The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) will consider changing the name of the women's Player of the Year medal for women from the "Dally M" to the "Maggie M" in recognition of one of rugby league's all but forgotten female pioneers.
The Ticket can confirm any change will not impact this year's awards ceremony, due to take place at Randwick Racecourse on Wednesday, September 28.
Currently, both male and female Players of the Year are rewarded with a medal named in honour of one of the game's great male players: Herbert Henry 'Dally' Messenger. He played in the early 1900s when the league split from rugby union to become a professional code.
In 1921, in what was believed to be the first publicly contested game of rugby league for women, 15-year-old Redfern player Maggie Moloney thrilled the 30,000 paying spectators by scoring four tries in the match.
Moloney became one of the biggest news stories of the year for her efforts and was dubbed the 'female Dally M'. The legend of the men's game was part of the crowd that day.
This weekend, a large mural of Moloney, by street artist Sharon Billinge, has been unveiled in the Redfern street where she honed her skills playing with neighbourhood children and her brother Bryan, who went on to play for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Redfern Rugby League historian Katherine Haines has been trawling through the records to uncover the forgotten story of the pioneering women who had the backing of the men at NSW Rugby League HQ when they originally proposed a women's competition.
Before kick-off, though, in the match that shot Moloney into the media spotlight, the NSWRL administrators withdrew their support and threatened to ban any registered male players who turned up to lend their support.
It was 'Dally' Messenger who defied the ban, taking the opportunity at half-time in the women's match to launch a rugby league ball bearing his own name.
Ahead of this weekend's activities around the unveiling of the Moloney mural, ABC Sport asked the NRL whether it would consider changing the Dally M medal for women to the "Maggie M" medal.
In response, it provided this short statement:
"Maggie Moloney was a pioneer of women's rugby league and her story will always have an indelible place in the history of the game in Australia.
"Any potential future decision to rename any award is a matter for consideration by the Australian Rugby League Commission."
The Ticket has since learned a possible name change has been added as an agenda item for the ARLC's next meeting scheduled to coincide with the NRL and NRLW Grand Finals, which will be played on Sunday, October 2.
Moloney's granddaughter, Karen Heard, said her grandmother maintained her love of the game throughout her life, never missing a Rabbitohs game.
"She absolutely loved rugby league, and absolutely loved Souths, the Rabbitohs," Heard said.
"I can still remember the times… she'd be in the lounge room, and I have to say there was always a little drink beside her, a little ale, and maybe a cigarette as well.
"They are the things that have given us such a good feeling about the woman she was."
Heard says her grandmother was humble but strong, with a resilient streak that she passed on to her five grandchildren. She says Moloney would love the NRLW competition, now in its fifth season.
"She would love it. She would be surprised because 100 years ago, it was on the paddock.
"There's a lot of politics in it and there was a lot of politics a hundred years ago, so she would acknowledge that and probably say nothing's changed.
"But [she'd be] very proud that women were being respected and are in the game."
Heard was asked to channel her grandmother and imagine how she might respond if she'd been told that, one day, the player's best and fairest medal might carry her name.
"'Really? Is that necessary? We've got one – the Dally M, do we need a Maggie M?' – and we would then be pushing her to have a Maggie M," Heard laughed.
"She'd be saying, 'what is all this? It's a game', but she loved it, she would love it."
The home and away season comes to and end for NRLW teams this weekend. It could be the last time the female player of the year wins an award bearing the name of a male champion.
