You can see the glint in Cheyelle Robins-Reti's eyes as soon as the doors open.
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Space to the left. Space to the right. A room so new you can still smell the paint, and with tools scattered in different corners as the finishing touches go on before a blockbuster double on Saturday.
"So much space," Robins-Reti grins. "A bit of an upgrade from last week - a space to call our own."
You'll soon understand why Canberra Raiders recruit Robins-Reti is smiling ahead of the club's first NRLW home game this weekend.
A week ago she and her teammates were jammed into a small room at Cronulla for the club's historic NRLW debut, barely room to stretch let alone warm up. They shared portable toilets and portable showers as NRL venues play catch up to cater for elite female athletes.
Now she's deep in the bowels of Canberra Stadium, somewhere underneath the Meninga Stand in a room that until recently was largely forgotten about and unused.
Venues Canberra and the ACT government have been racing the clock for the past two months to complete the $850,000 transformation from dark and dingy to the engine room of the Raiders women.
![Cheyelle Robins-Reti, centre, with Raiders boss Ron Furner and Venues Canberra's Jared Rando at the new change room facilities. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Cheyelle Robins-Reti, centre, with Raiders boss Ron Furner and Venues Canberra's Jared Rando at the new change room facilities. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/j2iwCiKfwhVWJky39Vsdpt/6b74fd3e-4327-4ca2-9b43-0a9c2f87a605.jpg/r0_0_4202_2297_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The days of female rugby league and rugby union players needing to walk from the stadium to the AIS to get changed are over. They are now where they belong.
"We've had amazing support from the Raiders. It shows how valued we are by the club, to have brand new rooms for our first game is awesome. It adds to the build up of that first game," Robins-Reti said.
"From day dot when we had our first get together, the board members came in and we got to know them. To have their support from the top and all the way down to us made us feel a part of it. We don't feel like we're a women's team filling the gap. We feel like we're all together."
The Raiders will play their first home game in the NRLW when they host the powerhouse Sydney Roosters at 12.50pm on Saturday. The Raiders men will then play against the Newcastle Knights at 3pm.
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The club is hoping fans will charge through the gates early to watch the women's game, setting a crowd target of almost 7000 by the end of the NRLW match to eclipse the attendance of the men's first game in 1982.
The game will coincide with women in league round, and the men's team will wear a replica NRLW jersey to pay tribute to the newest members of the Green Machine family.
EMBRACING WOMEN IN LEAGUE
The women's team is unchanged for the round-two clash after showing glimpses of potential in an opening-round loss to the Sharks.
Robins-Reti has already embraced Canberra, leading the team in a viking clap post-try celebration after Madison Bartlett scored the first try in the club's history last week.
"It was a bit of a rusty start in our first game, but we have a team to come back and come out strong on Saturday," Robins-Reti said.
"There's a lot of talk about making history for the club. We tried not to think about that too much, but it was definitely exciting. We had to embrace the moment and it was great, now it's about trying to get that first win."
Robins-Reti was a New Zealand rugby union star when the Raiders lured her to Canberra. She's used to playing in front of a handful of fans and using outdated facilities.
But the Raiders wanted to make sure their women's players were treated equally, which is why they asked the government to intervene when there were fears the ageing Canberra Stadium may not be able to cater for elite men's and women's fixtures on the same day.
![Raiders boss Don Furner and women's player Cheyelle Robins-Reti check out the new ice baths. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Raiders boss Don Furner and women's player Cheyelle Robins-Reti check out the new ice baths. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/j2iwCiKfwhVWJky39Vsdpt/5d3aadd0-2a47-4d05-96b6-3f4eed5ca5c5.jpg/r0_46_4181_2452_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
When the ACT Brumbies hosted the men's and women's NSW Waratahs teams for games earlier this year, the women had to get changed at the AIS. When the visitors tried to get in after the game, they were locked out.
That scenario is part of the reason why the NRL has been so vocal in its criticism of Canberra Stadium at a Senate inquiry into promoting the national capital. In its submission, the NRL says Canberra's stadium is more like a regional venue than a capital city destination.
The ACT government has been investing in the asset, despite it being owned by the Australian Sports Commission. The main change rooms have been updated over the past three years to bring them up to standard, with a $500,000 injection to make them female friendly.
But knowing the requirements of doubleheaders, the Raiders needed a new space and an inconspicuous door at the end of a hallway provided the answer.
Now the rooms are fitted out with locker rooms, individual safes for players, ice baths, showers, strapping rooms and all the broadcast and wiring requirements for television.
"There was nothing here in here before. They gutted all of it made it something that could be used, it's great," said Raiders chief executive Don Furner.
"I want to thank the ACT government for jumping straight on to this. ACT Sport Minister Yvette Berry has always been a big supporter of women's sport and what we can see here today is way better than what we saw last weekend.
"It dovetails into the larger plans to grow the game because the women deserve the same facility, and this is top notch for our girls to be the first to use it this weekend.
![Venues Canberra staff were still putting the finishing touches on the change rooms on Tuesday. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Venues Canberra staff were still putting the finishing touches on the change rooms on Tuesday. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/j2iwCiKfwhVWJky39Vsdpt/f6af4e63-877d-44d4-980d-865b7b251954.jpg/r0_104_4256_2828_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"The players have been part of design changes we have been making at Braddon. We approached the government and said the change rooms had to change to meet minimum requirements, and they jumped right on it. It does feel special to come in here."
The need for the quick fix does highlight the urgency in Canberra's ongoing stadium debate. The $1.35 million spent on change room upgrades alone is a significant chunk of money at an almost 50-year-old stadium.
The government has commissioned a new feasibility study into a major upgrade to Canberra Stadium, or building a new stadium at Bruce, as the latest twist on a 14-year journey.
The existing venue, however, is expected to be used for at least the next decade, which is why the change room upgrades were a necessity.
"Most NRL clubs have had a centre of excellence built in the past five years or so. It becomes a bit of an arms race in the competition for talent," Furner said.
"Young men and women have choices. We want the young women of this region and in country towns to come here, to not think they have to go to Sydney for better facilities.
"For our girls this is appreciated and it's up to scratch. It's as good as any other code."
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