CELEBRATING GROWTH OF A GAME
FEISTY NSW prop Emily Robinson perfectly reflects what the birth of Super W means to her and generations of rugby-loving girls to come.
As a footy-centric kid she never even had the option of a female player poster to pin on her bedroom wall when she was growing up on the northern beaches of Sydney.
“I’ve loved playing footy since I was nine years old because I was the girl who slept with a rugby ball not a teddy bear,” Robinson, 25, said. “I had a poster of (Wallaby) Phil Waugh on my wall because we were from the same junior club (Narrabeen Tigers) but there wasn’t a poster of a women’s player even if I wanted one.
“The nine-year-old me would be pretty pumped at the future for girls coming into the game and I’ll be throwing a few yahoos when we kick-off Super W at Suncorp Stadium.”
Pitching Queensland and NSW into a fierce derby first-up at 4pm tomorrow is ideal to spike interest before the Reds-Bulls Super Rugby clash and on TV through Fox Sports.
The five-team national competition for more than 150 players is a first for women’s rugby and it has ramifications far beyond the seven-week window.
■ THE Reds have re-signed “Tongan Thor” on a twoyear deal.
The coup comes a week after coach Brad Thorn lauded Taniela Tupou as “133kg of God-given talent you can’t get in the gym.”
Tupou was given another nod this week he’s now far more than a project player