By Tallon Smith

The Illawarra Rugby League has offset the loss of two men’s teams, with the new Women’s Southern Corridor Open and Under 18s driving growth in the region’s participation in 2023.

This follows the New South Wales Rugby League’s announcement last week that the state participation record has been broken, with 2023’s current figure of 107,917 eclipsing the previous record set in 2021 by 483 participants, with two months still remaining until registration cut-offs. 

Illawarra Rugby League Operations Manager Blake Edwards said that the female game “is growing exponentially” in 2023.

“This season we’ve got our Women’s [Southern] Corridor Competition, which goes through our Southern Corridor, which is Cronulla, St George, Illawarra and Group 7,” he said.

“So we’ve got an Open Women’s Competition in that, and then an Under 18s competition, [who] had their first game [a few weeks ago].

“This competition is the first of its kind for our region in particular, so that’s put it [the game] in good stead, and hopefully we can grow the game off that.”

The league is keen to explore this new growth area, especially given the context of having lost two first Grade sides in 2023 and many other lower grade and league tag sides over the past five seasons. However, Edwards also affirmed there will be plenty of attention given to reviving the struggling Men’s grades.

“In terms of our Men’s competitions, obviously we lost two Mojo Cup or First Grade teams ahead of 2023, in the Helensburgh Tigers and the Cronulla-Caringbah Sharks,” he said.

“There are processes underway to rectify that and build the comp back up to a healthier 8-team competition for 2024.

“We’re not ignoring the fact or you know pushing that to the side, that’s a priority for us at the moment to grow the game in that area.”

Regarding the return of defunct or recess clubs, Edwards said that it is “on their radar.”

“A lot of work obviously has to go into that, but, I would love to see that, our board, our directors would love to see that,” he said.

“We need to really get those traditional clubs back into our competition and bolster interest back into our game in our region.”

Speaking on potential candidates, Edwards named a few clubs who he would love to see return to football and others who could potentially move up the grades.

“Maybe Port Kembla could come into a lower grade competition at some stage in the very near future,” he said.

“Figtree Crushers were very close to actually going into the First Division, so they’re currently in the Harrigan Shield, which is our Second Division this year.

“I know Berkeley has a relatively strong Harrigan Shield team that potentially in my opinion should have been playing [First Division].”

“There are some roadblocks, obviously [sponsorship] money’s a tight one at the moment, just the way the economy is.”

The Illawarra Rugby League season is heading into round 5 this weekend, with clubs taking to the field across six senior grades. In first grade fixtures, De La Salle host Corrimal, Wests travel across the carpark to face Collegians, and Thirroul tackle Dapto.