Wallaroos lock Tiarah Minns has urged Australian rugby powerbrokers to prioritise the expansion of the Super Rugby Women’s competition, or risk the code being consumed by its flourishing rivals.

Speaking as Minister for Sport Anika Wells confirmed a $90 million injection into grassroots rugby would create new women’s leagues and expand existing competitions, Minns said the nation’s top players needed a broader program to push for international selection if they were to compete in the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Australia.

While the federal government funding will not specifically target the top-flight Super Rugby Women’s, a beefed-up grassroots product shapes as a crucial building block towards growing the competition in the future.

The Super Rugby Women’s season of just four rounds with a two-week finals system pales in comparison to countries such as England, where the Premiership Women’s Rugby is played over 20 weeks with nine teams. This has helped England feature in nine of 10 World Cup finals.

Rugby Australia has increased the Test program to at least 10 fixtures a year from 2026, but it has still grappled with player defections to the ever-growing NRLW – Caitlin Urwin (Broncos), Ashley Marsters (Cowboys) and Layne Morgan (Eels) among the union stars to take up league from 2026.

Minns feared that if Australian rugby did not grow alongside rugby league, more players could be lost and the Wallaroos would struggle to replicate “the Matildas effect” – alluding to the surge in soccer participation and interest after the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

She told this masthead the allure of being able to train and play as full-time professional athletes was a key drawcard of other sports, and rugby needed to accelerate that path towards 2029.

“If they’re offering more money and there are more games, it’s the dream for a lot of girls. If they’re not in Wallaroos, it’s hard for that to be full-time, so I do think if we don’t grow … we could lose girls over time, and I think we’re seeing it more and more,” Minns said.

“I trust Rugby Australia are going to invest in ways that are going to help support the girls, so there is more percentage of the girls who are able to go full-time and don’t have to work, and that attraction of going to league is lessened.

“I think there’s an appreciation that everything costs money, but I think there are definitely ways we can grow that calendar. We need more games to be able to grow that skill level.

“The talent is there. In Australia, we’re very blessed, we have a lot of athletic talent … I think just the next step from there is getting the skill level up a bit more. The more games you have, the more training camps you have, the more you can grow.”

Minns confirmed several members of the Wallaroos squad intended to play overseas to get those extra games under their belts ahead of the World Cup.

Rugby Australia chief Phil Waugh believes the Albanese government funding will begin to lay the foundation for the game to eventually grow the Super Rugby Women’s season.

“We know the length of the competition isn’t ideal at the moment. We are playing 10 Tests per year with our Wallaroos, which is a considerable investment at that international level, so we’ll be accelerating that investment into ensuring we can reach that goal [of going deep into the World Cup] in 2029,” he said.

“You need to ensure that pathway of playing in the community game right through to the opportunity to travel and be in the international game with the Wallaroos … is well invested, and we’re right on that path.”

The early program rollouts of the Australian Legacy funding have already generated an 8 per cent increase in female participation.

The funding will also go towards women’s facility upgrades and the creation of courses to help more women and girls become coaches, referees and officials.

According to an AusPlay survey funded and led by the Australian Sports Commission, 39 per cent of Australians aged 15 and over who participated as a sports official in 2025 were women. However, that figure is not represented across the higher levels.

Of the 44 clubs in the four women’s football codes – Super Rugby Women’s, NRLW, AFLW and A-League Women’s – only five head coaches are female: Karyn Murphy (NRLW), Tamara Hyett, Lisa Webb, Daisy Pearce, and Natalie Wood (AFLW).

The federal government said the funding would also help deliver both Rugby World Cups – with the men’s 2027 showcase in Australia expected to generate more than $2 billion – while continuing to aid the Pacific Legacy program, which now operates in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

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