Penrith Panthers is pleased to announce the club’s entry into the Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership from the 2025 season.
The Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership is the NSWRL’s premier women’s open-age competition, developing female players for the national stage.
Panthers is dedicated to building a strong and successful Women’s program. From 2025, the club will boast a team in the Lisa Fiaola Cup (Under-17s), Tarsha Gale Cup (Under-19s) and Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership (Open Age).
Aligned with the club’s built-from-within philosophy, Panthers will develop local talent to provide female players with a pathway into the club’s future inclusion in the NRLW competition.
Panthers is also excited to announce that 18 women’s players have signed contracts with the Panthers to play in the Lisa Fiaola Cup and Tarsha Gale Cup next season.
The club will hold open trials for the Lisa Fiaola (4.30pm) and Tarsha Gale (6.45pm) programs for season 2025 on Wednesday, 11th September at Doug Rennie Oval.
Women’s rugby league is the fastest-growing segment of the game with female participation across Panthers Juniors up 34 percent this year.
“Entry into the Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership is another exciting step for the women’s pathways program at the club,” Panthers Rugby League CEO Matt Cameron said.
“Women's rugby league is thriving in the Panthers district, and as a club, we want to ensure that junior players have a pathway to the highest level.”
Panthers is dedicated on building the women’s game from the bottom up. We are ensuring the right pathway across the women’s game in our district and investing in developing local talent.
Panthers General Manager of Rugby League Shane Elford
The club is pleased to announce experienced coach Karen Stuart as the inaugural Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership head coach.
Stuart has a wealth of rugby league experience, having played and coached at the highest level. The former international represented Queensland and the Jillaroos during her playing career, before progressing to coaching, in which she led Queensland, New South Wales and Australia.
The former Jillaroo has worked with the Panthers over the past two seasons as the inaugural head coach of the Panthers Rugby League Women’s (PRLW) in 2023 and Tarsha Gale Cup this season.
