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The National Women's Rugby League Premiership continues to position itself as the premier rugby code in Australia with an ongoing influx of rugby 7s players opting to compete in the 2024 season. Prior to the season starting the Parramatta Eels announced the signing of Rosie Kelly, an accomplished New Zealand Black Fern. But since the season has started and particularly following the conclusion of the Paris Olympic Games there has been a stream of players from both the Australian and New Zealand 7s teams including Tenika Willison (Newcastle Knights), Tyla King (St George Illawarra Dragons), Stacey Waaka (Brisbane Broncos) and Sharni Smale (Cronulla Sharks). The announcements just keep coming too. Last Friday, Dominique du Toit, who announced her retirement from rugby 7s at the conclusion of the Paris Olympic Games has also joined the Sharks.  These women join a host of others who either have former 7s or rugby union experience at a national level including Emma Tonegato, Millie Elliot, Grace Kemp, Evania Pelite and Gayle Broughton. So often the two rugby codes are pitted in competition against each other with code wars constantly dominating the news headlines. But for the women's game, my view is that the codes should work together as the inclusion of these athletes in the NRLW is mutually beneficial. There's no doubt that having these athletes as part of the NRLW lifts the standard of the competition. Particularly for many women who have been part of the Australian 7s set-up, which has been a professional environment since 2015, there is a standard of excellence to their preparation, fitness and execution which they bring to the competition.  Tonegato is a good example of this and is recognised as one of the most electrifying players in the NRLW. Pelite is another player in a similar mould, recognised as one of the strongest ball runners in the competition. The addition of Stacey Waaka to the Broncos for 2024 has also coincided with their improved form. Alongside their traditional attacking weapons of Ali Brigginshaw and Gyale Broughton, Waaka has acted as another option and has had a big impact in her first three games. I still remember her soaring through the air to catch a Brigginshaw bomb in her first game and being amazed that she had never played rugby league before. So what's the benefit to rugby union and rugby 7s of having their players compete in what is a rival competition?  Neither set of athletes are fulltime professionals. So, if the two seasons (whether it be 7s or the Super W) are running at different times of the year to the NRLW, with limited overlap, it means players are able to supplement their income. Rather than drawing a salary just from the NRLW, the players can also draw a salary from rugby union. This immediately means there is less pressure on these athletes financially; many of whom are already juggling being elite athletes with work, study and family commitments. Whilst it's also important to keep the pressure on the sports to improve pay and playing conditions, to have athletes supplementing their income would surely make both codes breathe a sigh of relief. It also means that these athletes are in high-performance environments for most of the year. Rather than decentralising the players and relying on them to complete their own training in their home environments, the athletes have access to facilities and staff to help them manage their training loads. At the moment both codes seem to be working together quietly, but I would like to see this happen more overtly. We should be encouraging athletes to compete in both competitions if they want to. If players are competing in two seasons, it would also give both codes the opportunity to get an insight into challenges which may arise as the women's seasons get longer in future. No doubt as competitions grow and we increase the load on the players, there will be some challenges. This gives us the chance to front run them. If players are playing both rugby union and rugby league, in the end not only does the quality of the competition improve, not only does it benefit the players, but the fans also get the chance to see some of the best athletes in the world playing rugby league. For me, there's only upside right now, but it requires pens down on code wars and encouragement from the governing bodies to players and clubs to work together. I'm all for it.
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