NRLW market watch 2022: Parramatta Eels poach AFLW and Carlton Blues star Brooke Walker

The Parramatta Eels have signed an AFLW star for the 2022 NRLW season as the battle for Australia’s best female sporting talent heats up.

Fatima Kdouh

@FatimaKdouh_

5 min read

May 27, 2022 - 4:50PM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

Lauren Brown will switch to the Titans next season. Picture: Lachie Millard

NRLW

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The AFLW’s bumper pay rise was not enough to stop Carlton Blues star Brooke Walker from defecting to the Parramatta Eels to play in what she believes is “the best women’s sport product in Australia”.

Walker had agreed to a two-year deal with the Blues but will now join powerhouse Sydney club the Eels for the upcoming 2022 NRLW season.

“Female sport at the moment is very competitive,” Walker said. “In saying that, I think the NRLW product, in my opinion, was the best-displayed product of female sport in Australia.

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“The skill level, the participation rates are growing in NSW and Queensland and the pathways opening up with Origin and Origin pay … so when the Eels expressed interest in me, I couldn’t say no to that. Carlton were accommodating but, when the stars aligned, I was ready to go.”

Last week, the ALFW announced a new CBA deal which increased the minimum wage of players to just over $47,000 a year, trouncing the $10,000 a season offered by the NRLW.

Brooke Walker has switched from AFLW club Carlton to play for the Eels in the NRLW. Picture: Tony Gough

But not even a 90 per cent pay rise was going to stop Walker from lacing up her boots for the Eels so she could finally live out a childhood dream of playing professional rugby league.

“I honestly didn’t expect it to be such an increase,” Walker said. “I had no idea which way the AFLW were going to go with the CBA but I just knew I wanted the opportunity to play with the Eels more than any sort of dollar amount or increase in the AFLW.

“Playing rugby league was something I dreamt of when I was little.”

The NRLW is in the process of negotiating a landmark CBA deal that should help deliver the game’s female athletes significant pay rises over the next five years. Walker said a rich deal would steal even more ground from the AFLW in terms of female participation.

“It is very important, I think the NRLW playing group should stick tight and almost force the NRL to give them what they want,” Walker said.

“That is what we did in the AFLW and we increased our wage by over 90 per cent. If that happens in NRLW, lots of young females will want to pursue it full-time without the burden of ‘i need to have a full-time job.’

“In NSW and Queensland the potential of switching from AFLW to NRLW is there but in Victoria it will be more difficult because AFL is the number one sport here.”

Walker, 27, first fell in love with rugby league in her hometown of Christchurch in New Zealand and her passion for the sport continued when her family moved to the Gold Coast as a child.

She stopped playing league at age 10 and picked up touch football but by 2013 had made the switch to Rugby Sevens and was part of the women’s squad that won gold at the 2016 Olympics.

Brooke Walker joined the Carlton Blues in 2019. Picture: AAP Image/David Mariuz

The AFLW’s growing professional pathways were too hard to ignore so Walker joined the Blues as rookie in 2019.

But the rise of the NRLW reignited her desire to be a professional rugby league player so Walker decided to play in last year’s state championships for Victoria.

And when the Eels expressed interest in her services, Walker could not refuse the offer to move to Sydney.

A natural ball player, Walker is hoping to lock down a place in coach Dean Widder’s spine when the Eels kick off their season in August.

“I would love to be a ballplayer, that is where I have grown up playing, that’s how I read the game so a six or seven or even a fullback,” Walker said. “In Rugby Sevens I played a little bit of fullback as well. But, if it’s bench or just in the squad, I’d be stoked with that.”

While Walker is planning to make the most of her NRLW opportunity she has not closed the door on a return to the AFLW in the future.

Star hooker joins Broncos exodus

-Erin Smith

The NRLW is in for a big shake-up ahead of the 2022 season with a number of big names switching clubs – a trend Origin star Lauren Brown said was only going to grow.

Brown, a premiership-winning playmaker for the Broncos, has confirmed she is heading down the M1 to join the Titans.

She is the third player to depart the Brisbane club this off-season after Millie Boyle and Tamika Upton signed new deals with the Knights.

The Broncos are on the verge of announcing their first signings for the coming season but the powerhouse is a team under siege having lost three crucial players.

The move south is a homecoming for Brown, who grew up on the Gold Coast and originally played for the Burleigh Bears.

Broncos premiership winner Lauren Brown has signed with the Gold Coast Titans for the 2022 NRLW season. Picture: Nigel Hallett

While the 27-year-old hooker is excited to play for her hometown club, she said leaving the Broncos was not an easy choice.

“I’ve loved the Broncos and they are the ones that gave me my opportunity the last few seasons and we have had some really incredible moments,” Brown said.

“I’ve learned a lot from the Broncs and owe them a lot. It was hard but I’ve always had a soft spot for the Gold Coast.”

The lure of playing closer to home was sweetened by the chance to train under Australian Jillaroos legend Karyn Murphy and a full-time job with the club outside of the season.

Titans have offered Brown a job in the commercial team, which will allow her to put her sports management degree to good use.

“The Titans are really supportive of the girls and what they are doing off the field and just want to support us as much as possible,” she said.

It won’t be the first time Brown has worked with Murphy. She saw first hand her coaching expertise at Maroons camps.

Former Bronco Lauren Brown is excited to link with coach Karyn Murphy at the Titans. Picture: Liam Kidston

“She is the greatest of all time and she is still the best-ever female to play rugby league. It is going to be incredible to learn from her,” she said.

Murphy resigned from her role as head of the NRL’s integrity unit to take over as head coach of the Titans.

Brown was confident many other players would have their ears to the ground looking for the new opportunities at other clubs – especially if the proposed expansion eventuates.

“In the next few seasons there will be a bit of movement as girls are getting offered some really good opportunities which we just haven’t seen before,” Brown said.

“I think it is good for the game and will hopefully strengthen the teams that need it and create a better competition.”