Kezie Apps, Sam Bremner and Talesha Quinn sign with Dragons
NRL Women’s is officially underway with the Dragons announcing their first batch of signings for the inaugural season.
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DRAGONS have made history with the first women’s signings for the NRL Premiership.
St George Illawarra yesterday announced local players Kezie Apps, Sam Bremner and Talesha Quinn as the first three players on their roster, with more expected in the coming weeks.
There are 60 players in an elite playing group who can be signed during the marquee window, which runs for a couple of weeks before the free agent window opens.
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Apps, who has been an ambassador for the Dragons for more than a year, said she hoped they are just the start of some big names joining the club.
“It’s finally happening and it’s a bit surreal at the moment, as it has been in the last few months when it’s all been announced,” she said.
“We’ve got three signed now so hopefully it’ll inspire other girls to come across and play for the Dragons.
“And if not this year, all we really want is to inspire that next generation to come up and hopefully know that we all come from the local Illawarra area … Hopefully it will inspire girls to stay down here, to keep working hard and hopefully one day they can play for the Dragons.”
All three players are coming off a successful weekend at the National Championship.
Apps and Bremner played for NSW Country who finished champions — Bremner player of the tournament — while Quinn played with Australian Defence Force for the first time.
But both Quinn and Apps missed the final day because of injury concerns, as did a number of other players with a gruelling schedule of three games over three days.
Quinn said it was a tough weekend on the body but all the players were happy to do it to progress the women’s game.
“I think all the girls love it to be honest. Yes it is tough on our bodies and we’re not used to playing footy as much as what we are this year but it’s what we’re going to have to do if we’re going to have an NRL competition at the end of the year,” she said.
“It’s going to build and it’s going to be a full-time thing.
“We’ve just got to manage ourselves the best we can to be able to play good footy.
“I don’t think the girls would ever sit back and say we’re not going to play footy. For me, footy is my life. I’ll play every day if I had to.
“I think it’s just something we have to deal with if we do want to make it to the top and eventually become professional athletes.”
Quinn was approached by three clubs for the NRL season, which will kick off in September, but was drawn back to the area where she started her football.
Players will be released to clubs at the end of the local season, around the start of August, and Quinn will relocate to Wollongong for duration of the competition.
“I was contacted by Roosters and Broncos. It was a very good, tough position to be in I can’t really complain about having three clubs contact me,” she said.
“For me, I started my football career back here in 2011 playing with Berkeley Eagles so I think it’s only fitting I come back here and represent the Illawarra.”