‘The sky’s the limit’: Groundwork laid to ensure women will one day coach in the NRL

The Eels are leading the way in the female coaching space and it may not be too long until a woman is coaching in the NRL.

Kate Mullaly will work closely with Dean Widders to help the Eels win an NRLW title. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Eels NRLW assistant coach Kate Mullaly says “the sky's the limit” for female coaches as Parramatta prepares to head into 2023 with two full-time female staff in the women’s program for the first time since it entered the competition.

Mullaly will take on the role of female coaching and development manager, while Kate Parkinson has been appointed NRLW operations and development manager to help establish a clear pathway for local juniors.

Eels staff Kate Mullaly and Kate Parkinson on NRLW grand final day.

It caps a hectic few years for Mullaly, who stopped playing in 2019 and only took up coaching in 2020 with the Sharks in the Tarsha Gale Cup.

She has since enjoyed roles as the NSW City under-19s head coach, worked as an Origin under-19s assistant and graduated to the Sky Blues program this year where she worked with Kylie Hilder and Ruan Sims.

Perhaps her greatest achievement was being appointed assistant coach for the Jillaroos at this year’s World Cup, even if coach Brad Donald caught her a little off guard with a phone call she never saw coming.

“It was the day after our NRLW grand final, so I’d just jumped into bed after the fan day,” Mullaly told the NCA NewsWire.

“I was on Instagram and I saw the team announcement, so I messaged Brad about how good the team was.

“Five minutes later he was ringing me and I had no idea why, but then he threw a spanner in the works and told me that Karyn Murphy had to pull out because of work commitments with the Titans so he asked if I wanted to be an assistant at the World Cup.

“I had to speak to my partner because it was a massive commitment to leave home with 10 days’ notice, but he was supportive so I was on a plane less than two weeks later.”

Mullaly only recently took up coaching after a decorated playing career. Picture: Brett Costello

Mullaly was the attack coach for Australia as they blitzed the rest of the field to win the World Cup, and she’ll again play a key role for the Eels next year as they look to go one better after they made the NRLW grand final back in October.

“I naturally drifted towards coaching,” she said.

“I felt towards the back-end of my playing career that I was happy to finish playing and I was drawn to be a coach. I felt like I could coach others better than I could physically play the game.”

While female coaching representation isn’t where it should be, it’s definitely improving, with Sims set to be an assistant when the Sharks join the NRLW next year.

It’s why Raiders legend Laurie Daley recently said that he could see a woman coaching in the NRL in the next decade, and Mullaly says it’s on the cards if women are given an opportunity in key roles.

Kylie Hilder has done great things with NSW. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“The sky's the limit,” she said.

“It’s catching fire at the moment. The fact that Ruan Sims, Kylie Hilder and I all did Origin this year really kicked things off because it showed that three females could do it.

“If we can get ourselves to a position where we’re the right person for the role, then that can definitely happen. But I think the difference with female coaches is that I was just given a chance potentially before I was ready for a few of the roles.

“No matter who is coaching – male or female – you have to have an ability to be able to learn and adapt. I think that’s what was good for me because I was willing to learn.

“That’s what’s going to be important going forward because anyone can end up anywhere if people are open to it.

“I don’t know where I’ll end up, but if I get to the point where I’m the right person for a role in the female or male space, then happy days.

“That’s the difference now where females are getting opportunities to be around footy a lot more, which exposes us to environments where we can learn.

“Brad could have called anyone for the role with the Jillaroos, but he wanted to give me that opportunity, and it’s the same thing with Parramatta.”

Originally published as ‘The sky’s the limit’: Groundwork laid to ensure women will one day coach in the NRL