Sport
12 February, 2025
Wolves grow game for girls
With a five-year plan to establish the Stanley River Wolves’ inaugural Open Women’s squad, the club is now looking for junior girls to sign up.
While the Wolves have 21 girls in their U13s player pool, they are working to attract more U15 and U17 girls to sign up before the season kicks off.
Stanley River Wolves junior vice president, Jarrod Bailey, said the Wolves is the perfect club for girls to play rugby league for, and build long lasting connections in the sport.
“We invest back into our volunteers and players, and most importantly we have a great club culture,” he said.
“We want to produce our own players from the start, and create a positive, fun environment.
“Winning is important but it’s not the most important part for us, it’s more about having a good club culture, which will attract players to the club.”
Jarrod reiterated that the club’s main focus for the year ahead is to create the best club culture for local girl players.
“We’ve got a really big emphasis as a whole club in creating a really good environment in the female space,” he said.
“The committee is very driven in the female space this year, and we have some of the budget aside to invest into our female crew.”
Jarrod added that it would be a few years until the club launches its first Open Women’s team, but it is a long-term goal for the club.
“I’m a big believer that you have to build from the bottom up, we have to get our juniors right until we worry about that,” he said.
“But we have got recruitment, retention, and a five-year plan on how we are going to get from here to starting an Open Women’s team.
“Our U13s have been right now for the last two years, and then it’s just building the next three or four years so hopefully the girls stay with us.”
The Wolves are hoping to build on last season’s success, with the U13s Girls Pool B and U15 Division 2 Boys teams both snagging a grand final win each.
Late last year, Stanley River junior, Reegan Hicks, was signed to the NRLW Brisbane Broncos club, and has been selected to play for the U19s Maroons side for the past two years.
