Inspired by the fact women are featuring in the Rugby League World Cup alongside the men for the first time ever, I compiled a list of the ten most influential women in rugby league.
Raelene Castle – Former CEO of Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
While officially no longer in her position as Bulldogs CEO after resigning earlier this year, the continuing influence and legacy of Raelene Castle shouldn’t be underestimated.
In 2014 she became the first female to be appointed CEO of an NRL club and brought considerable sports admin acumen to the job, having previously been the boss of Netball New Zealand.
During her three years at the Dogs Raelene forged a formidable network of supporters and alliances across the code.
In Raelene’s case it is the breaking of the glass ceiling and her success in her position that may remain her greatest long-term influence on the game.
Catherine Harris – Chairperson of Harris Farm
Much like Katie Page with Harvey Norman, Catherine Harris’ company, Harris Farm, has been a long-time supporter of rugby league.
Catherine is currently a member of the ARL Commission alongside Professor Megan Davis. Having previously held the position of Trustee of the SCG Trust, Catherine has influence with one of the most important stadium organisations there is.
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Kate McClymont – Senior reporter, Sydney Morning Herald and the Age
While I’ve resisted adding more journalists to the list due to the legacy of Debbie Spillane, Kate McClymont deserves a special mention. For some fans of rugby league, though, her inclusion may be tantamount to treason.
McClymont is fearless. She has never been a dedicated rugby league or even sports writer, being listed by Fairfax as ‘senior reporter’ – talk about an understatement!
She was responsible for breaking the Bulldogs salary cap scandal in 2002, for which she deservedly won a Walkley. As a reminder, her story, with one round of the season remaining, revealed that the Dogs had breached the cap by more than $2.1 million over the course of three years. They were fined $500,000 and stripped of all but four of their competition points, finishing last that year.
The impact of this investigation still resonates. When Melbourne and Parramatta were found to have committed similar breaches, their transgressions were held up for comparison with Canterbury.
The scrutiny of the cap and the role it plays in keeping the game competitive – no club since Brisbane in 1993 has gone back to back in a unified competition –
is the legacy of Kate McClymont.
Kasey Badger – Referee
With some stiff competition from Belinda Sleeman and with me feeling I could choose only one on-ground official, Kasey got the nod for a couple of reasons. While no female has yet taken full ref duties in a first-grade NRL match, when it does happen, it is highly likely it will be Kasey Badger.
Kasey has been a touch judge for a couple of seasons now and was reportedly close to a call-up to referee a top-grade match in 2017, but we’ll have to wait until next year to see if and when it happens.
I picked a referee because, well, who has more influence on the actual games in this entire list than the person with the whistle in their hand?
Tallisha Harden – Australian Jillaroo
Speaking of competition for a spot on this list, how about those that actually put their body on the line?
Jillaroo Tallisha Harden earns her place because I’m 99 per cent certain she has no concept of time. How else to explain how she redefines what is possible for a human to fit into each day?
League? Check. Rugby? Check? Ambassador and advocate for Indigenous youth? Check. Speech pathologist? Check.
Harden missed out on selection this year in the Wallaroos squad for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, but in her early 20s she has plenty of time to make that right. Where she finds said time, we’ve no idea – but we would love to find out.
The players have given us so much joy in the world cup so far, and with the women kicking off this week, that happiness will only increase.
Kezie Apps, Ruan Sims, Simaima Taufa – I considered them all, but in the end I plumped for just one. In concluding our list with the fantastic talents of Tallisha Harden, I sincerely hope that one day the female players become the true influencers on this list in years to come!
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