Opportunities await for more Western players to join NRLW ranks in coming seasons

And with a wealth of elite players from the Western NSW region chasing their dream of reaching the top level you can expect to see to fill those spots in the coming years.

Opportunities for junior girls to reach the national level of their sport are becoming more prominent and easier to access - and rugby league appears to be doing every right to keep pace with other sports.

Across this Saturday and Sunday's opening NRLW round you can take a look at what some of the most skilled players to come out of the Western region are capable of.

Canberra Raiders, Cronulla Sharks, North Queensland and Wests Tigers join the competition this year, which adds more roster spots in the future for the nation's leading talent to play at the top level.

Orange's Kaitlyn Phillips has made the switch from the Brisbane Broncos to the Gold Coast Titans this season to try and help the club improve from their 2022 wooden spoon campaign.

Fellow Orange player Vanessa Foliaki will jump from the Parramatta Eels across to newcomers Cronulla Sharks as they look to make an impact in their debut year.

Orange's Cheynoah Amone became a recent call up to the St George Illawarra Dragons and Bathurst's Jakiya Whitfeld makes her NRLW return with the newly created Tigers outfit.

Parkes star Talesha Quinn is set for a run with last year's grand finalists Parramatta Eels and Dubbo's Taneka Todhunter will join her there after signing a development contact.

A Roosters development squad opportunity also came the way of NSW Women's Premiership grand final player of the match, Tilly Power, after the former Bathurst player's field goal took her Mounties team to a 1-0 victory.

It's also becoming harder to find an NRL club that doesn't have a Western player among their ranks in the Tarsha Gale Cup.

Bathurst's Kate Fallon (South Sydney Rabbitohs) and Orange's Marley Cardwell (Penrith Panthers) recently lined up for the NSW Blues in the Under 19s State of Origin after their respective Tarsha Gale campaigns.

Paige Lowe (Bathurst) and Rebecca Prestwidge (Orange) helped the Sydney Roosters' Indigenous Academy claim the latest Tarsha Gale premiership in April.

Charlotte Gray (Cowra), Taylor Keppie (Grenfell), Kirby Maslin, Georgia Cole (Forbes), Cardwell and Christine Sims (Orange) gave this year's Penrith Panthers side a big Western flavour.

Lily Martin (Orange, Dragons), Jorja Simpson (Parkes, Tigers), Georgie Coote (Forbes, Rabbitohs) and Makaah Darcy (Dubbo, Eels) add to the region's enormous presence in the NSW under 19s competition.

Don't be surprised to see a large number of this group ink an NRLW contract in the coming years.

The region has developed the perfect environment for developing top talent thanks to Western Women's Rugby League, which has been one of the most exciting and important sporting competitions established in the region in recent times.

It's become the perfect pathway for aspiring NRLW players to hone their skills, and it's been well supported across all age groups since its inaugural competition in 2018.

Panorama Platypi premiership-winning coach Kev Grimshaw recently commented as much the standard of the competition has continued to improve with every season.

That wasn't an opinion limited to his own side but something that he noticed "across the board".

We're inclined to agree, and that's something you can see from under 12s right through to seniors each each summer goes by.

For now, let's throw our support behind the top Western league graduates during an exciting opening round of the NRLW this weekend.

Phillips' Titans get the honour of opening the new NRLW season with their game at home against the North Queensland Cowboys.

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