Canberra Raiders set to enter NRLW in 2023 in a dream come true for the region's female players

A new chapter in the club's history is under way, with it committing to a 2023 NRLW bid and growing the pathway to the top by increasing the Katrina Fanning Shield competition from seven to nine teams in 2022.

Katrina Fanning herself dreamed of donning a lime green jersey, and in two years it could become a reality for the next generation.

"A lot of people don't understand the history of women's rugby league in Canberra. In fact, the Jillaroos [and] national championships all started out of here," she said.

"It went through a bit of a tough time, but to see the competition growing again here, and the legacy of being able to play at the most elite level in green, is a dream come true, and I'm not even going to get to play."

Next year the shield will include two new teams in Riverina and the South Coast. The expansion will act as a talent identification for the future Raiders side and is part of Canberra Region Rugby League's bid to create a hub in the region.

The hub will aim to keep local players in Canberra, attract southern NSW players and build a direct pathway from juniors all the way through to the NRLW.

"For growing regions like ours, we need to do this investment now to make sure that we don't get left behind, and that the talent that exists here at home gets the opportunity," Fanning said.

"When I was playing there were no female athletes to aspire to. Women who are playing in our region now certainly have those but they don't have them close enough to home. This pathway will keep much more talent closer to home and will give the people who want to play here in Canberra a much better quality of game to participate in."

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Two players who know all too well how the game has grown in the female space are Yass Magpies player Hollie Massey and Raiders' Tarsha Gale Cup player Makayla Morris - who both had to give up the sport after under-12s before female competitions were developed.

Morris dreamed of running out in a lime green jersey since she was a little girl, and now it's a step closer thanks to the Raiders' NRLW bid.

"I always think about it. I get goosebumps thinking about it," she said.

"I grew up on the coast and down the coast there's not much league at all. I had to grow up playing league tag, because we had to stop playing when we were 12. I made the sacrifice to move to Canberra when I was 17 and knowing that the pathway is now just growing even more, it's so exciting."

Massey has been playing in the shield since its inception in 2017, and said the competition had continued to grow in strength and size.

"When I played footy, I had to stop at 13 because I couldn't play with the boys any longer," she said.

"Now girls have been able to play all the way through ... so it's really exciting times.

"These younger girls are getting so much exposure to the footy, they're getting way more hands on the footy than girls my age definitely did."

The ACT government is on board with the 2023 bid, which will likely cost between $600,000 to $700,000 for a Canberra NRLW licence.

The Raiders were confident the NRL would approve their license bid, as the club's chief executive Don Furner said it would be unusual for it not to be accepted given their pathways, player growth in the region and facilities.

He said financially, and facility-wise, they were in a better position than three to four years ago - they just needed to start to recruit talent.

"It was the same for the Raiders 40 years ago. They had to convince young people to move to Canberra to take part in and play for a team that was new. We're going to find jobs for them. We're going to find an accommodation for them. It'll be a start up year, it'll be a tough year," Furner said.

"A big thing about building this Centre of Excellence is that you want them not to have to go to Sydney to to achieve their dreams.

"Recruiting a couple of big-name players, [like] a Millie Boyle for example, would be like recruiting a Mal Meninga when we started. They attract other players and you need that to get started."

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