The Tarsha Gale Cup is an elite under-19s women's rugby league competition in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The competition was named after former captain of Australia and current NRLW commentator, Tarsha Gale, in honour of her impact on Women's rugby league as a pioneer of the sport.
In 2017, the New South Wales Rugby League announced the creation of a nine-a-side under-18s women's league, named the Tarsha Gale Nines after the former Australian Jillaroos and New South Wales captain of the 1990s.
The tournament changed to eleven-a-side in the 2019.
Since 2020, the tournament has been played as a full 13-a-side game.
In the 2021 season, the age group changed from under-18s to under-19s. The equivalent competition for males, the S.G. Ball Cup, was also changed from under-18s to under-19s at this time.
The Tarsha Gale Cup is the main bridge between juniors and the NSWRL Women's Premiership in the state of New South Wales.
Clubs The Tarsha Gale Cup operates on a single table system, with no divisions, conferences nor promotion and relegation from other leagues. In 2018, the St. George Dragons and the Newcastle Knights entered teams into the competition for the first time.
Current clubs
ClubEstablishedCityStadium Canberra Raiders 1981 Canberra, ACT Raiders Club, Belconnen Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 1934 Belmore, NSW Belmore Sports Ground Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 1967 Woolooware, NSW PointsBet Stadium Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1946 Brookvale, NSW 4 Pines Park Illawarra Steelers 1981 Wollongong, NSW Collegians Sporting Complex, Figtree Sid Parrish Park, Figtree Newcastle Knights 1987 Newcastle, NSW Maitland Sports Ground Cessnock Sports Ground Kurri Kurri Sports Ground North Sydney Bears 1908 North Sydney, NSW North Sydney Oval Parramatta Eels 1947 Cabramatta, NSW New Era Stadium Penrith Panthers 1967 Penrith, NSW BlueBet Stadium, Windsor Sporting Complex South Sydney Rabbitohs 1908 Redfern, NSW Ironmark High Performance Centre St George Dragons 1921 Kogarah, NSW Netstrata Jubilee Stadium Mascot Oval Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy 1908 Marrickville Henson Park Mascot Oval Morry Breen Oval, Kanwal Wests Tigers 1999* Concord, NSW Leichhardt Oval Kirkham Oval, Camden Wests Tigers Centre of Excellence
Venues
Season structure Pre-season Prior to the commencement of the home-and-away season teams are paired off to play an exhibition trial match. In 2017 these matches took place during varying weeks of January.
Premiership season
Grand final
The two highest-place teams at the conclusion of the home-and-away season will qualify for the grand final. The winner of this match is determined the competition's premier.
Results by year YearAgePremiersScoreRunners-upMinor PremiersWooden SpoonNotes2017U18s Penrith Panthers26 – 18 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Wests Tigers 2018U18s Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks36 – 22 Newcastle Knights Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2019U18s Illawarra Steelers24 – 12 Newcastle Knights Illawarra Steelers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2020 U18sSeason began in February but was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No premiership was awarded.2021U19s St George Dragons30 – 4 Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy Newcastle Knights Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2022U19s Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy 12 – 10 Newcastle Knights Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy South Sydney Rabbitohs 2023U19s Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy 26 - 24 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Wests Tigers 2024U19s Illawarra Steelers 24 – 12 Newcastle Knights Illawarra Steelers St George Dragons 2025 U19s Parramatta Eels 28 – 12 Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy Illawarra Steelers Manly Sea Eagles 2026 U19s Parramatta Eels 20 – 6 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy Manly Sea Eagles
Premiership tally No.ClubSeasons1 Indigenous Academy2 (2022, 2023)1 Illawarra Steelers2 (2019, 2024)1 Parramatta Eels2 (2025, 2026)4 St George Dragons1 (2021)4 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks1 (2018)4 Penrith Panthers1 (2017) Bold means the team still currently plays in the competition.
Awards The following major individual awards and accolades are presented each season Player of the Series YearPlayerClub 2018 Madison Higgins-Ashby Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2019 Maddison Weatherall Illawarra Steelers 2020 Not Awarded 2021 Fatafehi Hanisi St George Dragons 2022 Otesa Pule Indigenous Academy Sydney Roosters 2023 Alexis Tauaneai Canterbury Bulldogs 2024 Kasey Reh Illawarra Steelers 2025 Ryvrr-Lee Alo Parramatta Eels 2026 Khyliah Gray Parramatta Eels
Grand Final Player of the Match YearPlayerClub 2017 Ashlee Harrison Penrith Panthers 2018 Madison Higgins-Ashby Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2019 Teagan Berry Illawarra Steelers 2020 Not Awarded 2021 Rayven-Jodeci Boyce St George Dragons 2022 Otesa Pule Indigenous Academy Sydney Roosters 2023 Tavarna Papalii Canterbury Bulldogs 2024 Indie Bostock Illawarra Steelers 2025 Tess McWilliams Parramatta Eels 2026 Freedom Crichton Ropati Parramatta Eels
Top scorers Tries Year Excluding Finals Including FinalsPlayerClubMatchesTriesPlayerClubMatchesTries 2017 Tayla Preston Sharks 8 12 Tayla Preston Sharks 11 16 Page McGregor Bulldogs 4 12 Lilly-Rose Bennett Steelers 7 16 2018 Maddison Weatherall Steelers 9 19 Faith Nathan Sharks 7 26 2019 Maddison Weatherall Steelers 8 13 Maddison Weatherall Steelers 12 17 Mareva Swann Dragons 9 13 2020 Teagan Berry Steelers 4 11 No Finals Series Bienne Terita Dragons 5 11 2021 Teagan Berry Steelers 8 11 Teagan Berry Steelers 9 11 2022 Otesa Pule Roosters 7 12 Otesa Pule Roosters 9 13 2023 Mia-Rose Walsh Steelers 8 9 Mia-Rose Walsh Steelers 10 10 Litia Fusi Bulldogs 8 9 2024 Indie Bostock Steelers 7 13 Indie Bostock Steelers 9 15 2025 Manisha Seebeck Roosters 7 10 Manisha Seebeck Roosters 11 13 2026 Samantha Hanrahan Panthers 7 10 Samantha Hanrahan Panthers 9 12 Notes: Players' tries and matches were tallied offline from match statistics for seasons 2018 to 2026 available on the NSWRL website and sorted to determine the top try scorers. For the 2017 season, tries were collated from scores published on the NSWRL and League Unlimited websites. For example: Round 2 on League Unlimited and Round 3 on NSWRL.
Points Year Excluding Finals Including FinalsPlayerClubPointsPlayerClubPoints 2017 Page McGregor Bulldogs 4 12 16 0 80 Page McGregor Bulldogs 5 14 16 0 88 2018 Quincy Dodd Sharks 8 12 55 0 158 Quincy Dodd Sharks 10 13 63 0 178 2019 Sereana Naitokatoka Dragons 8 5 29 0 78 Sereana Naitokatoka Dragons 10 6 37 0 98 2020 Bienne Terita Dragons 5 11 3 0 50 No Finals Series 2021 Ruby Smith Roosters 8 3 16 0 44 Ruby Smith Roosters 11 3 19 0 50 Teagan Berry Steelers 8 11 0 0 44 2022 Alysha Bell Eels 6 2 24 0 56 Alysha Bell Eels 7 2 25 0 58 2023 Ally Bullman Roosters 8 7 18 0 64 Ally Bullman Roosters 10 7 18 0 64 2024 Lara Cosgrove Raiders 7 6 20 0 64 Chelsea Savill Steelers 10 3 31 0 74 2025 Alleya Scrivens Eels 4 2 21 0 50 Alleya Scrivens Eels 7 2 30 0 68 Elise Simpson Raiders 6 3 19 0 50 2026 Ella Ropata Sharks 8 4 28 0 72 Meg McPhail Roosters 11 2 37 0 82
Media coverage Online
Selected games each week via NSWRL TV.
Corporate relations Sponsorship Westpac is the league's current naming rights partner.
Merchandising Official match day attire together with other club merchandise is sold through the NRL's stores and website as well through the clubs and through some retailers.
See also
Women's rugby league in Australia
References
External links