It was a breakout season for Women and Girls tackle in the region, with outstanding performances in grassroots and elite competitions.
The Illawarra Steelers Open Women’s Premiership and Tarsha Gale Cup U19’s made it to the Finals of their respective competitions. Meanwhile, on the local front, we saw Illawarra teams competing in the inaugural Southern Corridor Open Women and U18’s competitions.
Here we look back at a highly successful season, brought to you by South32 Illawarra Metallurgical Coal.
Knights and Devils claim silverware
The Kiama Knights (pictured above right) are the 2023 U16 Girls champions after defeating Corrimal 18-14 in the Grand Final. The win capped off an outstanding year for the Knights, who went through the season undefeated, amassing 416 points for and just 18 against.
In the U14 Girls (pictured above left), Western Suburbs defeated Stingrays 30-6 in the decider. In a remarkable performance, the Red Devils turned the tables on the minor premiers in the Final Series, winning the major semi and grand final after Stingrays handed them their only two losses during the regular season.
Stingrays double up
Elsewhere, Stingrays were the inaugural winners of the New South Wales Rugby League Southern Corridor Open Women and Under 18s after taking home the silverware in both competitions. In the U18s, Collegians RLFC went down to Stingrays 30-0, with Illawarra Steelers reps Mia-Rose Walsh and Kasey Reh scoring doubles for the victors.
A tight affair in the open division saw the Rays come out on top 6-0 over their Shire-based opponents Como Jannali. The 0-0 deadlock was broken late in the game with a try to player of the match Jordyn Preston.
Illawarra had two entries in the open age competition with Corrimal finishing 2nd in the regular season before going down 20-12 to Como Jannali in their sudden death semi.
Meanwhile, Mt Kembla Lowries first-ever women’s team had a more challenging year finishing on the wrong side of the for and against ledger. However, the fledgling team’s resilience was rewarded with a maiden 24-6 win over Nowra-Bomaderry in Round 10 to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.
Steelers pathways on track
The inaugural Illawarra Steelers Open Women’s Premiership team took to the field in 2023. Coached by Alicia-Kate Hawke and Daniel Lacey, the Steelers finished second on the Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership with seven wins and three losses, falling one game short of a grand final appearance in their first season defeated 16-8 by the Canterbury Bulldogs in their semi-final.
All but one of 27 players in the squad either played in the local competition or for the Illawarra Steelers Tarsha Gale Cup sides in previous years.
Coached by Brad Reh and Zac Ellul, the U17s Lisa Fiaola Cup girls competed in a four-round, non-competitive format, winning all their games by a margin and being one of only two undefeated teams.
The Tarsha Gale Cup U19 girls, coached by Courtney Crawford, finished 4th on the competition table, with four wins, one draw, and three losses. The Bulldogs eventually knocked the girls out in the preliminary final.
This women and girls tackle wrap is brought to you by South32 Illawarra Metallurgical Coal.
