Julia Robinson has quickly compiled a resume that has her among rugby league’s leading wingers.
But her historic six-try heroics in the Jillaroos’ 84-0 thrashing of the Papua New Guinea Orchids in Brisbane has exposed glaring flaws in the women’s international game that need to be addressed if it is to be a genuine global product.
Robinson carried her Dally M Winger of the Year form for the Broncos into the Test arena, with fellow flyer Jakiya Whitfield scoring five tries herself, to surpass and equal Sam Bremner’s try-scoring record respectively.
“When you think Jillaroo you think Julia Robinson,” Australia coach Brad Donald said.
“She always has the highest standards on and off the field. If anybody looked at the NRLW and said who’s the best winger in the game, it’s certainly her.”
But for all the history inscribed, the disparity between the two sides was obvious, begging whether the Pacific Championships format – and the international game – needed a rethink.
In six women’s World Cups, only Australia and New Zealand have triumphed and have battled in the final all but once – the first instalment in 2000 when the Kiwis defeated Great Britain.
While a Papua New Guinea franchise is favoured to feature in the NRL’s expansion plans, Orchids coach Tahnee Norris declared an NRLW outfit needed to be created if the women’s game was to become a viable global product.
However, the Queensland rugby league pioneer did not believe throwing her side into the Jillaroos furnace was a wasted exercise.
“These girls need to know how hard it is and what the level and the standards are that they need to be at to actually play at this level,” Norris said.
“We’ve got three NRLW players that took the field, and for them to make it at that next level they’ve got to keep playing really good footy. It’s a tough game, it’s a tough ask against the No.1 side, but the girls kept fighting.
Elsie Albert from the Parramatta Eels was one of three NRLW players for the Papua New Guinea Orchid, joined by Essay Banu and Sareka Mooka.Credit: NRL Photos
“The PNG bid itself is putting a lot of work into their academy programs to set that up. Whether it’s 2028 for when that’s announced I don’t know, but if that’s the case, there four years to develop the girls game and hopefully be at the standard they need to be for NRLW.”
The Orchids showed early signs of resilience, coming up with some clutch defence inside the opening 10 minutes, before the lopsidedness became clear.
Donald admitted it was “bittersweet” to put such a scoreline on the side’s “sisters”, after working with the PNG programs since 2017.
But he was confident they were “just waiting to rise”.
“We’ve seen the emergence of their schoolgirls team, who only lost 14-4 to our schoolgirls team, so there’s a new generation of players coming through our emerging nations who are really going to put those places on the map in the next couple of years,” Donald said.
“As we grow domestic leagues in PNG and Fiji and other places, some of those better players will come to the NRLW, and at the end of the year, we’re going to light it up with this international game.”
