CCRL: Berkeley Vale take on The Entrance in historic women’s tackle grand final

One local rugby league stalwart has shed tears of joy as Berkeley Vale and The Entrance prepare to create history this weekend.

The Berkeley Vale and The Entrance women's tackle rugby league teams, playing in the 2023 Central Coast Rugby League competition. Picture: supplied

History will be made this Sunday when Berkeley Vale and The Entrance meet in the inaugural Central Coast Rugby League women’s tackle grand final at Woy Woy Oval.

The two teams will fight it out to be crowned the first-ever premiers in what has been a hugely successful debut season.

And while grand finals are always big occasions, for some of the players involved, it is bound to be an emotional affair.

“Honestly, I get goosebumps thinking about it,” said The Entrance’s Mel Sutton. “I’ve been brought to tears thinking about it.”

Sutton has good reason to feel invested in the competition. A veteran footballer who has represented NSW Country over a long and illustrious career, the Tigers player has perhaps more than anyone else played a key role in the growth of women’s tackle league on the Central Coast over the past decade.

Sutton will run out for The Entrance Tigers in the inaugural women’s tackle final. Picture: The Entrance RLFC

Playing in Sydney-based competitions about a decade ago, Sutton and teammate Ash McKenzie took it upon themselves to help set up the first-ever women’s tackle team in the region.

“I’ve played in Sydney in what is now called the Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership, we created a team at Maitland and were travelling to play in that same competition,” she said.

“Basically I was sick of travelling, I was a single mum with young kids, so I got together with Ash and we approached Central Coast Rugby League and created the team at Berkeley Vale.”

The team turned out to be a massive hit, with the Panthers side recording plenty of success in both Sydney- and Newcastle-based competitions.

But perhaps their biggest victory was inspiring the swathes of other women to take up the game, with the original Berkeley Vale team seen as a driver for the establishment of the current competition, which kicked off this season with an impressive seven teams.

“Captaining the Berkeley Vale team, playing in all the competitions and winning a number of grand finals has been special, and seeing this one team and watching the interest grow is amazing,” said Sutton.

“We were one team for about five or six years and now we have a whole Central Coast competition.”

Sutton, pictured playing for Berkeley Vale in a Sydney-based competition, has played a key role in the development of women’s rugby league on the Coast.

Despite being such a pivotal figure in the growth of the game over the past decade, Sutton was unsure if she would strap the boots on in this historic 2023 season and needed her arm to be twisted by The Entrance coach Mark Jurd before jumping on board.

“With Covid, and then I fell pregnant, I was in two minds about playing, but between him (Jurd), my partner and a few others at The Entrance, they said ‘You can’t stop now, you’ve got to keep going.’

“I even had my sons encouraging me to keep going, saying ‘You can’t retire yet, you’re still smashing it out there.’ As my partner said, ‘You created this, you created this Central Coast competition – you have to play.’ And I’m loving it, I’m glad I did play. Watching all this new young talent come through is awesome.”

As much as it has been an incredible season, as someone with such a long and successful history with Berkeley Vale, it has been a slightly strange experience for Sutton donning the orange and black.

“There are mixed emotions,” she said. “I wanted to be a part of that (Berkeley Vale) team, being the first one on the Coast, but I also wanted to grow the competition, and when The Entrance put their hand out for help I went for it.

“Berkeley Vale have got some experience in there, and looking at our team, there’s probably only two or three of us who have played women’s rugby league for a number of years now.”

Berkeley Vale claimed the inaugural women’s tackle minor premiership. Picture: supplied

Indeed, the Tigers are likely to go into Sunday’s grand final as slight underdogs against the Panthers, described by club officials as the “original gangsters” of women’s tackle league on the Coast.

With the bulk of the team having played together in the Newcastle competition for a number of years, Berkeley Vale has benefited from having a more experienced team and went on to take out the minor premiership.

And even though many in the team have played tackle league in seasons past, the fact that they are now competing at home makes it even more special.

“I’m super excited to be in the grand final here on the Coast, especially because Berkeley Vale have been playing in Newcastle for so many years,” said Panthers captain Madeline Watson, who has been with the Panthers for the past five years.

“Playing on the Coast was a massive thing at the start of this year, making the grand final is amazing and it’ll be good to show the local community all of our skills.”

With seven teams competing, the women's tackle competition has been a huge success. Photo: Nick Friend

Indeed, those involved in the game have been blown away by the interest shown in women’s tackle league, with the establishment of seven teams surpassing the expectations of most people in the competition’s inaugural season.

“Having seven teams was absolutely amazing,” said Watson.

“Our team has a range of mixed abilities but we do have a handful of girls who have been playing for a few years, which is a great start for us.

“But we’ve also got a bunch of new girls who’ve never played before, or come over from touch or union. So it’s been great to combine the mixed abilities and we’ve had a great season so far.”

And while all grand finals are highly sought after, there is no doubt the allure of being inaugural champions looms large for both sides.

“We did speak about it at the beginning of the year and we spoke about it after we won our semi-final,” said Watson.

“It’s been quite a focus at training, we really want to be the first on the trophy for the girls, so it has been a major focus around our training and our culture over these past few weeks.”

It’s a sentiment shared by Mark Jurd, the coach of The Entrance side.

“At our first game when we played Woy Woy at the start of the year I said to the girls that it’s going to be a long, hard year but we’re just trying to build something that’s really special,” he said.

“We’re going to be able to write some history here and it’ll be here forever if we can go out and win the competition. It’s a very special moment for women’s rugby league.”

Terrigal and Erina also joined the competition this season. Photo: Jodie Ward.

And while plenty of players, coaches and supporters alike will be desperate to etch their names into the history books, Sutton says the fact that there is even a grand final on the Coast feels like her biggest achievement in what has been a glorious career.

“To be honest, it already feels like a win. When I think, ‘Hang on, we only had one team 10 years ago and now we have a whole competition on the Coast,’ it gives me goosebumps,” she said.

“A win would just be the icing on the cake. But seeing Berkeley Vale in there as well, with them being the original team, is special. It’s just about the growth of the sport that I love playing. Not only do we have a women’s competition, but there’s 17s and 15s and 13s girls as well, and the numbers in the age groups under 12 are also growing.”

She added: “It’s awesome to see that two women have gone, ‘There are a few Coast girls who have shown an interest, so instead of travelling, why don’t we bring them all together?’ And it’s just grown. We never envisaged this to happen so soon, but it’s awesome.”