The first of many: The inaugural Wallaroos reunite 30 years on

Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 9:33 AM
Jim Tucker - Wallaroos Match Day Program

It never mattered to the pioneers of 1994 that their Wallaroos jerseys were billowy, ill-fitting men’s versions because of the history they were creating.

For the first Wallaroos, the significance of running out against the Black Ferns that September day at North Sydney Oval has only grown in the years since.

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“We all felt the enormity of being the first and being part of something that had never been done before,” said Bronwyn McArthur (nee Hart), a forward in that first team.

“We got to start something and I feel the pride now when I watch the current Wallaroos with their phenomenal skills, their televised games and playing the number of Tests they do.”

Libby Andrew began a Wallaroos career at flanker that stretched to 12 Tests through until 2002.

Sport is nothing without its history and for a long time the history of the Wallaroos was passed down verbally like it might have been in the 17th century.

Andrew is putting the finishing touches on a book, Wallaroo 19, a personal reflection of the decade in which she played when women’s rugby was in its infancy in Australia.

It will be a hugely valuable addition just as the gathering of “OGs” will be at a function on Sunday before the kick-off to the Wallaroos v Black Ferns Test at Ballymore Stadium. Memorabilia has been pulled out of old suitcases and cupboards that has been untouched for years.

“OGs” stands for “Old Girls”, a playful term of reverence for ex-Wallaroos from the early days.

It didn’t really matter that the Wallaroos were matched out of their league in that 1994 Test when beaten 37-0 by a Kiwi side with far more playing history.

Selena Worsley (nee Tranter) was a mere 19 on debut and had played her first game of 15-a-side rugby just a few months earlier. She became a whirlwind at flanker for a decade and a half as the first legend of Wallaroos rugby in her 24 Tests.

It’s her image jumping in a lineout that adorns the dressing room dedicated to the Wallaroos at Ballymore, another significant step for the women’s game.

“I absolutely remember the excitement of that first Test. It was quite surreal and to be played at a ground with such history,” Worsley remembered.

“My auntie Anne lived nearby and came to the game. She left quite shocked at the contact and that girls were playing footy.

“She told my mum ‘Why couldn’t she have taken up tiddlywinks’. That’s been a funny line in our family for 30 years.”

Worsley remembers the exact moment she was besotted by rugby and the game’s possibilities in the aftermath of the Wallabies’ 1991 World Cup triumph.

“I was a student at Downlands College (in Toowoomba). Tim Horan was an old boy. He and Jason Little were choppered into Downlands and landed on the field,” Worsley recalled.

“I remember thinking: ‘I want some of that’.”

She was unaware that women could even play rugby at that stage but turned up at Horan’s club Souths in 1994 when a women’s comp was introduced in Brisbane.

“I was told a flanker’s job was to follow the ball and smash people. That sounded alright and I did that for the next 16 years,” Worsley said.

She loved the rugby community she found. She was most worthy as the first female inductee into the Queensland Rugby Union Hall of Fame in 2022.

The first Wallaroos were selected from club-based national championships, including elusive young winger Sharyn Williams, just 18, from Souths.

She played just a single season of rugby and that single Test before devoting herself to her first love, touch football. She is in the Touch Football Australia Hall of Fame.

“Being so young, I probably didn’t appreciate how big that first Test was. I’d come from touch to rugby which was well-funded. Being provided with new boots, kit, the Australian jersey...it was momentous,” Williams recalled.

With a laugh, she added: “The New Zealand players were so skilful. I was on the bench and quite happy to stay there.

“I was nicknamed ‘Shoulders’ because I had none for tackling. I’d try to grab hold so Selena and others could finish the tackling.”

Williams got on the field for the final minutes. For 30 years, Williams held a record she never knew she held. She was Australia’s youngest Wallaroo until 17-year-old Caitlyn Halse made her debut against the USA in May.

“I never knew until a friend sent me through a message in May. I was chuffed. I look at the strength, mobility and skills of the Wallaroos today and they are elite,” Williams said.

One record can never be taken from Williams. She was the first woman to score a try at Ballymore in the first Souths v Wests club game in 1994 when they played the curtain-raiser before the Queensland v Transvaal Super 10 game.

Those first Wallaroos came from all backgrounds. Angie Fairweather was an Australian Army captain from Brisbane. The Army got behind her with sponsorship to help meet the costs of playing for her country.

And what about those jerseys.

Joan Forno, the foundation President of women’s rugby in Australia, was all things.

In the initial period of Wallaroos’ Tests, Forno would find a tailor to amend those jerseys that fell through the shorts almost to the knees.

Bronwyn Calvert, a centre in the 1994 team, knows how ill-fitting they were.

“I’ve proudly got mine framed on the wall at home. It’s an XXL men’s jersey,” Calvert said with a laugh.

“It was huge and billowed when I ran. No one cared, we were just so proud.

“You know, retro kit is ‘in’. My 19-year-old daughter wears my old tracksuit to any Australian game.

“There was so much excitement about that first Test. I always wanted to play for Australia in sport so North Sydney Oval is where all dreams came true.

“Rugby Australia and the Queensland Reds have done a great job with capping projects and honouring players of the past.”

Forno is delighted to see where the women’s game is today.

“We had our hurdles to get off the ground and sexist comments from different places but we did. I’m proud and part flabbergasted to see where the fresh, young and determined women in Australian rugby have helped lift the game because I didn’t think I’d see it in my lifetime,” Forno said.