Bulldogs Unveil Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership Side

While you won’t see the Bulldogs enter the NRLW expansion in 2023, the Belmore-based club has made its intentions clear that they have an eye on 2024, with preparations well underway to strengthen pathway programs.

In an exciting announcement for the Club, they have confirmed a return of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Harvey Norman Women’s team for 2023, today listing the squad. With Australian Jillaroos and NRLW experienced players among those listed, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are taking no chances when it comes to carving out a strong side for future success.

With a bid to enter the NRLW competition in 2024 already submitted to NRL headquarters, the Bulldogs have laid their plans clear; they won’t do this half-heartedly.

“Canterbury is focussed on building the women’s game from the bottom up,” said CEO Aaron Warburton.

“We are implementing the right pathways across the game and investing in grassroots and talent development.”

“Right now, that means the return of our Harvey Norman Women’s side, the ongoing development of our Tarsha Gale side, and the opportunity for our female teams to have greater access to the facilities, funding, and servicing that they need to not only be successful sportspeople but to sustain success at an elite level.”

Taking up the charge of Coach will be ex-professional player, Luke Goodwin, who will look to champion women’s rugby league for the Club alongside Ward.

Goodwin has long been familiar with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Club culture, having played with the Club from 1993-95 and holding several official roles with the Club since then, primarily in Wellbeing and across the Bulldogs Ambassador and Foundation programs.

He has also championed the recruitment of key players, alike Gayle Broughton, Tayla Preston, Holli Wheeler and Kennedy Cherrington who have signed on as marquee players for the NSWRL competition.

Broughton, a former New Zealand Rugby Union Sevens Player and Olympic gold and silver medalist, joins the team fresh from the 2023 NRLW grand final where she, Preston and Cherrington all played for the Parramatta Eels. Wheeler will bring a wealth of experience with her to the squad from the St George Illawarra NRLW team and Australian Jillaroos.

Both Wheeler and Cherrington are currently overseas competing for Australia at the Rugby League World Cup and will look to link up with the Bulldogs squad in December.

“I can’t wait to play with my sister and be amongst the group of girls that Luke’s brought together,” said Cherrington.

“I think there’s a really good mixture of experience, future young talent, and some exciting talent.”

But talent alone wasn’t the only draw card for the football sensation.

“I’m really excited to come to the Dogs. I’ve had some really good experiences already, you know, seeing the [Canterbury-Bankstown] Leagues Club, the facilities, and their bid for an NRLW side in ’24 or ’25.”

“There’s that saying, you know, underdogs,” she added.

“I love underdogs and I think that suits really well with our team.”

Also excited about the development opportunity for local female players on the national stage, is City of Canterbury Bankstown Mayor, Khal Asfour who welcomed the announcement by the Club.

“Our local area is rich with up-and-coming sporting talent and we are thrilled to see the Bulldogs get behind the Canterbury-Bankstown region to support and create opportunities for females in sport,” Mayor Asfour said.

"We know we have local talent already excelling on the national stage, so to see them returning home because we now have the right ecosystem in place for them to succeed, it is a wonderful thing.”

Mayor Asfour said he’s incredibly proud to see both Goodwin and Ward championing the support for the local and emerging talent, who will now look to put in the hard yards at the Belmore facilities ahead of the Tarsha Gale and Harvey Norman Women’s Competitions.

The Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership League is the NSW Rugby League’s premier open-age competition for women and the Bulldogs are thrilled to be entering a team for 2023.

Congratulations to the below players on their selection to the Bulldogs’ Harvey Norman Women’s Squad.