FNQ trio signs up for NRL
FAR North Queensland’s status as rugby league heartland has been heightened with three players from the region among 40 chosen for centralised NRL contracts.
Kate Haren, Heather Ballinger and Tahlulah Tillett are officially among the best female players in the country and will enjoy the perks of NRL support leading into the launch of the historic women’s national league later this year.
Exact details of the six clubs involved and how the 40 will be dispersed between them are still in the works, but the competition is set to run in the final weeks of the men’s home-andaway season.
Ballinger and Haren joined the group in Sydney over the weekend for initial training and education sessions, while Tillett was competing at the National Touch League.
Haren has been instrumental in promoting female participation in Innisfail and said she hoped to inspire her girls and those around the Far North to get on the pathway and follow their rugby league dreams.
“I’d hope it would give them a sense of direction if that’s the path they want to choose. It shows them there really is a pathway for us,” she said.
“My personal achievement is one thing but being able to inspire the girls and get our area known is probably more important than anything else.”
Haren, who was 18th player for Queensland last year, only returned to the field in 2017 after becoming a mother and had been training with the Innisfail Leprechauns in preparation for a recent camp on the Gold Coast, from which the 40 players were selected.
While a fledgling Cairnsbased women’s competition will launch next week, the utility will participate in the Brisbane competition this season with Wests Brisbane Panthers heading into the inaugural NRL women’s season.
“It’s an amazing opportunity,” she said.
“I set some goals for it, but this has exceeded them.”
North Queensland regional game development manager and former Jillaroos captain Renae Kunst said it was testament to the trio’s resilience despite limited opportunities.
“Hef (Ballinger) has been around for a number of years and has been in that senior leader role,” she said.
“Kate (Haren) has been around for a little bit as well, through having her son then with the limited opportunities available, and it’s testament to her being able to stick at it.
“What a wonderful reward not only for obviously what she can do off the field but also … what she has contributed to the game.
“Tahlulah (Tillett) is a success story when we talk about that touch to rugby league transition.”
It is hoped the selection of the Far North trio will boost numbers in a women’s Monday night competition launching in Cairns next week.
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