Women’s State of Origin: Greg Alexander hails the passion and commitment of female rugby league players

THEY are all semi-professional footballers, putting their bodies on the line purely because of their passion. No wonder then, for Greg Alexander, women’s rugby league is a throwback to the good old days.

Blues stars Kezie Apps and Talisha Quinn. (Tim Pascoe)

FOR Greg Alexander, women’s rugby league is a throwback to the good old days.

The days of semi-professional footballers who put their bodies on the line purely for the love of the sport.

“It’s something they love doing. It’s a throw back to the days where rugby league was semi-professional and players had jobs. You know they out there for no other reason than they love it,” he said.

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Blues stars Kezie Apps and Talisha Quinn. (Tim Pascoe)

Blues coach Brad Fittler has experienced the passion and commitment of the players in the NRL’s new Women’s Premiership first hand.

“When I watch women, and I talk to them about rugby league you can see it in their eyes that they love the game,” he said.

“You see it when they play … it’s all instinct, there are no agendas, they just want to play and they just want to win.”

.@tariq_sims says the entire @NSWRL Blues side will be turning out in full force to support their female teammates when they take on @QLDmaroons in the women's #origin on Friday night at North Sydney Oval. Tickets are just $10. @WRugbyLeague @nrl #nrl #OurWay

— Jen Browning (@jen_browning) June 20, 2018

The Blues duo will be on hand on Friday night to throw their support behind the women’s New South Wales side when they take on Queensland at North Sydney Oval.

Alexander says the stand-alone fixture is the perfect opportunity to build on the groundswell of support for the women’s game.

“Hopefully plenty of people will get out and watch. They’ll be plenty of rugby league fans looking for their fix on a Friday night and being the only game they should get a good turn out,” he said.

Friday should be a huge day for the women’s game. (Matt King/Getty Images)

Fittler says the decision to broadcast Friday night’s game live and on free-to-air is a testament to how far the game as come in a short space of time.

“The players really feel it, they can feel the change and like there are really big things coming along. It’s really great. The big thing is listening to them talk about it and what it means to them,” he said.

Blues adviser Alexander say the opportunity for women to have a genuine career path to play professionally has been long overdue.

“We’ve seen other sports where women have been able to have careers from the sports they play. There’s no reason why the league girls shouldn’t be able to do the same. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to earn money for playing rugby league.”

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Originally published as Women’s State of Origin: Greg Alexander hails the passion and commitment of female rugby league players