A REPRESENTATIVE presence in Sydney, a dedicated junior competition and replacing league tag as the main competition for women in the Western region - that is the future Mick Roels envisages for women's rugby league.
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As president of the Panorama Platypi and coach of their under 16s, Roels has witnessed the growth of, and talent within, the Western Women's Rugby League competition.
He was relieved at the decision to postpone the fourth edition of the competition to early 2022 rather than cancel it, Roels saying it is important clubs across the Western region continue to work on growth.
He feels if that trend continues, bigger things lie in wait.
"It will take a few years I'd say, but we will end up doing a swap with league tag I think because of the popularity of the game," he said.
"It will get to that point eventually, we are looking at four-five years, so we've just got to keep building up the base of kids coming through."
The introduction of an under 12s age group, joining the already existing under 14s, 16s, 18s and opens is something Roels sees an an important step.
The introduction of that age group comes after a handful of clubs fielded non-compulsory 'development' teams last season.
"Having the 12s will be good, it means we get the 10-11-12 year-olds in and involved. That way you get them starting earlier and they can build up their skills as they come through," he said.
"It's a really good thing, people realised there were younger girls that wanted to play, they could only play up until 12s with the boys and that it was only the girls that were really serious.
"The girls that were a bit on the fringe or smaller than the boys, they didn't want to get knocked about by the boys, that's why under 12s is a good starting point for us.
"I think it will get to the point where will will have a younger comp for the girls on Saturday like they have for the boys, 10s, 12s, 14s, 16s and then the 18s and opens will play on a Sunday with Group 10-Group 11.
"The more we build it, the more likely that will be."
Another step that lies ahead would be the expansion of the Western Rams representative program. Again it is something Roels is passionate about - he knows there are plenty of Platypi players who would relish the opportunity to further test themselves.
"I'm still trying to try and get a Rams team into the representative side of things down in Sydney, I think they are getting sick of me asking," he laughed.
"Tarsha Gale and the Harvey Norman Women's, I know the Rams are trying to get something happening there and have a representative team playing in those competitions.
"I hope that eventually gets here, we've got a lot of talent out here with the girls that are playing in this competition."
As for the fourth edition of WWRL, Roels said it has been confirmed players will be permitted to remain in the age divisions they initially registered for.
"It's good for us to keep the age groups we would've had for this year ... everyone is already registered and in sides, so everything is already set," he said.
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