A squad of 13 girls will don Nelson Bay Junior Rugby League’s colours and play in what will be their first tackle competition throughout November and into December.

Like many of her new teammates, Emily Harman, 16, grew up with brothers who played rugby league.

Harman, who has played touch football since she was six, said she was “really excited” to have the opportunity to play tackle league.

“You can go somewhere with tackle,” she said. “There’s money in it. I want to take it as far as I can.”

After the success of the inaugural summer tackle nines competitions held throughout regional NSW last season, CRL announced it would expand it into to the Illawarra, Riverina, Central Coast-Hunter, Hastings and Western Region for 2017.

On seeing the competition available in the Hunter, Simon and Verity Chappell, who are involved with OzTag in the Bay, set out to put together a team.

The couple approached Luke Williams, president of Nelson Bay Junior Rugby League, about entering an under-16 girls tackle team into the competition under the club’s colours.

Verity, manager of the girls team, said Williams was “100 per cent behind us”.

“He was all for it,” she said. “This will be the first time the junior club has had a girls tackle team.”

Many of the girls playing for the Bay’s new under-16 team got a taste for tackle during term three of the school year.

In the lead up to the summer nines competition, girls were invited to take part in a four week program where they learnt how to tackle safely and the rules around contact rugby league.

Following the program, the girls were able to put their new skills into action and took part in non-competitve gala day in Raymond Terrace.

Kiara Dixon, 16, said the program gave her and her Bay tackle teammates “a really good insight into the game” ahead of the summer competition.

“It’s really different to touch football, which a lot of us play,” she said. 

“It’s really great seeing how many girls want to play tackle.”

In the Hunter and Central Coast, there are competitions for under-14, 16 and 18 girls plus an open age championship.

The Bay girls, coached by Simon Chappell, are expecting to face teams from Wyong, Raymond Terrace, Morpeth, South Lakes and Budgewoi.

The CRL women’s nines teams play short, fast paced games on a full-sized field.

Games will be played over six weeks, starting from November 11.

“The nines are all about having fun and getting an opportunity to play, or try, tackle rugby league with your friends in a fun environment,” Kylie Hilder, CRL’s female participation officer, said.

“In recent times we’ve seen the addition of Ladies League Tag in the Country Championships, the introduction of the CRL Women’s Nines and also the first Country Women’s team selected to take on City – it’s a great time for females in rugby league with the amount of opportunities beginning to present themselves.”

Verity believed the success of Australia’s women’s rugby sevens team, which won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has helped lift the profile of female participation in football.

“I think a lot of people’s eyes have been opened to women in football,” she said.

“I think a lot more girls are being drawn to the game since then.

“They realise girls can play football and still be feminine.

“Our girls jumped at the opportunity to play tackle. 

“They love it, they can’t wait. It’s great to see.”