People often ask me about how I can tell women’s footy is growing in a meaningful way. I feel it a lot when I’m out in public. Back when I was starting my rugby sevens career and we were out and about as a team wearing our green-and-gold uniforms, strangers would approach us and ask what sport we played. They generally assumed it was netball or volleyball or waterpolo. When we told them we played rugby, they were surprised and said we didn’t look like rugby players.
That really highlighted for me the image around what a female rugby or rugby league player looks like, and the narrative that women don’t play contact sport. Over the years I have witnessed a gradual change in that narrative, a removal of that stigma. And not just in the eyes of strangers, either. In rugby league – the code I play now – we are well looked after, with administration support, excellent facilities and coaching staff and deserving broadcast exposure.
