Illawarra skipper Lily Rogan a respected voice in youthful Steelers squad

Still, as far as the Steelers Harvey Norman Women's premiership squad unveiled by coach Jaime Szczcerbanik last week goes, it's what she is.

It's unlikely to be the case on a weekly basis come season kickoff, with the Steelers to feature all the Dragons surplus NRLW talent as the competitions align for the first time.

As has long been the reality in the men's NSW Cup competition, it's not something that can be relied upon for ultimate success. Winning consistently at reserve-grade level requires a culture all of its own.

In those stakes, reigning club Player of the Year Rogan has a major role to play as Szczcerbanik looks to give a star contingent of Steelers Tarsha Gale Cup premiers their first taste of open women's footy starting July 6.

Having not long navigated that leap herself, Rogan can offer a valuable perspective.

"It makes me feel a bit old, but it's good," she said of the youthful squad.

"I still see myself as quite new, so I'm still looking to learn, but I feel I learn from the girls and obviously the coaching staff. Hopefully they can learn a bit from me and I can learn something from them and grow a bunch this season.

"It's definitely a big jump [to open women]. You do find your feet pretty quickly because you just get in and do what needs to be done, but it can be quite confronting sometimes seeing some big names opposite you and things like that.

"I think you've just got to trust yourself that you're there for a reason. It's good that they've got that common goal where they love to win and obviously have that drive to win.

"That'll be great for them and they also can bring that winning mentality with them. They've just come off a really good season and it'll be great for them to pick us up as well and carry everyone through."

Streamlining the NRLW season with the NSW Women's Premiership will be a first this season, with Rogan admitting it will bring an element of unpredictability to the competition, but also a weekly incentive for players possibly one good performance away from a Dragons debut.

"It'll make for a very interesting competition because there's going to be changes in the team week to week," Rogan said.

"You can't really go into any game relying on last week's result because we won't know what movement they've had in their team, they won't know what movement we've had in our team.

"I think it'll be very unpredictable, but it can be good not knowing too much about your opposition. You've just go to be at your peak every week.

"Everyone's goal should be to go out and play as hard as they can every single week, but I think it will change a little bit having that week to week goal (NRLW call-up) you can reach.

"That could come up earlier than a grand final and those things you build towards at the end of the year.

"You're always looking to improve certain things, but now there are bigger goals that you can achieve week to week.

With St George Illawarra NRLW coach Jamie Soward now in charge of the club's broader female pathways, Rogan's also confident there'll be no disconnect between the top grade and feeder squads.

"We've all had our time with the Dragons girls that have been there for a couple of years now, and with Sowie," she said.

"Everyone's got that [familiar] relationship so I think moving between squads will be pretty seamless. Everyone's really supportive so, either way, I don't think there'll be any bitterness or anything like that.

"It shouldn't change too much and it's really just exciting. Just going to watch just local games I was getting excited and and thinking 'I can't wait to start training again'.

"Obviously that rolls around to games pretty quickly. We've got some big goals and we're hoping to tick them off."