It was a special reunion for Mark Nicholls when the Dolphins played Canberra in Round 8, with his family there not only to cheer him on, but also to support his sister Claire, the Raiders physio.
As the two clubs prepare for their respective Women in League matches, Nicholls spoke of the pride he felt in seeing his sister working with his former club, and how people like Claire continue to inspire others to take on roles across the game.
“My sister growing up was really good at swimming – she's two years younger than me, she left the family home when she was 15-16 – and went to Terrigal when we as a family were living in Canberra to pursue her dreams of becoming an Olympic swimmer and studied while she was doing that,” Nicholls said.
“She got close, but it didn't quite work out and then finished her physio degree in her mid-twenties. She was in Perth doing that ... and then had an opportunity to go to Wollongong and was doing NRLW with the Dragons for a few years and practice work; then an opportunity came up at Canberra.
“She initially she went to fill in for one of their physios for a pre-season because they went overseas and then she was doing the NRLW team when they came into the comp and they were really impressed with what she did.
“Now, she's full-time with the men which is pretty cool. I've played NRL for 15 years and I've never had a female physio at the club working with the men's team, so I'm pretty proud of her in that regard.
“I know there has been women physios at other clubs, so she's certainly not the first, but I don't think there's been many in the past.
“And the fact that it's the club that I started at, Canberra. I know from being there they are really big on tradition and history and honouring past players.
“They put my Raiders number #309 on her training gear which I think it's pretty cool.
“The family got a bit of a kick out of that when she told us and like I said, I’m pretty proud of her … and think it'd be great for my sister to get the recognition she deserves.”
For Claire, while Women in League Round is a great way to celebrate the diversity of female involvement in the no.1 sporting code in Australia and the Pacific, there was still work to do to encourage more women to take on and continue in footballing roles.
“There are more opportunities there … but they still seem to be filled with men in a lot of spaces and it is still tricky for females to do that role,” Claire said.
“I have seen a few friends, physios, start and then have to pull back because of motherhood and so it is still a bit of a balancing act and you have to sacrifice a few things.
“But there are definitely more opportunities. Not everyone can be an athlete, but you still love sports, you want to be involved.
“I get excited when I see there's another female on the other team or even in Jersey Flegg, there's a few floating around, and we've got a couple in our SG Ball side too.
"Our juniors are filled with females in that physio capacity, so it is exciting to see other females run in a shirt.
“I think Women in League Round is good … but we probably do need to do more still to highlight (women’s involvement in the game). I think it gets lost with how many females are involved in the game.
“Sometimes you don’t really see them, there's a lot behind the scenes.
“I think we need to do more to showcase that as well and to show appreciation for that, because the game wouldn't be run if we didn't have all those females doing all that other admin, marketing, ticketing, game day events, all that stuff.
“I think we underappreciate that sometimes.”
For Mark - also affectionately known as 'The Goat' - as well as seeing people like Claire succeeding in off-field roles, witnessing the growing popularity of women’s rugby league was heartening, with he and wife Perrie raising some potential NRLW players of the future.
“At the Dolphins, football-wise, we have Abby (Ryan, NRL sports scientist) who does our GPS stuff, and then we have Zara (Nance, NRL sports dietitian); we have a lot more women in the administration side of the club in terms of day-to-day football," Nicholls said.
"I know the club is pretty keen to get an NRLW team up and running … there's plans for bigger and better facilities and certainly, I think the women's team is a priority.
“Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money, but both Mum and Dad always put us kids first and gave us every chance to make our dreams come true, which being a dad now, you can appreciate more.
“As a kid, Mum was always the rock of the family and I played footy because my Dad and my Uncle played footy and I just wanted to be like them, but Mum was the one that drove us around everywhere and helped us that way.
“Now I've got two young girls and my wife's my biggest supporter and we jokingly say that I was a reserve grader until I met my wife Perrie. Wayne (Bennett) tries to claim that it was him that turned my career around, but it was actually Perrie.
“(But) knowing that my girls now have a genuine pathway if they want to play rugby league is exciting.
“When I was a kid, girls had to play with us and then they got to a certain age where they just couldn't play with us at all.
“Redcliffe Touch run four-week programs at the moment and my eldest Darcie has done that a couple of times now, and my youngest Macie is trying it. They put their boots and gear on and go down to that, but Under 6s at Dolphins is when they start playing games where you train during the week and play on the weekends.
“We will look at sending Darcie at this stage, she wants to do that which will be good fun.
“At the age of four, they do drills and bullrush, but bullrush where they can score tries and seeing her get so excited to score a try; it's funny because obviously her Dad’s the same, I enjoy scoring a try as much as she does.”
