Tallon Smith
The rugby league landscape in Wagga will undergo another change in season 2026 after the Estella Storm senior team announced its intention to merge into the Wagga Brothers club.
After initially forming last season to compete in the Women’s Tackle competition, the Storm affiliated with Brothers this season, playing as their side in that competition and following their draw throughout the season.
Estella Storm President Shanae Pope said that the decision was an easy one given the strength of the side’s partnership with Brothers this season and the extra admin the club was having to do to remain independent.
“It made sense, the partnership was really successful, and will make it a lot easier,” she said.
“We were doing double the admin when it was unnecessary, and had two whole governance groups.”
In its two years in the competition, Estella Storm was a trailblazing club, standing independently and competing in both the trial season and the inaugural competitive campaign of the Group 9 Women’s Tackle competition.
Pope said that while a lot of pride and history was made under the Storm name that needs to be upheld, merging into the Brothers club and wearing the green and red jersey from next season was the most sensible option for the side’s future.
“It makes a lot more sense, now that we are merged, we can work better and [become] stronger hopefully,” she said.
“But at the same time, I’m super grateful for all those that did support us over the last two years, a lot of people stepped up to sponsor and just generally support us.
“[We’re] looking forward to combining next year and [making things] a lot easier.”
As for what will become of the Storm name and identity, Pope said that Brothers would continue to honour the legacy going forward, while the club’s colours might also get a second life for a venture that the brand was actually initially created for.
“We’re aiming to work on an affiliation, so Brothers are going to continue to honour Estella Storm,” she said.
“We’re not quite sure what it looks like because this is more of a NSWRL project, but they’re still interested in Estella Storm being a junior club, so maybe long term that will feed into Brothers, but [it’s in the] very early stages.”
The exact details of governance and structure following the amalgamation are still to be finalised.
