Of the 12 NRLW teams in the competition this year, only one has a female head coach – the Titans’ Karyn Murphy.
Add in representative teams, and that number bumps up to three, with Tahnee Norris coaching the Maroons and Jess Skinner being appointed to the Jillaroos top job in January.
But ask the players where that number will be in five to 10 years, and they believe that not only will the NRLW be full of female coaches, but hopefully the NRL will be too.
Blues hooker Keeley Davis coaches the Roosters under-19s team in the Tarsha Gale Cup.Credit: Peter Rae
“There’ll be a big influx,” Blues hooker Keeley Davis said. “A lot of girls are really passionate about it, even in this [NSW] squad right now.”
Davis is the head coach of the Roosters team in the Tarsha Gale Cup, the women’s under-19s competition in NSW. Blues winger Jayme Fressard coaches the Roosters under-17s team in the Lisa Fiaola Cup, while NSW captain Isabelle Kelly, vice-captain Tiana Penitani Gray and Jocelyn Kelleher also coach teams in junior competitions and high schools.
For Davis and Fressard, it was NSW and Roosters coach John Strange who first gave them the push to get into coaching.
“The younger girls look up to the NRLW players – it would be like Harold Matthews guys [under-17s] getting taught by [Roosters captain] James Tedesco,” Strange said.
“And also, it’s important for me to mentor as many younger coaches, future coaches as possible, and I think Jayme Fressard, Keeley Davis, Jocelyn Kelleher, Isabelle Kelly and Corban Baxter, I think they’ve got a future in the game.
“So for me, it’s really important for them while they’re still playing, to get those skills now and develop that understanding of how to coach, so that when they retire, they can hopefully transition straight from playing into coaching, and not have to go away and learn the ins and outs of being a coach.”
John Strange and his game two women’s State of Origin team.Credit: Peter Rae
It is not so much a lack of enthusiasm to take on the challenge that has prevented women from pursuing coaching careers, more a lack of opportunity.
But the experience gap is starting to close, says Davis, with women’s rugby league now thriving.
“It’s just a time thing,” she said. “It’s not something that you can just pick up and do after three years – it’s probably 20 years in that space when you’re looking at a head coaching role, and there’s not been 20 years of consistent, solid club level footy for girls.
“That’s the reality of it, but now there’s been 10 years [of that], so that experience is definitely coming.”
The NRLW is entering its eighth year, and the prospect of full-time contracts for players is drawing nearer with the addition of two more teams – the Bulldogs and Warriors – in 2025.
With players such as Davis, Penitani Gray and Kelly playing in the NRLW, state team and for Australia, rugby league is already close to being a full-time career for many players, and they will form the next generation of coaches, Strange believes.
“The players that are playing now – and not just the girls that I coach at the Roosters, all the NRLW girls – now are getting coached to high standards,” Strange said.
“So when they finish playing, the ones that have a passion for coaching, they’ll have the knowledge and understanding that they’re getting now through playing, and I think there will be a large amount of players over the next five years that come out of their careers as players and roll straight into coaching.”
Jayme Fressard credits her work as a coach for her success on the field in the past two years.Credit: Peter Rae
Fressard has now been mentored by Strange at state and club level, and says he helped guide her into her coaching role. She credits her coaching as the reason she has had such a successful couple of years, with an NRLW premiership with the Roosters and an Origin debut.
“Being an outside back, you don’t learn a whole lot of stuff about the middles and how they run lines or what their jobs are, but as a coach, you’ve got to know every single person’s role,” Fressard said.
“You’ve got to know the game plan, you’ve got to know how to execute it … For me now, I honestly feel like if Strangey needed me to go in a position I’d be able to cover it, just for the fact that I understand the role and I understand what needs to be done. I honestly think it’s a massive contributor to how I’ve performed over the last two years because I know what I need to do for the team and what my role is.”
And hopefully, if Fressard decides to pursue coaching full-time when she hangs up the boots, women will have cracked coaching in the NRL, too.
“I think it should just be whoever is best for the job, whether that’s male or female,” Fressard said.
“Obviously, we’ve still got a fair bit to go with coaching in the female space … but definitely in 10, 20, 30 years, I definitely think if someone’s good enough for the job, whether you’re male or female, that you should have the opportunity to coach in either space.”
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