Poi Clark comes in over the top to tackle older sister Teina (Australia). Photo: Michaela O’Neill/179411

Plenty of girls spend their formative years playing with dolls, playing hopscotch or hosting tea parties with their stuffed animals.

But that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Certainly not the Clark sisters.

Teina (Australia) and Poi (Pacific Islands) became the first sisters to face off against each other on opposing sides when their two teams met in a Women’s Rugby League World Cup semifinal at Stockland Park last night.

Hooker Teina had the last laugh when the Australians won through to its first-ever World Cup final with a convincing 32-6 victory.

The Jillaroos will now take on traditional rivals New Zealand, who beat England 16-4 in yesterday’s other semi, in the decider at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

Australia took a 6-0 lead after just five minutes when veteran halfback Karyn Murphy grubbered and regathered from close range.

That advantage was doubled to 12-0 when second rower Deanna Turner barged over. However, the Pacific Islanders hit back six minutes later through Tina Watson to bridge the gap to 12-6.

But in the end, class eventually prevailed with the Australians running away with it in the second half.

Teina was prevalent out of dummy half for the Jillaroos all night and also kicked four goals from six attempts in difficult blustery conditions.

And, despite the fact Poi played on the wing, the sisters managed to clash a couple of times throughout the match.

Poi’s sporting talents aren’t restricted to the rugby league field. The younger of the Clark sisters also plays representative softball for New Zealand.

“It was pretty weird playing against her with us being family, but playing in the World Cup is pretty awesome,” Teina said. “We’ll probably go back to square one now and be friends; be best buddies again.

“(Saturday night is) going to be the first time Australia’s ever been in a (World Cup) final, so hopefully we’ll come away with a win.”

Despite being on the wrong end of the scoreboard last night, Poi said she’ll still be cheering for her older sibling from the grandstands.

“Why not, she’s my sister,” Poi grinned. “It was a good competition, we gave it our all and gave them a good run for their money.”

In the only negative for the Australians, Jillaroos skipper Tahnee Norris was placed on report in the second half.

AUSTRALIA 32

(Stephanie Hancock 2 Karyn Murphy, Deanna Turner, Tarah Westera, Teina Clark tries; Clark 4 conv)

PACIFIC ISLANDS 6

The maroon contingent, spurred on by a crowd of over 800, answered critics following their narrow 8-6 victory over the Blues in Game 1 at Penrith in July. The Brolgas headed into the dressing sheds at the half time interval with a 26-0 lead.

Qld's preparation for Game 2 included heading into camp a day early to help improve the team's on-field structure and organisation which was lacking in Game 1.

Queensland later dominated positions in the World Cup squad with Selectors obviously impressed with their performances which have taken place over the past 6 months. The Jillaroos will head into camp in August and September and will play some practice matches in preparation for the first of their world cup matches which kicks off in October.

QUEENSLAND 46
Tryscorers: S. Johnson 2, T. Rolfe 1, R.Kunst 1, B.Ambrum 3, T. westera 2, S.Hancock 1
Goals :S. Hancock 3

With those few words, the passionate Debbie Brewin captures the growing standing of women in rugby league.

Brewin, the current chairperson of the progressive Women and Girls Committee, is working tirelessly with her dedicated team in an effort to formalise pathways for females at an administration and playing level.

The profile of the Women and Girls Committee recently received a massive lift when highly-respected business woman Katie Page came on board as Patron.

Page, an NRL board member, has been instrumental in running the Harvey Norman Women In League Lunches.

She also attended a recent National Leadership forum for Women in Rugby League and has shown enormous support for women involved in the game.

Brewin, a staunch supporter of rugby league, is thrilled to have Page involved with the Women and Girls Committee.
The Committee, which works closely with the NRL’s One Community department, has the backing of all the major bodies.

It features representatives from the Australian Women’s Rugby League, Queensland Rugby League, NSWRL, NSW Country Rugby League, NRL One Community, ARL Development, NRL and the Australian Sports Commission.

Brewin said female participation was vital to rugby league’s development and expansion plans.

“When I was growing up, mums were in the canteen and they washed the jerseys,” Brewin said.

“Now you see women as the presidents and treasurers of clubs. They’re making decisions on how clubs are run.

“There are a lot more female coaches out there as well and we’re also seeing some really promising female referees involved in many of our major competitions.

Brewin revealed that many young girls could soon be playing in new underage competitions tailored for players in their early teens.

“We’re hoping to get some funding to implement 10-week Rugby League competitions for junior girls in various areas throughout Australia,” she said.

Stephanie Hancock knows all too well the highs and lows of growing up with a famous footballer for a father but like NSW Blues halfback Mitchell Pearce, it hasn’t stopped her from reaching the top.

The daughter of former Kangaroo and Maroons forward Rohan Hancock, Stephanie will tomorrow night play centre for Queensland when they face NSW at Penrith’s CUA Stadium in the Australian Women’s Rugby League State of Origin series.

Five members of the Australian Jillaroos squad and head coach Karen Stuart will conduct the schoolgirl coaching clinic at Campbelltown Sportsground from 10am to 2pm on Thursday.

It will then be down to business for the players as they prepare for the premier fixture of the Women’s Rugby League calendar in the National Titles.

Teams from North Queensland, South East Queensland, NSW City (Sydney), NSW Country and a Barbarians team featuring players from all over Australia are set to compete in the tournament.

The stakes will be high for all competitors with the NSW and Queensland State of Origin teams set to be selected from this event.

A two-game Origin series is set to take place on Friday June 27 at CUA Stadium in Penrith and Saturday August 9 in Queensland.

Selectors will also take the opportunity next weekend to view Jillaroos players playing in the current Australian Women’s World Cup squad.

For information on Thursday’s clinic please contact Linda Kitchen on 0400 345 274.

WHAT : Jillaroos players and coach to conduct Western Sydney schoolgirl clinic

WHERE : Campbelltown Sportsground

Be it as volunteers, coaches, managers, mums, journalists, officials or referees, Belcher developed a strong admiration for the role women play at all levels of the game during his decorated career.

Speaking on Sunday at a breakfast on the Gold Coast to celebrate the contribution of Queensland women to rugby league, Belcher emphasised the significant part females play in the game.

“Having played and coached, I’ve seen that women have a unique insight into our game,” he said.

“It is something that is important to acknowledge because without the myriad of female coaches, managers, trainers, refs, ball girls, physios, canteen ladies and board members the game wouldn’t function.

“And that’s not even mentioning the mums and grandmas who take our boys and girls to training and games each week and the hundreds of thousands of female fans who follow our game.”

About 200 women from grassroots clubs attended the breakfast, which was part of the Queensland Rugby League’s annual conference.

It was the first of the One Community-supported Women in League events for 2008 and will be followed by the Harvey Norman Women in League lunches in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Townsville in July.

Rugby League’s One Community manager Trish Crews said it was a good opportunity to recognise the important contribution women make to the game.

“It’s great that we have so many women here today so we can acknowledge the amazing work they do in the game,” Crews said.

Dubbo Rhinos Sheilas forward Kylie Pennell recently represented Australia in both rugby league and rugby union.

Kylie Pennell returned to the real world this week following the most exciting month of her life representing Australia in both rugby league and rugby union.

The first of back-to-back tours to New Zealand started on October 13 with the Australian Wallaroos producing their most competitive performances to date against the New Zealand Black Ferns in two rugby union Test matches.

Pennell made her international debut in the series coming off the bench as a prop forward.

She returned to Australia before heading back to New Zealand the following week to play for the Australian Jillaroos against the New Zealand Maoris in two rugby league Tests.

Again playing in the front row, Pennell was named Players’ Player in the 20-16 come-from-behind win in the first match.

After losing the second clash 20-4 on Saturday, Pennell returned to hometown Coonamble where she will spend just her second weekend at home since January.

“The whole experience was unreal,” Pennell said.

“It’s something I’ll treasure forever and I hope there will be more like it to come.”

She admitted that she hardly knew what she is going to do with herself now that the footy season was over.

“I looked at my diary recently and realised I had been home just one weekend since January.

“The rest has been football and now my body is telling me to take a break.

“I’ve been wondering what I’m going to do with myself on the weekends off. I will probably do a fair bit of water skiing at the weir in Coonamble.”

Pennell was struck down with the flu at the tail end of the

tour and said that her body was run down from the hectic schedule.

But she only plans to lay low for a couple of weeks and then get back into her usual training schedule in the hope of representing Australia in the Women’s Rugby League World Cup running parallel to the men’s World Cup in Brisbane next October and November.

“Last year I was in the league side but we didn’t play any tests,” Pennell said.

“I decided then that my goal was to play in the World Cup.

“Earlier this year I was doubling up on my training schedule to get fitter. It’s taken me so long to get to this stage that I don’t want to lose it all so I won’t be taking too much time off from training.”

Pennell said she had no preference between the two codes but indicated that she was looking forward to helping the Rhinos Sheilas win their third consecutive women’s rugby union Blowes Cup.

“I love playing both. I think they are very different sports, especially for a prop. In league I am the first hit-up out of the line whereas in union it is much more to do with scrums and line-outs and not so many hit-ups.”

LADIES OF LEAGUE: Orange’s Melissa McFarlane (left) and Amanda Ferguson will pull on the footy boots for today’s women’s NSW Country versus City match at Norton Park. Photo: STEVE GOSCH

Story By : MICHELLE COOK

NSW Country will take on City and Orange's Melissa McFarlane and Amanda Ferguson said it will not be a game of touch football.

The Country girls plan to muscle up against their arch rivals in a game which will be used as a selection for the NSW side.

The Orange representatives said the game will be no place for "girly" girls.

"It's a very physical game," McFarlane said. "We've got a big, physical forward pack."

"And they're not going to be scared to make the big hits," Ferguson added.

There's sure to be plenty of fire in today's game as it is a rematch of the City versus Country game which was played in Parkes in 2005.

The Country girls came out on top then and both sides will field almost unchanged line-ups for this game.

The Country backs will be just as capable as their big-hitting forwards with many of the players having played at a representative level in rugby union.

McFarlane said it is this familiarity which could pay dividends for Country in today's game.

"We're lucky within the team itself we've got little groups of people who are playing club footy together," she said.

Many of the Country players joined forces at the women's national championships in Queensland during the June long weekend where they played in the Western side.

This will be Ferguson's fifth game of league and she will play in the halves.

The 27-year-old, who has plenty of union experience, said getting back the 10 metres in defence will be her biggest challenge.

McFarlane, 26, has a few more league games under her belt and will play either on the wing or at fullback.

The game will kick off at 2pm at Norton Park.