Gemma Etheridge says Super W will have fast growth now competition is there
AS someone who was part of the groundbreaking sevens program that went on to win gold, Gemma Etheridge can see the ingredients for success in Super W.
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WHEN the opportunity to keep working in a sport you love comes up, you take it. Even if you have a four-month-old baby at home.
That’s exactly what former rugby sevens player Gemma Etheridge did when Fox Sports came looking for a retired player to do commentary during the Super W season.
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“I don’t think they realised I had a little baby when they first asked me!” Etheridge said.
“But because it’s only a few games it’s not like there was a big commitment. It’s only for a short period of time. I thought it was too good an opportunity to say no.”
She is already impressed.
In the commentary box as Queensland Women take on the Melbourne Rebels this week, Etheridge can already see the strong base for which the game can grow.
As someone who was part of the groundbreaking sevens program that went on to win gold, she can see the ingredients for success there.
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“I think it’s only going to get better as they play week in, week out. The girls have never had that opportunity where they get to play a game and then work on it for the next week and then play again.
“It’s always just been a four-day tournament and you don’t get time to practice and work on things that were bad the game before.
“I think it will be really good for women’s rugby.”
Usually accustomed to putting the hard yards in on the field, Toowoomba-based Etheridge is now doing so on the road.
Etheridge will make the two-hour drive to Brisbane to cover the Queensland Reds’ home games and is even heading to Melbourne in round five when the Rebels take on the Waratahs.
It’s all worth it, to see the XVs game start down a path the Sevens program pioneered in 2012.
“I think when we first started and we were spoken about being the pioneers of professional sport,” she said.
“I didn’t think it would happen so quickly that every sport now has a semi-professional/professional women’s comp.
“In the next couple of years it’s only going to get bigger.”
Fox Sports will show every Super W game, including Queensland Women v Melbourne Rebels Women LIVE at 2.30pm (EDT) on Sunday