# Tarsha Gale Cup

The Tarsha Gale Cup is an elite under-19s Women's rugby league competition in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The competition was named after former captain of Australia and current NRLW commentator, Tarsha Gale, in honour of her impact on Women's rugby league as a pioneer of the sport.
In 2017, the New South Wales Rugby League announced the creation of a nine-a-side under-18s women's league, named the Tarsha Gale Nines after the former Australian Jillaroos and New South Wales captain of the 1990s.
The tournament changed to eleven-a-side in the 2019.
Since 2020, the tournament has been played as a full 13-a-side game.
In the 2021 season, the age group changed from under-18s to under-19s. The equivalent competition for males, the S.G. Ball Cup, was also changed from under-18s to under-19s at this time.
The Tarsha Gale Cup is the main bridge between juniors and the NSWRL Women's Premiership in the state of New South Wales.

## Clubs

The Tarsha Gale Cup operates on a single table system, with no divisions, conferences nor promotion and relegation from other leagues. In 2018, the St. George Dragons and the Newcastle Knights entered teams into the competition for the first time.

### Current clubs

| Club | Established | City | Stadium |
| Canberra Raiders | 1981 | Canberra, ACT | Raiders Club, Belconnen |
| Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 1934 | Belmore, NSW | Belmore Sports Ground |
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 1967 | Woolooware, NSW | PointsBet Stadium |
| Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 1946 | Brookvale, NSW | 4 Pines Park |
| Illawarra Steelers | 1981 | Wollongong, NSW | Collegians Sporting Complex, Figtree Sid Parrish Park, Figtree |
| Newcastle Knights | 1987 | Newcastle, NSW | Maitland Sports Ground Cessnock Sports Ground Kurri Kurri Sports Ground |
| North Sydney Bears | 1908 | North Sydney, NSW | North Sydney Oval |
| Parramatta Eels | 1947 | Cabramatta, NSW | New Era Stadium |
| Penrith Panthers | 1967 | Penrith, NSW | BlueBet Stadium, Windsor Sporting Complex |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 1908 | Redfern, NSW | Ironmark High Performance Centre |
| St George Dragons | 1921 | Kogarah, NSW | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium Mascot Oval |
| Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy | 1908 | Marrickville | Henson Park Mascot Oval Morry Breen Oval, Kanwal |
| Wests Tigers | 1999* | Concord, NSW | Leichhardt Oval Kirkham Oval, Camden Wests Tigers Centre of Excellence |

## Season structure
### Pre-season

Prior to the commencement of the home-and-away season teams are paired off to play an exhibition trial match. In 2017 these matches took place during varying weeks of January.

### Grand final

The two highest-place teams at the conclusion of the home-and-away season will qualify for the grand final. The winner of this match is determined the competition's premier.

## Results by year

| Year | Age | Premiers | Score | Runners-up | Minor Premiers | Wooden Spoon | Notes |
| 2017 | U18s | Penrith Panthers | 26 – 18 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Wests Tigers | |
| 2018 | U18s | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 36 – 22 | Newcastle Knights | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | |
| 2019 | U18s | Illawarra Steelers | 24 – 12 | Newcastle Knights | Illawarra Steelers | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | |
| 2020 | U18s | Season began in February but was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No premiership was awarded. | Season began in February but was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No premiership was awarded. | Season began in February but was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No premiership was awarded. | Season began in February but was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No premiership was awarded. | Season began in February but was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No premiership was awarded. | Season began in February but was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No premiership was awarded. |
| 2021 | U19s | St George Dragons | 30 – 4 | Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy | Newcastle Knights | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | |
| 2022 | U19s | Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy | 12 – 10 | Newcastle Knights | Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy | South Sydney Rabbitohs | |
| 2023 | U19s | Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy | 26 - 24 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Wests Tigers | |
| 2024 | U19s | Illawarra Steelers | 24 – 12 | Newcastle Knights | Illawarra Steelers | St George Dragons | |

## Premiership tally

| No. | Club | Seasons |
| 1 | Indigenous Academy | 2 (2022, 2023) |
| 1 | Illawarra Steelers | 2 (2019, 2024) |
| 3 | St George Dragons | 1 (2021) |
| 3 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 1 (2018) |
| 3 | Penrith Panthers | 1 (2017) |
Bold means the team still currently plays in the competition.

## Awards

The following major individual awards and accolades are presented each season

### Player of the Series

| Year | Player | Club | Ref |
| 2018 | Madison Higgins-Ashby | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | |
| 2019 | Maddison Weatherall | Illawarra Steelers | |
| 2020 | Not Awarded | Not Awarded | Not Awarded |
| 2021 | Fatafehi Hanisi | St George Dragons | |
| 2022 | Otesa Pule | Indigenous Academy Sydney Roosters | |
| 2023 | Alexis Tauaneai | Canterbury Bulldogs | |
| 2024 | Kasey Reh | Illawarra Steelers | |

### Grand Final Player of the Match

| Year | Player | Club | Ref |
| 2017 | Ashlee Harrison | Penrith Panthers | |
| 2018 | Madison Higgins-Ashby | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | |
| 2019 | Teagan Berry | Illawarra Steelers | |
| 2020 | Not Awarded | Not Awarded | Not Awarded |
| 2021 | Rayven-Jodeci Boyce | St George Dragons | |
| 2022 | Otesa Pule | Indigenous Academy Sydney Roosters | |
| 2023 | Tavarna Papalii | Canterbury Bulldogs | |
| 2024 | Indie Bostock | Illawarra Steelers | |

## Top scorers
### Tries

| Year | Excluding Finals | Excluding Finals | Excluding Finals | Excluding Finals | Including Finals | Including Finals | Including Finals | Including Finals |
| Year | Player | Club | Matches | Tries | Player | Club | Matches | Tries |
| 2017 | Tayla Preston | Sharks | 8 | 12 | Tayla Preston | Sharks | 11 | 16 |
| 2017 | Page McGregor | Bulldogs | 4 | 12 | Lilly-Rose Bennett | Steelers | 7 | 16 |
| 2018 | Maddison Weatherall | Steelers | 9 | 19 | Faith Nathan | Sharks | 7 | 26 |
| 2019 | Maddison Weatherall | Steelers | 8 | 13 | Maddison Weatherall | Steelers | 12 | 17 |
| 2019 | Mareva Swann | Dragons | 9 | 13 | Maddison Weatherall | Steelers | 12 | 17 |
| 2020 | Teagan Berry | Steelers | 4 | 11 | No Finals Series | No Finals Series | No Finals Series | No Finals Series |
| 2020 | Bienne Terita | Dragons | 5 | 11 | No Finals Series | No Finals Series | No Finals Series | No Finals Series |
| 2021 | Teagan Berry | Steelers | 8 | 11 | Teagan Berry | Steelers | 9 | 11 |
| 2022 | Otesa Pule | Roosters | 7 | 12 | Otesa Pule | Roosters | 9 | 13 |
| 2023 | Mia-Rose Walsh | Steelers | 8 | 9 | Mia-Rose Walsh | Steelers | 10 | 10 |
| 2023 | Litia Fusi | Bulldogs | 8 | 9 | Mia-Rose Walsh | Steelers | 10 | 10 |
| 2024 | Indie Bostock | Steelers | 7 | 13 | Indie Bostock | Steelers | 9 | 15 |
Notes:
* Players' tries and matches were tallied offline from match statistics for seasons 2018 to 2024 available on the NSWRL website and sorted to determine the top try scorers.
* For the 2017 season, tries were collated from scores published on the NSWRL and League Unlimited websites. For example: Round 2 on League Unlimited and Round 3 on NSWRL.

### Points

| Year | Excluding Finals | Excluding Finals | Excluding Finals | Excluding Finals | Excluding Finals | Excluding Finals | Excluding Finals | Including Finals | Including Finals | Including Finals | Including Finals | Including Finals | Including Finals | Including Finals |
| Year | Player | Club | M | T | G | FG | Points | Player | Club | M | T | G | FG | Points |
| 2017 | Page McGregor | Bulldogs | 4 | 12 | 16 | 0 | 80 | Page McGregor | Bulldogs | 5 | 14 | 16 | 0 | 88 |
| 2018 | Quincy Dodd | Sharks | 8 | 12 | 55 | 0 | 158 | Quincy Dodd | Sharks | 10 | 13 | 63 | 0 | 178 |
| 2019 | Sereana Naitokatoka | Dragons | 8 | 5 | 29 | 0 | 78 | Sereana Naitokatoka | Dragons | 10 | 6 | 37 | 0 | 98 |
| 2020 | Bienne Terita | Dragons | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 50 | No Finals Series | No Finals Series | No Finals Series | No Finals Series | No Finals Series | No Finals Series | No Finals Series |
| 2021 | Ruby Smith | Roosters | 8 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 44 | Ruby Smith | Roosters | 11 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 50 |
| 2021 | Teagan Berry | Steelers | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 44 | Ruby Smith | Roosters | 11 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 50 |
| 2022 | Alysha Bell | Eels | 6 | 2 | 24 | 0 | 56 | Alysha Bell | Eels | 7 | 2 | 25 | 0 | 58 |
| 2023 | Ally Bullman | Roosters | 8 | 7 | 18 | 0 | 64 | Ally Bullman | Roosters | 10 | 7 | 18 | 0 | 64 |
| 2024 | Lara Cosgrove | Raiders | 7 | 6 | 20 | 0 | 64 | Chelsea Savill | Steelers | 10 | 3 | 31 | 0 | 74 |

## Media coverage
### Television

TBA

### Online

Selected games each week via NSWRL TV.

## Corporate relations
### Sponsorship

Westpac is the league's current naming rights partner.

### Merchandising

Official match day attire together with other club merchandise is sold through the NRL's stores and website as well through the clubs and through some retailers.