NRLW: Canberra Raiders embrace blue shorts, inclusive language in NRLW evolution

From the attention to detail in their playing kit, to their Braddon facilities, new dressing rooms at Canberra Stadium and the focus on improving the language used around women's footy, it's the little things that go a long way.

"You can definitely tell the club cares about us, 100 per cent," Raiders winger Madison Bartlett told The Canberra Times ahead of their season-opener in Cronulla on Sunday.

"From the moment we came in they've done nothing but support us and had everything ready down to the little things that some people wouldn't consider.

"Like in the recovery rooms they put a curtain where we get our physio done, just so that if we did happen to cross over with the men's team, we have privacy.

"Some clubs wouldn't have ever thought of that."

In their inaugural season the Raiders women will run out in fitted kits, not just small-sized men's jerseys, and they won't have white shorts, but blue.

White shorts aren't an issue in the men's game but for women in sport, choosing coloured shorts has proven to make women more comfortable while playing, especially during menstruation.

At the club's lavish NRLW season launch at the National Arboretum last month, when speaking about the journey to date for women's footy, former Jillaroo and current board member Katrina Fanning also emphasised the importance of language in the modern game.

For instance the first Raiders NRLW home game on July 29 will be promoted not as a curtain-raiser alongside the NRL fixture, but as a double-header.

They're things that weren't always considered by rugby league clubs in the past though are now encouraged to promote greater inclusivity.

Bartlett said some women may "not have known any better" to call out past inequalities, or "feared" speaking up, but having found their voice - and with people more willing to listen - times have changed.

"It is really appreciated," the former Warriors, Dragons and Titans star said.

"It does take people that have been around the game for so long, like Katrina, for us to actually appreciate how much has changed.

"Now for the younger girls coming through, that can be their norm.

"Even that season launch, I've been a part of a few NRLW clubs and that's the first time that a club has put on something really big like that."

Embracing the culture change like the Raiders have is part of what made moving to the club so attractive to Bartlett and many of her teammates, and it's those values the entire staff and squad are leaning into to establish themselves in the NRLW, as one of four new expansion teams.

"We want people in other clubs looking at our team being like, 'We want to be in that club'," Bartlett said.

"Young girls in this region, they can now see this pathway straight into the NRLW. I don't think a lot of the team realise yet how important this is for them."

Raiders and NSW Sky Blues lock Simaima Taufa has been one of the stars of the NRLW since year one in 2018.

She noted other inclusive milestones for the women, such as the formerly named Interstate Challenge, rebranded since 2018 as Women's State of Origin alongside the iconic men's clash.

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"It's not segregated, we feel included now," Taufa said.

"There's a saying that we have in the NRLW that it's the same game, but we play it our way.

"I think we're changing the mindset of people to be so accepting, and we feel that here at Canberra.

"I feel so proud we're carrying the past players on our shoulders. We'll continue to push forward and I'm excited to see what it will look like in the next couple years past my time."

The women are still fighting for changes within footy, and the latest Rugby League Players Association-led media boycott over the new collective bargaining agreement is proving they're not afraid to make a stand alongside NRL players, even in what is the biggest week in NRLW history.

The limited player media availability under the boycott has sucked some air out of what should be a week dominated by NRLW headlines, with the competition's season launch originally arranged for Tuesday in Sydney cancelled.

But players remain committed to stick to the action to have an improved CBA for the men and women.

Sunday: Cronulla Sharks v Canberra Raiders, Shark Park, 1.50pm.

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