Let the girls play
The Women’s State of Origin series is done for another year, with Queensland winning the series…1-1.
OK let me remove my tongue from my cheek here. The Queensland side won the series by virtue of an aggregate score, winning Game I in Parramatta by 8 points before being defeated by NSW by 4 in the return fixture in Townsville.
It’s a deserved victory for the Maroons, who were probably the better side over the duration of the two fixtures, but it is somewhat a hollow conclusion to what was a hotly contested series.
Traditionally, the women’s State of Origin series has been a one off affair, with records dating back to 1999, when the first official women’s Interstate Challenge was played. Only twice before 2023 had multiple games been contested in the series, in 2004 and 2008, which were both two game series (both swept by Queensland).
Between 1999 (inception) and 2014, Queensland won every single game, with 2015 being a draw, followed by two NSW wins in 2016 and 2017. Following 2017, the game was rebranded and brought under the State of Origin banner to coexist alongside the men’s game.
Another wrinkle, and the final little stop on this mini history lesson before I arrive at my point, is that prior to 2019 (the second year of the current branding), selection criteria wasn’t stringently based on your “origin” as such, but was more residential in nature.
The quirk of this is Tahnee Norris, who is currently the head coach of the Maroons women’s side, actually represented NSW before Queensland. There are countless other examples of this, you get my point.
The women’s game has consistently lagged behind the men’s from several standpoints when it comes to administration, often treated as a financial burden or a second rate competition rather than a serious growth avenue for the game, accounting for a major blind spot in participation, especially among junior ranks.
Consider this. How many times have you heard stories about girls playing rugby league as kids, before being forced to give the game away as they get older due to a lack of infrastructure and competitions that cater to all girls once they reach a certain age point.
Caitlin Foord, the Arsenal and Matildas striker, grew up in the Illawarra region, a childhood friend of Jackson Hastings. While she didn’t play rugby league as a kid (that I can find anyway), by reading about the relationship between the two in a report from February, this quote from Hastings struck me.
“If [Caitlin] wanted to play rugby league and didn’t go down the path of playing football, and NRLW had come around sooner, no doubt in my mind she would have brained it. She’s tough, fast, skilful, athletic and mentally strong, too.”
Jackson Hastings
Hardly an indictment on Foord being lost to the game, but the sentiment is something that can be extracted and applied to women’s rugby league in general. Up until very recently, the opportunity for young girls just wasn’t there, or at the very least, was sporadic in its distribution.
Closer to home, how about Kirra Dibb, who quit rugby league at age 10 because there were no girls competitions for her to play in in her local area of Kincumber, in the New South Wales Central Coast region.
Because of a lack of opportunity, Dibb shifted to touch football and Oztag, only returning to league in 2019 with the North Sydney Bears.
The women’s game has grown exponentially in the last 10-15 years, to the point where the previous blind spot has been largely massaged out of the game.
According to a 2016 report from League Unlimited, the Sydney Combined Competition established competitions for girls aged between 13-15 years old and 16-18 years old.
Why is that significant?
Well, up until that point, girls could only play in mixed teams with boys up to the age of 12, and only in open women’s competitions from 18 onwards. So if you were 13-18 years old and wanted to play league?
Well unless it was a school sport you’re out of luck.
Nowadays, that bedrock of community girls sport has permeated Sydney rugby league competitions to the point where now most junior clubs have girls teams in a variety of age groups.
Granted, this is insular sampling of Sydney only as its easy information for me to find as I know where to look, but I imagine across other major rugby league cities the data would be similar.
Forgive me for labouring to my overall point, but I did want to provide a bit of backstory and context before arriving at this conclusion.
While the women’s game at a grassroots level has grown positively, it feels like the sport at a professional level has lagged behind the progress being made locally, harming the overall integrity of the product and fuelling a segment of internet mouth breathers and their outdated kitchen insults.
Take the Women’s World Cup for instance.
Millie Boyle, one of the Jillaroos’ premier names and best forwards, had to withdraw her name from the squad in order to focus on her business back home, unable to spend the requisite time away overseas.
It highlights the sacrifice the women make when it comes to rugby league, as the money at the top level of the women’s game just isn’t at a level where it’s a viable full time career, meaning a lot of these girls work other jobs in the offseason and even around their NRLW season, taking annual and unpaid leave to fulfil commitments.
The Women’s State of Origin is just the latest half measure when it comes to legitimising the women’s game.
The first game was a scrappy affair, in no small part due to the lack of match practice in the lead in, with most players having come from their state based competitions in Brisbane and Sydney to play in the fixture.
The problem was that those leagues finished weeks prior to the first Origin, meaning a lack of sharpness was on full display in an error-riddled stop start affair at CommBank Stadium.
Game II was of a higher quality, with better attacking structures and ball security. It really felt like the girls were warming into the flow of the game and produced some good attacking football in the contest. Sure, there were still periods of poor quality, but the overall standard far surpassed the first game.
And then…the series was over.
The problem with a two game series decided on aggregate is it feels unfinished. Again, it comes across as an insincere way to promote women’s football while still somewhat shoving it off to the side by deciding it via a series of arbitrary statistical measures, a bit like deciding a Champions League semi final by away goals.
And god forbid the aggregate score was even after the two games.
If, at the conclusion of the series the two teams are equal on aggregate score (total points scored across the two matches), a series winner will be determined according to the following criteria from the two matches: Most tries scored. Then if equal, most goals kicked. Then if equal, most drop goals kicked. Then if equal, least amount of penalties conceded across the two matches. Then if equal, the team that scored the first try of the series. Then if equal, The team that scored the first goal of the series. Then if equal, the team that scored the first drop goal of the series.
I mean, I know the odds of it happening were one in Buckleys, but decided by penalties. I mean, come on.
You could imagine the uproar if the men’s Grand Final was drawn after Golden Point and they went back on a countback to a mundane offside call in Round 11 (yes this is a strawman, but I feel it’s deserved here).
If something would be considered ridiculous for the men, why is it acceptable for the women?
Call me old fashioned, but I like my sports decided by the players, not the subjectivity of a referee’s whistle.
Tiana Penitani alluded to an “unofficial” third Origin “for pride” after the game in Townsville on Thursday. Whether it happens I don’t know, considering I doubt it would be officially sanctioned by the governing body, and insurance red tape etc.
The fix is simple. The series should be three games.
Let the girls play.