Female Development: Historic day just the beginning

Running on to AAMI Park in front of the purple army is the dream for every junior rugby league player in Victoria, if not Australia.

This dream became a reality for the very first female team to wear the Melbourne Storm jersey, playing against the North Sydney Bears last weekend and beginning a new era for the game in Victoria.

The Storm U17 development squad were victorious on the day, winning 12-6 in front of a loud and proud local crowd who stayed after watching the Storm’s record win over the Wests Tigers.

It was the culmination of a program that started some 18 months ago with the support of Women of Storm partners - co presenting partners Ellis Air and BMDas well as supporting partners Kangan Institute, Suzuki, The Amazing Baby Company, Gallaghers and Cointree.

What started with 80 young players eager to earn a spot in the newly created Storm pathway, has now paved the way for the Club to enter teams in the NSW Rugby League U17 Lisa Fiaola and U19 Tarsha Gale competitions from 2026, with an eye on having a NRLW team in the future.

“We knew the talent was going to be there, it was just about finding the girls who wanted to put in the hard work,” Storm’s Female Pathways Manager, Pauline Poloai, said.

“We have been really impressed with all the girls who have put in the time and effort in what was our first opportunity to provide a pathway for girls who want to play at the elite level in Victoria.

“What they probably didn’t realise at the time is they may well become the face of our future Storm NRLW team.”

The talent pool is continuing to grow. Victoria is already one of the fastest growing regions in the country when it comes to female participation in rugby league.

Participation rates increased by 50% in 2024 and has again grown by 23% year-to-date in 2025.

Pauline knows that to maintain this growth and meet demand, more needs to be done to give women and girls the best possible chance to reach their potential, whether as a coach, referee or player.

“That doesn’t always mean playing, coaching or refereeing at the elite level – we want to see more women and girls involved in our game at all levels,” Pauline said.

“And if Melbourne Storm is to have a NRLW team in the future, we need to continue building the capability and capacity of our coaches, referees and players.”

Last year, Storm was fortunate to have received support from the Australian Government’s Play Our Way program to do just that.

Storm is now able to focus not just on developing players but delivering programs to help grow the number of female coaches and referees in the state.

Through Play our Way, 28 new female referees have already completed their training and have started refereeing this season and a new coach education program will kick off in May with 40 new female coaches registered and ready to take on the course.

It is just the beginning, but there is now a true pathway for both male and female players who want to pursue their dreams of playing in front of a full house at AAMI Park in the purple jersey.

Originally published on melbournestorm.com.au