Wikipedia

Tarsha Gale Cup

The Tarsha Gale Cup is an elite under-19s Women's rugby league competition in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The competition was named after former captain of Australia and current NRLW commentator, Tarsha Gale, in honour of her impact on Women's rugby league as a pioneer of the sport.

Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup
Current season or competition:
2023 New South Wales Rugby League
SportRugby league
Instituted2017
Inaugural season2017
Number of teams13
Country Australia
Premiers Illawarra Steelers (2024)
Most titles Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy
Illawarra Steelers (2 titles)
WebsiteTarsha Gale Cup
Related competitionNRL Women's Premiership
NSWRL Women's Premiership

In 2017, the New South Wales Rugby League announced the creation of a nine-a-side under-18s women's league, named the Tarsha Gale Nines after the former Australian Jillaroos and New South Wales captain of the 1990s.[1][2][3]

The tournament changed to eleven-a-side in the 2019.[4]

Since 2020, the tournament has been played as a full 13-a-side game.[5][6]

In the 2021 season, the age group changed from under under-18s to under-19s. The equivalent competition for males, the S.G. Ball Cup, was also changed from under-18s to under-19s at this time.

The Tarsha Gale Cup is the main bridge between juniors and the NSWRL Women's Premiership in the state of New South Wales.

History edit

Clubs edit

The Tarsha Gale Cup operates on a single table system, with no divisions, conferences nor promotion and relegation from other leagues. In 2018, the St. George Dragons and the Newcastle Knights entered teams into the competition for the first time.

Current clubs edit

Club Established City Stadium
  Canberra Raiders 1981 Canberra, ACT Raiders Club, Belconnen
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 1934 Belmore, NSW Belmore Sports Ground
  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 1967 Woolooware, NSW PointsBet Stadium
  Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1946 Brookvale, NSW 4 Pines Park
  Illawarra Steelers 1981 Wollongong, NSW Collegians Sporting Complex, Figtree
Sid Parrish Park, Figtree
  Newcastle Knights 1987 Newcastle, NSW Maitland Sports Ground
Cessnock Sports Ground
Kurri Kurri Sports Ground
  North Sydney Bears 1908 North Sydney, NSW North Sydney Oval
  Parramatta Eels 1947 Cabramatta, NSW New Era Stadium
  Penrith Panthers 1967 Penrith, NSW BlueBet Stadium,
Windsor Sporting Complex
  South Sydney Rabbitohs 1908 Redfern, NSW Ironmark High Performance Centre
  St George Dragons 1921 Kogarah, NSW Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Mascot Oval
  Sydney Roosters
Indigenous Academy 		1908 Marrickville Henson Park
Mascot Oval
Morry Breen Oval, Kanwal
  Wests Tigers 1999* Concord, NSW Leichhardt Oval
Kirkham Oval, Camden
Wests Tigers Centre of Excellence

Venues edit

Main article: List of Australian rugby league stadiums

Players edit

Season structure edit

Pre-season edit

Prior to the commencement of the home-and-away season teams are paired off to play an exhibition trial match. In 2017 these matches took place during varying weeks of January.

Premiership season edit

Grand final edit

Main article: Grand final

The two highest-place teams at the conclusion of the home-and-away season will qualify for the grand final. The winner of this match is determined the competition's premier.

Results by year edit

Year Age Premiers Score Runners-up Minor Premiers Wooden Spoon Notes
2017 U18s   Penrith Panthers 26 – 18   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs   Wests Tigers [7]
2018 U18s   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 36 – 22   Newcastle Knights   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs [8]
2019 U18s   Illawarra Steelers 24 – 12   Newcastle Knights   Illawarra Steelers   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs [9]
2020 U18s Season began in February but was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No premiership was awarded.
2021 U19s   St George Dragons 30 – 4   Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy   Newcastle Knights   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs [10]
2022 U19s   Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy 12 – 10   Newcastle Knights   Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy   South Sydney Rabbitohs [11]
2023 U19s   Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy 26 - 24   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs   Wests Tigers [12]
2024 U19s   Illawarra Steelers 24 – 12   Newcastle Knights   Illawarra Steelers   St George Dragons [13][14]

Premiership tally edit

No. Club Seasons
1   Indigenous Academy 2 (2022, 2023)
1   Illawarra Steelers 2 (2019, 2024)
3   St George Dragons 1 (2021)
3   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 1 (2018)
3   Penrith Panthers 1 (2017)

Bold means the team still currently plays in the competition.

Awards edit

The following major individual awards and accolades are presented each season

Player of the Series edit

Year Player Club Ref
2018 Madison Higgins-Ashby   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks [15]
2019 Maddison Weatherall   Illawarra Steelers [16]
2020 Not Awarded
2021 Fatafehi Hanisi   St George Dragons [17]
2022 Otesa Pule   Indigenous Academy Sydney Roosters [18]
2023 Alexis Tauaneai   Canterbury Bulldogs [19]
2024 Kasey Reh   Illawarra Steelers [20]

Grand Final Player of the Match edit

Year Player Club Ref
2017 Ashlee Harrison   Penrith Panthers [21]
2018 Madison Higgins-Ashby   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks [15]
2019 Teagan Berry   Illawarra Steelers
2020 Not Awarded
2021 Rayven-Jodeci Boyce   St George Dragons [17]
2022 Otesa Pule   Indigenous Academy Sydney Roosters [18]
2023 Tavarna Papalii   Canterbury Bulldogs
2024 Indie Bostock   Illawarra Steelers [20]

Top Scorers edit

Tries edit

Year Excluding Finals Including Finals
Player Club Matches Tries Player Club Matches Tries
2017 Tayla Preston   Sharks 8 12 Tayla Preston   Sharks 11 16
Page McGregor   Bulldogs 4 12 Lilly-Rose Bennett   Steelers 7 16
2018 Maddison Weatherall   Steelers 9 19 Faith Nathan   Sharks 7 26
2019 Maddison Weatherall   Steelers 8 13 Maddison Weatherall   Steelers 12 17
Mareva Swann   Dragons 9 13
2020 Teagan Berry   Steelers 4 11 No Finals Series
Bienne Terita   Dragons 5 11
2021 Teagan Berry   Steelers 8 11 Teagan Berry   Steelers 9 11
2022 Otesa Pule   Roosters 7 12 Otesa Pule   Roosters 9 13
2023 Mia-Rose Walsh   Steelers 8 9 Mia-Rose Walsh   Steelers 10 10
Litia Fusi   Bulldogs 8 9
2024 Indie Bostock   Steelers 7 13 Teagan Berry   Steelers 9 15

Notes:

  • Players' tries and matches were tallied offline from match statistics for seasons 2018 to 2024 available on the NSWRL website and sorted to determine the top try scorers.
  • For the 2017 season, tries were collated from scores published on the NSWRL and League Unlimited websites. For example: Round 2 on League Unlimited and Round 3 on NSWRL.

Points edit

Year Excluding Finals Including Finals
Player Club M T G FG Points Player Club M T G FG Points
2017 Page McGregor   Bulldogs 4 12 16 0 80 Page McGregor   Bulldogs 5 14 16 0 88
2018 Quincy Dodd   Sharks 8 12 55 0 158 Quincy Dodd   Sharks 10 13 63 0 178
2019 Sereana Naitokatoka   Dragons 8 5 29 0 78 Sereana Naitokatoka   Dragons 10 6 37 0 98
2020 Bienne Terita   Dragons 5 11 3 0 50 No Finals Series
2021 Ruby Smith   Roosters 8 3 16 0 44 Ruby Smith   Roosters 11 3 19 0 50
Teagan Berry   Steelers 8 11 0 0 44
2022 Alysha Bell   Eels 6 2 24 0 56 Alysha Bell   Eels 7 2 25 0 58
2023 Ally Bullman   Roosters 8 7 18 0 64 Ally Bullman   Roosters 10 7 18 0 64
2024 Lara Cosgrove   Raiders 7 6 20 0 64 Chelsea Savill   Steelers 10 3 31 0 74

Media coverage edit

Television edit

TBA

Online edit

Selected games each week via NSWRL TV.

Corporate relations edit

Sponsorship edit

Westpac is the league's current naming rights partner.

Merchandising edit

Official match day attire together with other club merchandise is sold through the NRL's stores and website as well through the clubs and through some retailers.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "New comp a 'gamechanger' for women". 24 August 2016.
  2. ^ Media, NRL Digital (24 August 2016). "NSWRL Announces Tarsha Gale Nines".
  3. ^ "NSWRL targets elite women's competition".
  4. ^ "Tarsha Gale Cup GRAND FINAL Newcastle KNIGHTS v Illawarra Steelers". Our Footy Team Archives. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Teams: : NSWRL U18 Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup - 2020 Round 1". League Unlimited. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup - Raiders v Eels". NSWRL. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  7. ^ Shamon, John (6 May 2017). "TG Cup Panthers make history". Penrith Panthers. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  8. ^ Buxton, Matt (5 May 2018). "Sharks Hold off Knights to win Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup". NSWRL. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  9. ^ Honeysett, Stuart (4 May 2019). "Illawarra win the Tarsha Gale Cup". NSWRL. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Dragons too strong for Roosters in Tarsha Cup GF". NSWRL. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  11. ^ Honeysett, Stuart (30 April 2022). "Pule brilliance helps Roosters to Tarsha Gale Cup Grand Final glory". NSWRL. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  12. ^ "Roosters make history with back-to-back Tarsha Gale Cups". NSWRL. 29 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  13. ^ Beatton, Joel (27 April 2024). "Tarsha Gale Cup: Perfect Steelers march to Grand Final glory". Dragons.com.au. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Reh steers Steelers to Tarsha Gale Cup Grand Final glory". NSWRL. 27 April 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  15. ^ a b Konstantopoulos, Mary (10 May 2018). "Mary's Wonder Women: The Sharks are Tarsha Gale premiers". The Roar. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Harvey Norman NSW Women's Under-18s Origin Team Named". NSWRL. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  17. ^ a b "Dragons too strong for Roosters in Tarsha Cup GF". NSWRL. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  18. ^ a b Honeysett, Stuart (30 April 2022). "Pule brilliance helps Roosters to Tarsha Gale Cup Grand Final glory". NSWRL. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  19. ^ "Tauaneai Awarded 2023 NSWRL Tarsha Gale Player of the Year". Bulldogs.com.au. 30 April 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  20. ^ a b "Reh steers Steelers to Tarsha Gale Cup Grand Final glory". NSWRL. 27 April 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  21. ^ Teuma, Sean (6 May 2017). "Panthers claw their way to inaugural Tarsha Gale Cup Premiership". League Unlimited. Retrieved 4 May 2024.

External links edit

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