Both clubs have done plenty to develop the women’s game and it would be wrong to suggest either don’t deserve to be a part of any NRL women’s premiership. Kickoff will do no such thing.

However, there is a myth being propagated, by those who don’t, or should, know better, that these two clubs have done more than any other to develop pathways in the women’s game.

Once the NRL decided it would only grant four licenses, the Broncos and Warriors were no-brainers. Queensland and New Zealand are key markets, no competition of any national relevance could go ahead without them.

When it also decided that geographical spread was a top priority, there was simply no way Cronulla and St George Illawarra would both get the nod.

It’s left plenty of people – media included – willing to cry foul on behalf of the Sharks but, in reality, the only place where they’ve done more to develop the women’s game than the Dragons – more specifically the Illawarra Rugby League – is on the PR front.

In 2016 the Sharks made a big song and dance about putting together the NRL’s ‘first’ women’s team. It was a major leap forward that deserved media attention, with Jillaroos stars Ruan Sims, Corban McGregor, Sam Bremner, Allana Ferguson and Maddie Studdon all decked out in Sharks colours.

Where had they all played their senior footy before that? With the Helensburgh Tiger Lillies in the Illawarra Women’s League. That’s certainly not to diminish the strength of their ties to the Sharks, their junior clubs or to the Cronulla-Sutherland area, it just illustrates that it was the Illawarra league that provided a pathway where there previously wasn’t one.

Likewise, when Kezie Apps – arguably the biggest star in the game – went looking for a competition to play in, she found a home in the Illawarra league. Bremner and Apps have been Dragons ambassadors since 2016.

The IDRL’s commitment is not just evident at the elite level. It goes right down through the junior leagues and schools all the way down the South Coast.

Since the introduction of League Tag in the Illawarra and South Coast junior leagues the number of participants have jumped from 343 players in 2015 to 1453 in 2017 (a more than 300 per cent increase).

Since 2000, the number league tag participants overall has jumped from almost 1000 to more than 8,000 in 2017. In regards to the tackle forms of the game, the numbers have jumped from almost 250 participants to more than 3000 last year.

Seven teams competed in the inaugural Illawarra Women’s League season in 2011 and there were 11 teams across open and under 18s divisions last season.

The Illawarra Steelers were part of the inaugural Tarsha Gales 9s competition last year, reaching the semi-finals, and (like the Sharks) are undefeated this season. The St George Dragons are also fielding a side in this year’s competition.

It makes South Sydney CEO Blake Solly’s laughable suggestion that the Dragons “don’t have a pathway,” not just misguided, but flat-out foolish.

That said, it’s not hard to understand the Rabbitohs anger. Without being privy to their submission, it’s difficult to see what made the Roosters’ case so compelling (Victor Radley is the only genuine local junior in their current NRL line-up so it’s hard to see where they’ll draw their female players from other than the wider pool). 

Similarly, it’s not hard to find sympathy for the Sharks. They thoroughly deserved to be part of the the first competition. The club and their fans have every right to be filthy. However, the suggestion the Sharks or Rabbitohs were somehow more deserving than the Dragons is simply absurd.