Brahmans U10s to play half-time at Qld Reds women’s game at Ballymore

Twenty juniors are bound for Ballymore this weekend as part of an innovative program designed to get more girls into rugby union. Find out what they’ll be doing there.

Rockhampton junior Fallon Cowan with Olympic Women's Rugby 7s Australian gold medalist Shannon Parry.

Fallon Cowan is eagerly counting down the days before she takes her place on the hallowed turf of Brisbane’s Ballymore Stadium.

She is one of 20 Rockhampton under-10 girls who will play in the half-time break of a pre-season trial between the Queensland Reds women and Penina Pasifika on Saturday afternoon.

The local contingent will be broken into two teams, playing as the Brahmans in 10-a-side games against Brisbane opposition.

Fallon’s mum Toni Cowan is one of the coach/managers who will make the trip to the capital for the event, the first of its kind.

It was born from Rookies2Reds which runs under the umbrella of the Girls Can Tackle Anything program, jointly funded by the Queensland Rugby Union and Rugby Australia.

The program is designed to help young girls develop their skills and knowledge of the game as they progress into the competitive junior age groups on offer.

Ashlee Knight worked with the local players, including Abigail Stenhouse, at one of their weekly training sessions.

Toni said the 20 players came together for three Friday night sessions in preparation for the Brisbane trip, and at one of those got to work with QRU female project manager and former Reds’ player Ashlee Knight.

“Fallon and the girls are so excited,” she said, “first of all to have the chance to run onto Ballymore but also to experience playing alongside and against their peers.

“It’s great how the pathways are aligning for females in the sport, with the QRU investing a lot more resources into programs like Girls Can Tackle Anything.”

QRU Central Queensland regional manager Jack Lloyd said it was a great initiative for girls rugby, which is the fastest growing demographic in the game in the region.

Rockhampton Brothers' Paislee Norton (left) and Colts' Tiffany Walker go through their paces at a Friday afternoon training session.

The players will arrive in Brisbane on Friday, where they will be given a tour of Ballymore’s high-performance training facilities and get to meet the Reds’ team members at a training session.

On Saturday, they will don new playing kits provided by Hollywood Earthmoving for their much-anticipated half-time games.

“Saturday’s games are more about the experience than anything else but it will be a great opportunity for those girls who don’t get to do something like this very often,” he said.

Lloyd said it was decided to involve primarily Rockhampton players and the one age group for the first year simply because of the logistics involved but wants to see it grow to include the whole region and more age groups.

“We’ll do a review after this year’s program, which I think will be a huge success, and see how we can then branch out across Central Queensland,” he said.

“Female junior rugby is probably the strongest area that we have at the moment.

QRU schools and female project officer Ashlee Knight with Toni Cowan, who sits on the Queensland state panel representing Central Queensland for the Girls Can Tackle Anything program.

“We’ve had a lot of uptake over the last couple of years, which has allowed for girls-only under-9 and under-11 competitions, which is a first for regional areas.

“And we’re seeing that growth elsewhere, with Mackay looking to do it as well on the back of some good numbers.”

Toni said Fallon had been playing rugby for two seasons with Rockhampton Brothers, and the all-girls competition was a huge drawcard.

“That is pretty big and it certainly makes it more inviting for girls to get involved in the game,” she said.

Toni represents Central Queensland on the state panel for the Girls Can Tackle Anything program, and said it was exciting to see the progress being made and the holistic approach being taken to foster the growth of female rugby.

“All-girls teams are continuing to grow and, in 2025, our focus is to open another age group of under-7s and create pathway opportunities for our younger players with a goal to, in time, having a girls team/competition in every age group from under-6 through to under-12.”

Originally published as Brahmans U10s to play half-time at Qld Reds women’s game at Ballymore