IF women’s rugby league continues on it’s rapid upward trajectory there’s no doubt people will look back at the Nines format as one of the key building blocks.
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It’s something Corrimal Nines coach Tammy Fletcher is well aware of having this year donned the Red V of St George Illawarra in the Dragons landmark Nines clash against Cronulla in September. The Sharks snuck home in a thriller but Fletcher still looks back on match as the experience of a lifetime.
“I’m still lost for words to describe it,” Fletcher said.
“There was a massive hype for the game and all the girls were filled with adrenaline because we wanted to to do well for ourselves but we also wanted to do well to represent women in league as well because we were on show. It’s definitely one of the best experiences of my life.”
Fletcher will draw on that experience when she takes the reins at Corrimal for the Cougars November 9s campaign that will take place on Friday evenings across November at Ziems Park, beginning November 4. Having seen first-hand how valuable the abbreviated format of the game is as a development tool, Fletcher is looking forward to introducing a host of new players to game.
“I was really excited to hear about the program coming in to introduce new girls to the game as a bit of a development and recruitment process,” Fletcher said.
“I think the NRL game gave us a lot of exposure that we needed, at the right time as well, to help boost the local league so I’m really excited. You only need 12 players in a team, it’s nine minute halves so the girls are in and out but it touches on a bit of everything skill-wise so it’s the perfect introduction to the game.”
The competition will have both open and under 18s divisions as the Illawarra District Rugby League looks toward the NSW Rugby League’s Tarsha Gales Nines [under 18s] competition in 2017 and also at adding an under 18s division to the Women in Defence League next season.
“We’re heading towards the Tarsha Gale under 18s Nines competition next year which we’ll be looking to put an [Illawarra] side in and we’re also looking to implement an under 18s competition in the Women in Defence League next year so this is a catalyst for that,” IDRL general manager Chris Bannerman said.
“Teams are capped to four currently registered players so really it’s about introducing new girls to the game.
“We’re looking at five or six teams in each division which means we’re probably going to have in excess of 80 new girls introduced to the game which is a real success and hopefully that’ll see a lot of those girls transition into the 2017 competitions.”