Ducks on the Pond
A podcast for rural women... by rural women. Hosted by Kirsten Diprose and Jackie Elliott, they seek expert advice and the stories of other rural women on issues such as succession planning, motherhood, starting a business...running for politics and much more!
Ducks on the Pond
Paving the way for more women in country footy - Tara McGrath-West and Bec Malseed
Chances are, when you were growing up, the idea of becoming a professional female footballer or even a female footy umpire for men’s games… was simply impossible.
But NOW, it is. And that’s awesome. However it’s throwing up a few issues; such as how can women achieve pay parity with the men? How can we ensure women are safe playing the game (acknowledging that women’s bodies are different to men’s bodies)?
In this episode we meet two passionate pioneers of women’s footy. Yes, we cover both AFL and NRL (whatever ‘footy’ means to you!):
- Tara McGrath-West - NRLW player - a ‘workhorse’ middle forward for the St George Illawarra Dragons. Originally from Harden, NSW
- Bec Malseed - one of the only female umpires for AFL Victoria men's games (she umpires for women too!), based in Hamilton, VIC.
These women don’t shy away from the hard questions around getting their professions the recognition and remuneration they deserve.
EPISODE SPONSOR: Squadron Energy - Australian owned renewable energy company that develops, operates and owns energy assets for local communities. Squadron Energy is also the Major Partner of the Dragons’ NRL and NRLW teams.
I love the people who can say oh, we do have a female field umpire. If she can do it, why can't I have a go? You've got the best scene in the house.
Tara McGrath-West:To be honest, we're only part-time athletes but required to be full-time during the season time. So it's hard. You work a full-time job and then also have to be a full-time athlete on top of that.
Kirsten Diprose:Welcome to the final episode of this season of Ducks on the Pond. I'm Kirsten Diperose, and joining me again for the first time in 2025 is . Hey, Jen.
Jen McCutcheon:Hi, thanks so much for having me and happy new year. Yes, I know it's late January, but I am legit that person who keeps saying it until at least Australia Day. I agree.
Kirsten Diprose:So this is the new year, but, just to confuse everyone, it is the last episode for season six and since we're talking about sport today, I guess it's got a bit of a grand final feel to it.
Jen McCutcheon:I definitely think this season has been as successful as your beloved Panthers, don't you?
Kirsten Diprose:I'm so glad you brought up the Panthers four in a row. That's all I'll say. I won't blab on forever about it. But let's talk about women's sport, because it's surging globally, fuelled by bigger competitions, better conditions and finally, quite frankly, actual recognition. But this revolution isn't just unfolding on the world stage. It's echoing through regional Australia, where a new wave of leaders are reshaping the sporting landscape. Now this episode is sponsored by Squadron Energy, which is Australia's leading renewable energy company that develops, operates and owns renewable energy assets in Australia, and Squadron Energy works directly with landowners too. So if you're interested in participating in renewable energy projects, just head to their website and you can send them your details there.
Jen McCutcheon:In this episode, we speak to two women who are breaking barriers, building pathways and proving that sport belongs to everyone, no matter where they live.
Kirsten Diprose:Jen you were a sport reporter for a long time before you moved to the bush, so you've probably witnessed a lot of this firsthand.
Jen McCutcheon:Yes, I spent 11 years working as a sport reporter and women's sport has really come a long way. It's still, as we know, got a lot further to go and I do hope one day that there's going to be pay parity across many sports, like we've already seen happen in tennis at the Grand Slams. What's your favorite sport to report on? Probably rugby league and rugby. So I loved I was there for the inception of the women's sevens, when they went around Australia and did a bit of an X Factor style set up looking for Australia's next best athletes, and they put together this amazing team who went on to win a gold medal at the Olympics. But we didn't speak to any rugby players today. Afl and rugby league your favourite, kirsten, you spoke with Tara McGrath-West, who is an NRLW player for the Dragons.
Kirsten Diprose:Yeah, it was awesome to speak to Tara, who has had basically last year off because of injury, but she is a fantastic player and country girl. And I also spoke with Bec Malseed. She's actually an AFL umpire and one of the few women to umpire men's games.
Jen McCutcheon:And late last year she was awarded the AFL Victoria Umpiring Service Award.
Kirsten Diprose:Yeah, she's amazing and despite being asked to do some of the more high profile games, I see her down at our local basketball every so often, umpiring like the under 12s basketball. So she just loves it. Let's hear from her now.
Bec Malseed:So I'm out
Bec Malseed:here in the country, in Hamilton, southwest Victoria, right in the heart of the regional southwest here. So definitely rural country, australia, by all means. And have you always lived here? I grew up in Portland, actually on the coast, but lived here for the last 15 years in the Hamilton region. Yeah, this, this area, definitely feels like home for me. Yeah, and so for people who don't know, Portland's not too far from Hamilton.
Kirsten Diprose:Did you grow up on a farm or were you in the town?
Bec Malseed:In the town had horses, rode, a lot of horse riding events, show jumping, showing, pony club, a bit of cross country. Yeah, that was my history there, educated in Portland as well.
Kirsten Diprose:How many kids do you have?
Bec Malseed:So I've got two boys, Riley and Jake. Riley is he is in year 10 and Jake's 13, year 7
Kirsten Diprose:Two teenagers now, how's that going?
Jen McCutcheon:I love it, actually very proud of them. Great kids, easy to work with, very independent and love their sporting events as well. But I will say they are chalk and cheese.
Kirsten Diprose:I was gonna ask are they into sport? Because how devastating if they weren't.
Bec Malseed:Yeah, they are very into sport. They love their football and their basketball, just like their mother. But then Riley likes his cricket and golf and Jake's doing a bit of golf as well, and also they're very into the sea fishing and, yeah, snorkeling of golf as well, and also they're very into the sea fishing and, yeah, snorkelling and a bit diving as well. So that'll all be coming.
Kirsten Diprose:Now. I'm here to talk to you about sport. But what's your day job as well?
Bec Malseed:So I look after the Lifetime you management course, so I manage that with all the contractors who deliver it around Australia, and I work with AWI with the funding subsidy that they provide and all the reporting requirements at RIS, rural Industry Skills Training and, yeah, love it.
Kirsten Diprose:Let's talk sport. Your passion for sport begins.
Bec Malseed:I've always been very sporty right from the get-go played basketball and a little bit of school football when I was 16. Always been involved in sport, but then horses took over and without horse riding, but always loved to jump on a basketball court. I didn't have the opportunity in football back then like we do now. This is where it's really interesting and where my passion came back in, but I've yet always been sporty.
Kirsten Diprose:Define the word football for our national audience.
Bec Malseed:Oh, that's, it's the Aussie interpretation, isn't it? It's the Australian football rules? I don't know. I'm from New South Wales originally and I know that football means rugby league if you're in New South Wales or Queensland, yes, afl, afl. You're Victorian, so it's AFL, and so do you play AFL or did you play AFL?
Bec Malseed:No, I know.
Bec Malseed:I just played in the country women's league in here, the Western Victorian female football league. I played with Hamilton Kangaroos and captained them to the premiership as well, and I've also played with Horsham as, and they actually won the premiership this year too. So I've been in football for the last couple of years, and I've played for Casterdon as well over in the Limestone Coast Women's League there too.
Kirsten Diprose:Cool, what position do you play?
Bec Malseed:I'm versatile, but my strength is in defence, so I'm usually in the back line.
Kirsten Diprose:So was there much opportunity, though, for you in football growing up?
Bec Malseed:Not a lot. No, it's definitely so accessible now, which is fabulous to see for all the females and women coming through, but back years and years ago, years and years ago, when I was 16,. There wasn't much of an opportunity back then or when I was in New South Wales either, but now Was there even a league like then? Not that I was aware of back when I was 16. I only played for a school team once with Portland Secondary College, I think it was, and we went to Casterdon and had a game there and that was about the only time. But I loved it and, yeah, now it is here. It's growing. The Western Victorian Female Football League is taking off. The under 15 teams that are coming through in this region is just growing, along with the under 18s, and then you've got this women's senior league as well.
Kirsten Diprose:So I don't tell this to many people, probably because it doesn't come up, but also because it seems quite bizarre for me. I'm quite a girly girl, but when I was a kid we grew up in a really rugby league household. So I go for the Panthers. I grew up in Western Sydney. Rugby league was really big and I would have loved to have played rugby league. I feel like I'm not really the build, but I made it onto the touch footy team in year six and was super excited, but then my mum wouldn't let me play because she was worried about my female internal bits. But she was worried that if I played touch footy so not even like tackle or anything somehow something might happen and it might prevent me from having children down the track. That's pretty like old school ideas, isn't it?
Bec Malseed:Yeah, we are full on, tackled and taken down to the ground.
Bec Malseed:There is supporting garments out there to support female anatomy that can be worn to help prevent, especially, like the chest region, from external damage. I mean, I didn't have that in year six. There were no boobs. I don't get boobs till I was about 24. I don't know. Yeah, no, there is protection now out there for girls and women out there who want to play football, who can wear that apparel. So definitely got that protection. Haven't heard of anything more sinister than that, but definitely it is a very contact sport.
Kirsten Diprose:How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?
Bec Malseed:Nearly 40. So I'm hitting that era where it just hurts too much and having the kids and got to run around and work.
Bec Malseed:Just the injuries. I've had a concussion once and would not to do that again. So that's why I'm moved now into the umpiring area. You don't get tackled as an umpire unless something's seriously wrong.
Kirsten Diprose:What happened with the concussion.
Bec Malseed:I just was tackled and just fell backwards and knocked my head on the ground just a bit too hard and, yeah, just had to get checked out and then was a bit dizzy and yeah, it wasn't very good. What happened in the week after? I hear about concussions and people don't remember things they can't remember like for days Definitely a head fault. I really struggled to think and process things just very slow for the next couple of days afterwards and, yeah, just headachy. I was very mild. I didn't have any of the serious symptoms as others have, but yeah, it's very much a scary thought. That's.
Bec Malseed:I think the biggest worry with footy, whether it's AFL or league or union, is the head injuries and we're getting a bigger understanding of what that means when you get multiple concussions and the risk of getting CTE and complications later in life.
Kirsten Diprose:What are your thoughts on that?
Bec Malseed:Very much, I believe AFL are definitely taking the right approach this is my personal opinion definitely taking the right approach with this. We have to protect the head and protect the player putting their ball over the head by all means and minimise the impact there because the sides and the research is there that shows the long-term effects of this and we've got to now really look after ourselves, look after the players and play the game with more safety in place
Kirsten Diprose:It's so hard, isn't it?
Kirsten Diprose:As a mum, I've got two younger boys mine are 10 and 8, and they play footy. They're actually at footy training right now, as I talked to you, their dad, and they love it and I love the community side of it, I love the fitness and all of that sort of stuff and but I feel like, yeah, I know where it's going to lead. It's going to lead to them playing and loving it and footy is so important in country Victoria. Yeah, I worry about their heads and their beautiful faces and it's like a balance.
Bec Malseed:I'm seeing more and more now that players are taking their head safety quite seriously. They're wearing headgear and I believe the under 12s it's mandatory to wear headgear when they're playing to start protecting, but as you're hitting under 14s and under 16s it's not compulsory, but players are still actually taking those things they put on their head, which I think is a great reflection of potentially where this is going.
Kirsten Diprose:So let's talk about umpiring. That's where you've gone. When did you start umpiring?
Bec Malseed:Okay, so we can go right at the start. So I started back last year and it was about June.
Bec Malseed:I went out and was helping an under-18s game, was providing support in Cavendish, and one of the trainers there which I knew Clinton, I'll throw him into this again. He looked at me and goes Nick, you ref basketball, you play footy, why don't you come out here and have a go at umpiring? Give it a go. And I just looked at him and said, really, he goes yeah, you'll be fine, let's go Get you on. Here's a whistle, here's a yellow bit Out. You go. I'm like, okay, I've never done this before. Clinton, all right. And yeah, by the so the first quarter, by the fourth quarter, he was off the field and he let me have my control as well and I enjoyed it. I really was enjoying it.
Bec Malseed:And from there that's when I made there's a website for the AFL about umpiring you make inquiries and I'm an inquiry, and that's where Jeff Barker from the Winston District umps association got in contact with me and said we would love to have more females out here umpiring. And that's where it all took off and started. So I'm umpiring senior men's games in the Minnearera. So I was actually the first female to officiate a senior men's game in the Minnearera District League. I have been doing some Hampton leagues, but not in the seniors, just doing the under-18s. I've done a couple of their games. I just did the under-14s grand final on Redoval on Sunday. I was field umpire there and I also helped my boys in their games as well during the season on their way, just as an umpire for the club there as well.
Kirsten Diprose:That's awesome. So this is a relatively new thing for you.
Bec Malseed:Umpiring footy games for senior men's in Victorian football leagues yeah, definitely Out here in the country. It's so much more than just being an umpire and walking out on the field Effectively. You are a people manager. When you walk out on that field with fitness because you're running around, I can run anywhere from, on average, about 12 kilometres in a game. In a senior men's game you have got 36 men on there that are very passionate about their football.
Bec Malseed:Tensions are high, emotions are high, a bit of white line fever and you're there to try to adjudicate it to the best of your ability and play it fair and protect the players as well.
Kirsten Diprose:Is it hard? And play it fair and protect the players as well Is it hard? It's always said that the umpire is like the most hated person on the field. Is it hard being that person, and particularly with a whole bunch of men?
Bec Malseed:That's where I'm wanting to challenge that and break that stigma. No, I actually feel like I'm building a rapport out there, because I would talk to the players when I don't have the game in my control and, happily, I find, even with a bit of banter, there's banter coming through. Now, when I come in on the field, which is great I feel that they actually starting to respect them. How to build that rapport so that when I make the call, they actually acknowledge it. Yep, she's got it, and we don't get that negative backlash at all, and you start to build what I call a bit like you're building resilience out there as well, because line fever kicks in.
Bec Malseed:The players become frustrated, and they're not frustrated at you, they're frustrated at their own game or teammates, or someone who's dropped the ball. What if it ducks back? You don't take it personally. They get frustrated. You just move on to the next contest and keep going
Kirsten Diprose:.
Kirsten Diprose:What about the crowd, though? And I think it'd be harder to umpire a younger game than, say, a senior game, because parents can be the worst on the sideline when it comes to kids games,
Bec Malseed:there's more passion. I think parents are protective, definitely, but there's a lot more passion from the whole club in itself when it's the seniors that are on there and the crowd forgets where we're positioned down in the field, that they will see one thing from their side of the fence and they forget that we're on the opposite side of the contest and we could have two or three people standing right in our way as we're trying to move around the contest to get our eyes in on the ball and see what's happening, and that's where I think you'll get that. Oh, come on up, and I'm like we're coming around. We can't see what you're saying. On the same side here, guys, just let us get around to the contest and let us make the decisions as we do.
Bec Malseed:It is definitely challenging, but I actually find it really rewarding at the same time. So are you the only female in your whole region that is umpiring senior men's games as a fieldie? Yes, in our Western District Umpire Association, I'm the only female field umpire In the Southwest region. Currently. I'm the only female field umpire that I'm aware of. I believe there may have been there's been, female field in the past, but not currently. There's quite a few female boundary umpires and goalies, but field is definitely the challenge.
Kirsten Diprose:Field's the one where you've got to run around a lot
Bec Malseed:and You're running the whole. Yeah, you're running around the whole game and making calls right in the midst of it. I'm part of a women and girls liaison through AFL and the stats are showing that women and girls are taking up more officiating roles in country and metropolitan football, which is fantastic. But out in this region we would love to see it grow further, and I would be. That's probably why I'm putting my hand up and wanting to talk about it is. I love the people who can say oh, we do have a female field umpire. If she can do it, I, why can't I have a go, and I would love to encourage people to come on out and learn about it. You've got the best seat in the house. To be honest, when you're out in the field, you get some amazing shots of some guys taking a speccy that you just like that was incredible, and then you'll pay the mark for it as well. And then you keep moving. But you do. You have the best seat in the house to quote one of my umpires, caleb, and it's just the environment, the atmosphere of being out there, that is quite exhilarating at the same time, and I can tell you're so passionate and for people who love sport it's such a great opportunity. I have to say, I never really thought about a woman umpiring a male's game and when someone told me about you and what you do, I thought, oh, that sounds great. And I was like what she's umpiring a male's game? That's crazy. And then I checked myself and then I was like, why is that crazy?
Kirsten Diprose:And I'd realized I'd never seen it and I had just never even conceived it and thought about it.
Bec Malseed:Yep, and I think that's what we're trying to do, is break down those barriers and hopefully others will challenge that mindset as well. Going, there's people out there. I love football, I love to run. Why don't I give that a go? And that's where I'll be like well, great, come out with me, I will take you on a field, put the whistle on your mark. I'll show you which ways and the directions to run and help you build that confidence so that you feel comfortable to start doing some junior games on your own and build up into senior games.
Kirsten Diprose:Have you ever had a moment where you were really challenged, whether it was a difficult call?
Bec Malseed:No, I definitely had quite a few of those and each one's very different and unique in that regard. So I had a call where we had a set of square violation where a player, the umpire, I was out on the outside of the square my umpire, my colleague walked into the circle and went to throw the ball up and the next minute the players just come running in and I've just had to go stop, nuts, center square violation, free kick. And behind me I had a player just lose it altogether and started going off at me and I said, mate, no, the moment the umpire approaches the circle and throws, the square is locked, you can't come in. He goes oh well, you only had three players in there. I said, yes, once the umpire approaches, you can't, someone else can't come in. It's that it's locked, it's unlocked. The moment the ball is released from the central's hand when he throws it up in the center and he's. That's not fair. He absolutely lost it at me, absolutely lost it, and I just said yellow card off.
Bec Malseed:He goes in on the bench and talk to your coach and tell him and explain to him how back answering an umpire is not the best choice you've made here, because now you have to play with 17 people on the field, and that's probably the one thing I'm probably learning so much with. You've got 36 guys out there on the field or any like juniors, seniors, from all different walks of life. You learn different ways of communicating and you learn how your voice can be quite a powerful tool and some of the language that you use to help mitigate and de-escalate situations. But you do have other little things you have in your pocket you can use, and you try and use them as a last resort. You do try and talk to them and calm the situation down before it gets to that level, and it is definitely challenging, but you can apply these skills you take away as an umpire in real life, and I see that day in, day out now that how you can talk to somebody who is frustrated in their work or in their life. You do have to back yourself, though really, you obviously know the game inside out, but to stand there and not second guess yourself, which is what I think we tend to do, probably more as women. Sometimes in those moments you do think, oh, I want to make sure I am right or have I got this wrong? Yeah, definitely For me being out there personally, being a female, this is my own personal pressure.
Bec Malseed:I feel like I really have to do a good job out here, because I really want to set the standard high for demonstrating females can do this. I really want to set the standard high. Demonstrating females can do this. So the pressure I put on myself and it is quite. Which other people say you don't need to, you're doing a great job, don't put any extra pressure, but I do want to get it right.
Bec Malseed:I don't like making a mistake, but in saying that, though, one thing I have taken away is where I've blown my whistle and I've got come in and gone. Oh sorry guys, no, I've made a mistake. I'm've come in and gone. Oh sorry guys, no, I've made a mistake. I'm going to blow this up at the mark. He dropped the mark and I blew my whistle too early. I'm just going to blow it up. And I said that to the guys my mistake, my error and all of a sudden, the players around me were going oh yeah, no worries, no worries, and we're really like, agreeable, because I remember that you are human, you are going to make mistakes. They make mistakes in the game. We will make mistakes. It's how we handle them and it can be applied to in life as well. When you make a mistake, how do you change your direction, reset and then go again?
Kirsten Diprose:What do you think about women's sport in general, where we're at? Obviously there's been a lot of improvement over the last 20, 30 years, but are there still barriers, whether it's playing or umpiring, that you would like to see overcome?
Bec Malseed:It's definitely coming up Like you've got the AFLW now equivalent to the AFL, which is for women. I think there's always going to be those challenges and I think how far we've come now is just testament to how far we can keep moving into the future. I don't know if it is well on the AFLW no, not compared to there and that's where the equality needs to come into it. Eventually, as a female umpire, I'm paid equally to my male umpires, so there is that equality in that regards. But as players, it varies with women versus men.
Kirsten Diprose:Would you get paid the same if you were umpiring a female game?
Bec Malseed:uh no, yeah, there's inequality. Inequality there in regards to the different games. It is paid different and that's, I think that's just going to be in time. As well, as where the glory is, the quality of play also takes off as well.
Kirsten Diprose:Yeah, it's like at this level, like when you're playing in country footy games, why can't you get paid the same as an umpire reffing a female game versus a senior male's game?
Bec Malseed:I haven't got the answer for that one to be honest.
Bec Malseed:I really don't know the pay structure in relation to that and the leagues and how they work. Obviously, there's more senior men's teams in a lot of the leagues versus there's a lot less senior women's teams.
Kirsten Diprose:So where to for you now? You've only really just started refereeing games for the seniors. Where do you want to go next with this? I
Bec Malseed:want to keep growing. I really want to keep developing, and the Hampton seniors is my ultimate goal is being out in that area, because that's our top tier football for this region. So that's where I would love to be mentored, step up and have the support and be out there in the Hampton League next year sometime, if I can. And I've got to keep studying, working hard and keep my fitness up and, yeah, keep driving it is
Kirsten Diprose:Is it good money, can i ask that? Is it?
Bec Malseed:good money.
Bec Malseed:It depends. Some games are really good or worth their money and other games are like, oh no, like there was one game I wanted to walk off at halftime and did not want to go back. No, you're not going to pay me any more than just a halftime game. Look, I suppose it's good in regards to fulfilling a weekend and keeping busy.
Kirsten Diprose:Do you get as much as some of the players? For your kind of top players in a smaller league country footy, I don't know, they might get paid $800 a game. Is that true? Did I get that right? You're shaking your head.
Bec Malseed:I don't know what the players get paid these days, but no, we don't get anywhere near that. We're lucky to get. I think, depending anywhere, it could be 150 or above You're not going to quit your job.
Bec Malseed:You're going to quit your job. It's on top and you enjoy it. It's a hobby. It's a hobby side of things. You can pay for the extra holiday and you don't need a gym membership. You get paid to work out. You get paid to run around 12Ks, definitely, and you get paid to have the best seats in the house.
Bec Malseed:Yeah, to be honest, I would just hope people would have either seen me out there employing in this region and have thought, oh, hey, she's doing it. How do I get out there and have a go at doing it? I just hope that people listening to this would be inspired to come on and have a go, reach out or see me at a game and saying, hey, I have a daughter that loves to have a go, or I'd like to have a go. How do I get involved? That's probably the whole aim today is really promoting that. It's definitely fun. You have support and the umpires are great like you're the third team out there, so steak, and it's a great supportive environment. And I always say this is my cheekiness coming through here that in the grand final the umpires always win because we always get a medal when we walk away. Isn't that fascinating female umpires have such a long way to go to reach parity.
Kirsten Diprose:I can't believe how far they run in a match.
Jen McCutcheon:Yeah, isn't it crazy. It's basically like running the city to surf every game. But good for Bec, though breaking down so many barriers. We wish her all the best.
Kirsten Diprose:Absolutely. I know I couldn't do what she does, but like Bec. Our second interview is with Tara McGrath-West, and she's making waves in the NRLW. She only started playing rugby league six years ago, but is already proving that she's a future star, both on and off the field. So here's Tara.
Tara McGrath-West:So I grew up in the small country town of Hardin Maranurra. I was born there and lived there until I was 18 years old. I lived with my mum and my older brother and my dad and grew up with horses, dogs yeah, lots of animals around me, always riding the horses or on the motorbike, so a very sporty childhood as well. I loved playing any sport, but dance was like my main sport for a little bit, and then played piano as well, but, yeah, transitioned into netball and a variety of other sports through school. So from dance to footy.
Kirsten Diprose:Yeah, pretty much. Do you use any of the skills from dance with football? I don't think so.
Tara McGrath-West:No, but I learn a lot of balance and coordination in dance, which obviously helps you on the football field yeah, and so whereabouts you said Harden where is that? Yeah, so Harden Maranbri is in the southwest slopes marina area. It's based about 45 minutes west from Yass, near that Kootamundra young catchment there.
Kirsten Diprose:So how did you get involved in footy? Then Were there many options growing up.
Tara McGrath-West:So there wasn't many options. Coming from a small country town, my brother older brother played union and league so I always grew up watching footy and watching him play and I'd go down to the over with him and his mates and, yeah, go kick the footy around with them. I just loved the little contact side of it. We used to always wrestle, but there was a group of us that played netball very competitively during primary school and then when we went into high school around when we were 12 to 13, we went and played league tag instead. So league tag was my first exposure to rugby league. I played for four years, five years. You got like touch footy, almosty almost yeah. So it's like rugby league but with tags. So instead of the contact part of it's a non-contact version where we tag instead, yeah, making a tackle and so then, how did you get into proper footy?
Tara McGrath-West:so I was playing for the league tag fans. I forgot that, that that league tag is family footy, just non-contact. But no, I was playing league for Harden. And then I went over to Bynal and Brahmins, which is a smaller country town about half an hour from Harden towards Yates and a lot of the locals there when I was about 16 17, a lot of the locals there when I was about 16, 17, a lot of the locals there were like Tara, you should go give tackle a go. And we did a pre-season and I joined the boys in doing some of their contact pad drills, so where we would hit the shields or the big tackle pads, and I just loved it like I really enjoyed it. The following around November time I went and trialed for the Canberra Raiders Tasha Gayle team, not having any kind of contact experience beforehand other than the few tackle training sessions that I did. Yeah, I went and trialed for that and was lucky enough to get selected and my journey just went from there, amazing.
Kirsten Diprose:Did you know that being a professional footballer was an option for you growing?
Tara McGrath-West:up. No, I didn't think that was an option at all. I never really thought it actually was achievable for me, coming from a small country town. I didn't know what kind of road that would look like, if it was even possible, until NRLW rode around. That following year, when I first had my first year of Tasha Gale the inaugural games with Warriors, roosters, dragons and Broncos In 2018, they were televised to watch and I remember watching them and being like wow, that's really cool, like people can actually play this as a career, although back then it wasn't to their level that it is now as a career, although back then it wasn't to their level that it is now. So I guess that kind of made me realize that it could be something, but before then I didn't know it existed for women.
Kirsten Diprose:So I'm a little bit older than you, but I qualified for the touch footy team in school and then my mom wouldn't let me play. That would have been the 90s.
Tara McGrath-West:Yeah, my mom was very hesitant at first when I told her I wanted to go play tackle. She wasn't until maybe two years ago and probably still is a little bit hesitant of me playing rugby league. But she does support it and knows that once I have my mind set on something, it's very hard to convince me otherwise.
Kirsten Diprose:So how did you end up at St George?
Tara McGrath-West:So I played two years at Canberra Raiders in the top-scale team and then that kind of ended and I'm still heavily involved in the club with their junior reps program. I was studying at uni and I said to a mentor there, Dean Soon, I said one of my options from here, I still want to keep playing rugby league, I want to try and get to the highest level and improve myself. And he said go in the Katrina Fenning Shield, get some experience there and once you become the best there then we'll send you up to Sydney. And I was like, okay, I can do that. So I went back and Harden had just made our first open women's Tackle Team, which was huge for the area and for the club. I went and played a year there and at the end of that season I saw that there were some trials happening up in Sydney for the Harvey Norman Women's Premier League competition, which is something I never heard of, didn't know what it was, but Harvey's is the highest level competition you can play in New South Wales. So it has just now become reserve grade to NRLW, where before it was its own standalone competition and all the NRLW players played in that.
Tara McGrath-West:So I went in trials, went with the Magpies. There was 120 of us that trial. It was this really hot day. We got put through outpaces, which was incredible, and I just went there, not thinking I'd make it. I just wanted to see how far off I would be from the rest of the Sydney players and what I would need to work on. I was just looking for some feedback and I got a call. I sent them a message for the hand-hunting three weeks later and I got a call the next morning and they were like hey, sorry, we thought we'd already contacted you. You've been selected to come and play in the trial in our team. And I was ecstatic. I remember screaming I just finished work and I was screaming. I was like so excited and, yeah, I was lucky enough to get a contract.
Tara McGrath-West:But the next year I got picked up in 2022 for North Sydney Bears and I started on a training trial contract with them. But after the first day of pre-season, COVID was a blessing for me. I went and worked really hard and really fit strong and after the first training session they upgraded my contract to a top squad, which was huge. So we played a season there, made semifinals. We were the favourites to make it to the grand final, but unfortunately we fell short and Janie Soward, who was our coach at the time for Dragons, was at that semi-final game, and so he offered me the contract there on the spot after the game. So that was a whirlwind of emotions.
Kirsten Diprose:Wow it. It's just none. Of it's very predictable is it?
Tara McGrath-West:No, absolutely not.
Kirsten Diprose:It's just a yeah, sort of a crazy ride that you're on, which is fantastic, but how hard do you have to work like the fitness?
Tara McGrath-West:Very hard. So I was training, I was fit, but I wasn't the level of fitness I really needed to be to get to that next spot. So during COVID it gave me the time to not have to stress about work and just be able to go and be a full-time athlete. Yeah, it just changed the ball game for me. I was training twice a day, six times a week, so I was only having one rest day. So I was doing 12 sessions a week to get fit. So I do one long run of the morning, but I just built the amount of time that I could run with that, so by the end of it I could run 70 to 80 minutes, which is around how long our games go for, which is really good, and then the back end of the day I do like a field session to work on my speed, agility and then my field work as well.
Kirsten Diprose:Are you still working outside of footy?
Tara McGrath-West:as well. Yeah, so we're only part-time athletes but required to be full-time during the season time, so it's hard. You work a full-time job and then also have to be a full-time athlete. On top of that. I'm very lucky. I work for the club. I'm employed by the club to do community work, but I absolutely love it where there's a lot of other girls who, yeah, work. We have a carpenter, some girls do some flooring, one's a landscaper, so we have other girls who do quite physical jobs and then come to training afterwards and, yeah, put their best foot forward there.
Kirsten Diprose:So it's incredible well, I suppose at least you'd have an understanding employer when you need to train and do things.
Tara McGrath-West:Yeah, I've been very lucky through it all. I've been employed by the NRL or had really good. I worked in hospitality beforehand, had really good employers there that allowed me the time. So when I was traveling from Canberra I'd have to leave work at no later than one two o'clock to get up to Sydney in time for training. So I was very lucky there. What position do you play? I'm a front rower so I play in the middle.
Tara McGrath-West:Do you take a few knocks, then yes, I take quite a few and give a few knocks too. Yes, no, I absolutely love the contact. That's my favourite part of the game.
Kirsten Diprose:How do you end up after some games in terms of, I don't know, bruising or muscle pain? How do you recover?
Tara McGrath-West:So after a game I'll wake up and probably have quite a few bruises. Generally an hour after the game they'll start showing up. Your first game's probably the hardest because we're doing so much contact during training and I try to be really physical with that to get that game stimulation that helps your body to adapt to being in contact. But you will wake up from some games and just be sore. So I make sure I eat. Recovery starts directly after your game, so I'll make sure I have a good meal about hours, two hours after and start my hydration process then. So drinking lots of water, having a good night's sleep so eight hours of sleep and compression garments, so like compression tights. Cold water, so ice baths. Going for a walk, having a good stretch after training and after games. You do obviously have times where you just don't saw because you've took a few big hits, but most of the time it's yeah, pretty good, this is a genuine question.
Kirsten Diprose:I've no idea. Do women recover as well as men in terms of after they've been playing rugby?
Tara McGrath-West:We're a bit slower to recover than the men. Our bodies are completely different as well. Our muscle mass is smaller than theirs, just naturally. But also the men are training full-time, where we have the added workload of those who are mothers, who's having a full-time job as well, so we don't get the downtime they do to properly recover and they train across a full day where we're training in four hours. We're doing two sessions in four hours, which is not a lot of time to recover. So our body has to do double the work outside of that, while we then have to get up early. So we do have it on the tougher end. But the men's game is also a lot more physical. It evens out in some ways as well, but it does take us a little bit longer than the men.
Kirsten Diprose:Yes, where do you want to go with your career? What's next?
Tara McGrath-West:for me, I want to. I've been unfortunate to pick up an injury the last year, so I haven't played any footy in probably almost close to 18 months, which is a long time not to be playing footy. So for me, I want to get back out there and play a really good level of player, quality football that gets me to representative levels. I'd love to play State of Origin for New South Wales and I'd love to, yeah, play for the Gillaroos. You're not playing NNR on W. If that's not your goal, everyone has that goal. So for me, that's really important. But I just want to make an impact outside of the footy field as well and be able to make an impact on top, but also outside of that too, and that's, yeah, really important for me that I'm giving into both.
Kirsten Diprose:And when you say outside the field, do you mean in supporting the growth of the sport or in something completely different?
Tara McGrath-West:Yeah, supporting the growth of the sport. Coming from a small country town as well and not knowing that this was achievable and having to do it like the longest and hardest way to get there, I just want to create and educate girls in country areas that this is achievable and that they're able to get there and there probably is an easier path now compared to when I started five years ago. That's really important for me. I want to make sure that those country kids know that's achievable for them and not just those who live closer to Sydney.
Kirsten Diprose:Supporting the sport is so important, isn't it Because it's essentially new for women, like NRLW, and growing it? How important are the fans and the people who come along?
Tara McGrath-West:Our fans are so important. So if we can get really high support, it shows the value that is around the product. Nothing is better than coming off the field and and having a little girl scream out your name and asking for a phone or a signature like that, and that is why we play.
Kirsten Diprose:The game is for our fans and for the next generation yeah, I almost feel like the women playing now are like the pilot series. You're like the founders as well of the entire game. I reckon in 20, 30 years we'll look back and go, oh wow, you guys started this and now look at it. Are you excited to be part of like? You're like the founders of something.
Tara McGrath-West:Yeah, I'm really excited and proud to be that, but it's that difficult part of that uneducated side of it where women have been playing footy for so long beforehand and having to pay their way to play footy. We're in a really lucky spot. Yes, nrlw is growing and we're a part of it too now. But, like anything, there was founders before us who set the standard to get us, in 2018, to be able to start NRL W competition and now to be progressing into, like, higher pay payments for us to actually be getting paid for the work that we do and then also to the next step would be getting us full time. That's what we're being founders for. I'm covered in goosebumps right now. Like it, I'm really proud and grateful to be a part of that and making sure, yeah, that I do recognize those who have done the hard yards before us as well.
Kirsten Diprose:How important are the sponsors as well, to throw their support around, something that's new.
Tara McGrath-West:Yeah, sponsorship is a huge part of it all and it opens up new avenues for different parts of the game too. Tosh is a huge supporter of the NRLW, which is massive, and then for us at the Dragons we have Squadron Energy and they've been incredible. It's given me the opportunity to go back into my area as well, giving that exposure there. But having sponsorship as part of the game, yeah, just brings it's what brings atmosphere to them. We're able to have incredible opportunities off the back of that.
Kirsten Diprose:So you're hoping to get back out on the field. When do you think that's likely?
Tara McGrath-West:The 2025 season, which we kick off pre-season in May, which is super exciting. I'm excited just to get back and start training with the team and then round one kicks off early July. So I'm hoping to be back and ready for early July, which is incredible. I've ticked off most of my rehab. I just have that tackle contact side of it just to go, which has been traveling really well so far, so it's good.
Kirsten Diprose:And you guys and George are serious contenders.
Tara McGrath-West:Yeah, we've had a bit of a shake up new coach and then some players leaving, but some new ones coming in, so I think our team will be really strong heading into the season. The next generation is crazy their skill levels, their passion, their competitiveness. We have Casey Ray, who's a young enough, coming through the ranks, and she ticked off every box in her debut year. She's just been incredible. So I'm really excited to see what they bring, after having a year or two of NROW for this season to come. Yeah, it's really exciting.
Kirsten Diprose:Thank you for speaking to us on Ducks on the Pond. I'll be watching you and going for you and cheering you on.
Tara McGrath-West:Thank you so much. No worries, thank you so much for having me.
Kirsten Diprose:And that's it from Ducks on the Pond for this episode and this whole season. Thank you so much for listening. First, thank you to our guests, Bec Malseed and to Tara McGrath-West, and, of course, to our sponsor for this episode, Squadron Energy. And hey, Jen, thanks for being here for this season.
Bec Malseed:It's been a pleasure. I've loved it. Such a rewarding experience, especially being home with two babies, keeps me a bit sane, and I'm always blown away by the people we get to speak to.
Kirsten Diprose:Okay, I want everybody to hear this. I'm going to make them hear the reality of what it's like on Ducks on the Pond. This was when we were recording our intro. You wiped your bottoms.
Bec Malseed:You want me to put your undies on?
Kirsten Diprose:Okay, put wiped your bottom. You want me to put your undies on?
Bec Malseed:Here's the bloopers. We're keeping this.
Kirsten Diprose:What do they say? Don't work with pets or children. It's a bit hard, isn't it? Like I've currently got mine running around outside. Mine are a little bit older, but yeah, you just never know when you'll be interrupted. It's school holidays and you don't live in that world anyway, Jen.
Tara McGrath-West:yet Not yet.
Kirsten Diprose:It's always school holidays for you. Now. We'll be back with Season 7. Not too far away, the end of March, we'll be back and in the interim I've got a few bonus episodes. So, jen, it's like we've never left.
Bec Malseed:Exactly that's the beauty of podcasts, isn't it? You can listen to us anytime, anywhere, even when our season's on break, so keep across our socials.
Kirsten Diprose:We're on Instagram and Facebook. Send us a DM if you've got any suggestions on what we should be covering next season too. Love to hear what you guys want to hear about.
Bec Malseed:Especially because we're both turning 40 during the next season, so we've got to still have our party episode.
Kirsten Diprose:That's right. You'll be 40 before the next season starts. I'll still be a fresh 30 something year old. I'm in denial. Thank you so much for this season and thank you again for listening and supporting Ducks in the Pond. We will catch you again very soon.
