing but positive impact across the club.

"It's something that probably should have happened years ago, people go "oh, it’s football, so it's for boys,” and the girls were always left out.

"We've built such a good club that we don't charge, so it's not an expense and people can come and join and have fun.

"If you had to charge registration fees, we probably wouldn't have the people we have had over the years in the women's team."

Ms McDermott is excited for how well league tag has grown in Nyngan, particularly the growth its experienced in

junior competitions.

“There's a lot of numbers in the junior league tag, it's excellent for us because it's what we've got to look forward to. Years ago, it was 'how are we going to get numbers? and now the juniors have been playing their whole lives and they're working up to senior's level, it's going to be excellent in a few years' time."

Tigers League Tag team captain, Petria Quarmby, is just as excited for the next generation of players coming through.

"As the years go on, we've had a lot of people say how good it is to watch, you can tell that all the girls coming up

that played junior league. If they've played from nine or ten years old, imagine how skilled all the young kids are going to be when they're my age."

Ms Quarmby grew up around the footy club and was just old enough to play for the senior women's team when it first began in 2015.

"I always wanted to play footy, so was pretty excited. We'd heard it was coming for a few years and I was lucky enough to be old enough to play when it finally started."

Since then, Ms Quarmby has missed just one year of tag. She says she is pleased that there are more sporting opportunities for women and girls.

"Women and men are much more equal now days. There's always much more room for improvement but it is good it's starting to go that way where they get the same opportunities as each other. So many other sports are growing to allow women to play which is good too."

This is Ms Ouarmby's first year as captain and she hopes through her role she can help guide younger players.

"It's probably good I'm not really that much older than my teammates. I haven't been doing it for long, but it's good to have a role where people listen to you and learn."

Ms Ouarmby said she is pleased with how the team has progressed over the past five years and enjoys being part of the Nyngan Tigers club as a player.

"I just always grew up around footy and it's such a big thing in the community. It's a social thing, and it's good to be around everyone. Everyone is happy to be there and get around each other. it's just good vibes."

It wasn't always as smooth sailing though, with Tigers president Glen Neill happy to admit he was initially unsure how successful the women's competition would be.

"When the idea was first floated, I was unsure how it'd go, but I think the first 12 months put everyone at ease with it."

Now Mr Neill says the team brings in different supporters to the club that previously weren't involved in the sport and is pleased that tag has brought a new side to rugby league.

"I'm all for it, it's just been great. It really went off well and everyone gets behind tag in the same way we get behind any other side. It's been a huge success."

Group 11 president, Bob Walsh, is equally impressed with the success of tag across local competitions. Women's participation in league across NSW is up 23 per cent, and Mr Walsh said he is pleased to see women are finally getting recognised for the input they have to rugby league.

"In our area, the clubs in the bush could not operate without women's input and participation. Our committees are nearly all run by women, the blokes might be president, but we know who is running the show.”

Mr Walsh said that at all levels, women's participation as players and club volunteers is growing and paramount to leagues continued success.

During the Women in League round, all NRL referees wore jerseys with the names of every female referee in the state, to highlight their impact in ensuring league can be played at all levels in NSW.