4 Stats About Women’s NRL That’ll Blow Your Mind
The NRL Holden Women’s Premiership will be breaking new ground Sunday, September 29 when the Dragons take on the Roosters at Leichhardt Oval.
While women have been killing it at rugby league at a national and interstate level for over 25 years, it’s crazy to think that the NRL Women’s Premiership (NRLW) is only one year old.
But what a year it’s been. Since the inaugural NRLW season kicked off in August of 2018, it’s already given us historic photos and record-breaking crowds. The fact that the four teams currently in the game are full of incomparably badass young women is proof that the whole thing is begging to be made into a heart-warming, fist-pumping Aussie film about the underdog shaking up the status quo. (Like The Castle, but with more tackles.)
With the NRLW currently in its second season, now’s a good time to look back on a couple of the mind-boggling stats the competition racked up in its first season. Yeah the girls.
They Run Like The Freakin’ Wind
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Hats off to St George Illawarra Dragons captain Kezie Apps, who managed to sneak in an average of 40.9 post-contact metres (PCM) per match. That metric refers to how far an attacking player runs after making a hit and there’s a pretty direct correlation between how many PCM a team can amass and their overall success in the competition.
But here’s the kicker: women’s games are currently 20 minutes shorter than what’s played in the men’s competition – running for 30 minutes per half – so the fact that Apps is clocking up these kind of numbers is crazy impressive. Not to mention the fact that she only had three matches to reach this average.
I Mean Really, Really Fast
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And on the topic of speedy players, watch out for Rooster Isabelle Kelly, who clocked up an epic 503 run metres last year. Or Broncos players Chelsea Baker and Tarryn Aiken, who recently hit a dizzying run speed of 29 kilometres per hour at training. And then there’s 22-year-old Dragons player Jessica Sergis, who hit a top speed of 29.4 kilometres per hour in the Women’s State of Origin.
In relative terms, a black mamba snake – one of the world’s most-deadly species – hits a top speed of 32 kilometres per hour, and it’s safe to say we wouldn’t want one of those bearing down on us.
They’re Tackling Their Way Into The History Books
NRLW players are also tackling in head-spinning numbers. Warriors Hooker Krystal “Kriddlez” Rota amassed an impressive average of 35.6 tackles per game in 2018, a number that would impress even the most hardcore rugby league fan.
Get it, Kriddlez.
They’re Tough As Nails
Line breaks – which is when an attacking player breaks through the defensive line, AKA the moment everyone in the crowd cheers – generally only happen a few times per match. So it’s pretty cool that Broncos fullback Chelsea Baker clocked up six of them in just four games. It’s an average 1.5 per game, so you’re almost guaranteed an on-your-feet moment whenever she takes the field.
Part of what’s so great about these numbers is that the players in the NRLW aren’t full-time professional athletes. With the Premiership still in its early days, the players are performing at this elite level while working and managing home life, as many of them are mothers. Imagine what they could do if rugby league was their full-time gig.
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Watch the Dragons take on the Roosters at Leichhardt Oval on September 29, with kick-off at 1:15pm. Purchase your tickets at NRL.com/tickets.
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(Images courtesy of the NRLW)