Newcastle Knights want women’s rugby league team in NRLW by 2022
Newcastle Knights boss Phil Gardner says women will — and must — play a major role in rugby league and the sooner the better. And this is why.
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Newcastle Knights boss Phil Gardner says the sooner the Knights have a NRLW women’s team and the quicker the NRL has its first female coach and more female referees the better for the sport.
Gardner, dealing with the fallout surrounding the departure of Knights coach Nathan Brown this week, is predicting these days will come sooner rather than later — potentially 2022 for a Knights team in the NRLW.
The Newcastle CEO also says female players, fans, coaches, administrators and support staff can help save and grow the game, with their presence and increased participation good for behaviour.
A number of NRL players have been stood down from playing this year due to off-field incidents.
The NRL is bringing in a new code that addresses off-field behaviour and the penalties they will incur if they break the rules.
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Certainly in the future you will see the NRL will have female head coaches. That will be a real turning point in our game
“We think NRLW is vital to the future of the game — we can’t alienate half the people on the planet — and it’s very important to us to have a license. To that end we have told Todd Greenberg (NRL CEO) that we will take a licence for 2022,’’ Gardner said of plans to have a Knights team up and running for the 2022 Holden women’s premiership.
“He knows of our interest and is working towards that.’’
Currently only four clubs are preparing for season two of the NRLW in the St George Illawarra Dragons, the Sydney Rosters, Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors.
“It is really important for us to get more women into the game. The issues the game is having in relationship to behaviour can be substantially improved if we have more women’s leadership positions in our football clubs,’’ Gardner said.
A lot of the events that have happened in rugby league have certainly turned a lot of women off our game
“And if we can eventually have women as head coaches of our football teams you will see completely different behaviour I believe long term.
“A lot of the events that have happened in rugby league have certainly turned a lot of women off our game.
“We need to learn from that. We need to engage with women.
“That’s why the women’s league is important. That’s why it’s important to have women leaders.
“So we need to get more women, we need to train, we need to look after them and it needs to be an environment in which they are supported and respected.’’
Gardner said the Knights would use the existing Tarsha Gale Cup competition as a pathway for NRLW players with currently players likely to be the “bedrock of the team”.
“We don’t want it to be like the Travelling Wilbury’s where you bring the girls in from all from all over the place. We would rather have them from our region, coming through our pathway, into our system,’’ he said.
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“That’s what the local women want. They want ownership of this side.
“We are looking at a head coach, we are looking at men and women. When we look at a head coach we are not ruling out women.
“Certainly in the future you will see the NRL will have female head coaches. That will be a real turning point in our game.’’
Gardner believed a role as a NRLW coach could be a stepping stone for the first woman NRL coach.
“By (20) 22 I am hoping we will have a female head coach of the (Knights) women’s team. I think that is a stepping stone into them aspiring to be the head coach of an NRL side,’’ he said.
A number of Newcastle players have signed with the Roosters and Dragons this year, including Bec Young (Roosters) and Holli Wheeleer (Dragons).
The Roosters are also being coached by Newcastle CRL coach Rick Stone with the 2019 NRLW competition running alongside the men’s NRL finals series.
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