Semi-pro reality as Gold Stars miss Mooka

THE surprising omission of Maroons winger Stephanie Mooka from the side for North Queensland Gold Stars’ firstever game is a reflection of the semi-professional status of the QRL Women’s competition.

Mooka won’t line up in the Gold Stars’ historic game against Brothers at Ipswich due to work commitments, a reality Cowboys elite pathways coach Ben Jeffries said was commonplace in the newly launched BHP Premiership, which will kick off tomorrow.

The competition’s formation is a massive step in the right direction for the women’s game, as well as a vital step towards the Cowboys’ unofficially planned entrance to the NRLW in 2023, but it still faces the reality of its semi-professionalism.

“It’s something that people aren’t really aware of with this competition,” Jeffries said.

“Family and work comes first, then football is third.”

Indigenous All Stars representative Mooka is coming off a landmark year in which she came from nowhere to earn her State of Origin debut.

She impressed for Cairns in their representative games against Townsville and Mackay to earn a call-up for the Northern Marlins, then performed so well at the QRL State Carnival Maroons selectors couldn’t knock her back.

But the priorities are so clearly marked that Gold Stars players have lodged their work schedules with Jeffries and coach Gavin Lloyd for the next few weeks.

The Gold Stars face another hurdle most others in the QRLW don’t: several Moranbah-based players unable to play and train on some nights due to shiftwork at the mines, and the sheer scale of the team’s footprint means the squad will train as a team only the night before games.

“I don’t think there’s any teams in SEQ who have to face those challenges,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries said the side would never use the tyranny of distance as an excuse, as he and the club embraced the challenges associated with drawing players from as far south as

Mackay to Cairns and the Torres Strait. It’s why Cowboys academy sessions are set up in the three major cities: Cairns, Townsville and Mackay.

The players work on skills during those sessions, with tactics and more game-focused activities ahead of actual games.

Jeffries conceded that, as far as the academy format is concerned, this was a “trial and error” year as they build towards a NRLW identity.