'Shooting for the NRLW': Combine winners on show at Nat Champs
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When Megan Pakulis was approached to play at the 2017 World Cup in Australia, she thought it sounded too good to be true but now the hard hitting forward is hoping to inspire other North Americans to set their sights on the NRLW.
Pakulis and USA international MarCaya Bailous will arrive in Australia next week to play at the Harvey Norman Women’s National Championships on the Gold Coast after being selected as the two female winners at the pan66.combine in Las Vegas.
Despite being named in the team of the tournament at the last World Cup in England in 2022, Pakulis believed the NRLW was out of reach and had been considering playing in the Women’s Super League until the Combine.
pan66.combine: Athletes put to the test
The 27-year-old lock and Bailous, an outside back, will play at the National Championships before being taken on a tour of NRLW clubs with a view to earning contracts for the upcoming season.
“I have decided that I want to play rugby somewhere, no matter where it is,” said Pakulis, who also has the distinction of scoring Canada’s first international try in the 2017 World Cup against the Kiwi Ferns.
“I have been dabbling a bit with my options, maybe in the Super League. I thought I had probably missed my opportunity for the NRLW, but this has popped up now and I am realising the door isn’t totally closed in Australia this season.
“I am open to whatever opportunity comes about. I think for a while it felt a little out of reach so because of that I didn’t really have it in my mind as much as I do now.”
Bailous, who played for the USA against Canada and Jamaica in last December’s North American Championships, had her first taste of league at the 2019 London 9s and was one of the stars of the tournament.
“I had a great time and we won so it was a really cool experience,” Bailous said. “I played with the USA team in Jamaica last year, we did pretty well, and it was good to play at that level.
“I am shooting for the NRLW, it would be a literal dream of mine to make it so I am just going to do my best and push as hard as I can. I love how there are these opportunities in Australia for women to play rugby.”
Rugby league fairytale
Both Bailous, who is from Cleveland, and Pakulis, who hails from Ontario, began playing rugby union at high school before transitioning to league and believe the likelihood of North American players in the NRLW will encourage others to make the switch.
“I think some of them are a bit scared to take that step from union to league but a lot of us have already done it,” Pakulis said.
“For them to see that there is a such a great pathway to something bigger, with women having that opportunity to play professionally or semi-professionally, will lead to more wanting to play league.
"I remember when they were trying to get a team for the World Cup in Australia, it just seemed like a fairytale but my friends went to a practice and I watched what they were doing.
"At the next practice I brought my cleats and I jumped in with them. I have been hooked ever since and now I am the person who is spreading the word to everyone and making it sound too good to be true."
Yet it wasn’t until her second World Cup in England 18 months ago that the Ravens vice-captain realised she could match it with the best in the game.
Canada lost to Papua New Guinea and England before beating Brazil 16-12, with Pakulis scoring two tries and earning a place in the women’s and overall teams of RLWC2021.
“The World Cup in England was a big game changer for me, just being able to compete against some of the best players in the world and seeing how I matched up,” she said.
“Being at the World Cup I felt I was able to understand where I sit and that gave me a little bit of hope and made me just a bit optimistic that I could pursue something beyond Canada.
“I am excited to get to Australia and play (at the Championships), and learn with them.
"Rugby in Canada is still developing so it will be nice to be in a place where the players have played for years, they have had multiple coaches and they just have so much more experience than we have here.
“If nothing else I am just pumped to learn and grow from the people I play with, and see what I can bring back home.”
Combine stand-outs
Bailous, who had a stint playing rugby union in Poland last year, was a stand-out at the pan66.combine.
Her time for the 20m sprint of 3.08sec was the fastest of the female athletes and she completed the 1.2km bronco run in 5.59mins.
Pakulis bench pressed 75kg and finished the 20m sprint in 3.14sec.
The performances of both players was even more impressive considering they had played the previous two days at the NRL Vegas 9s, with Pakulis being a member of the Ontario Ospreys team which won the women's final.
“I have never done anything like that before and it was really cool the way it was set up,” Bailous said.
“They were testing our 20 metres, they were measuring our distance from [medicine ball] throws, how high we could leap and there was a broad jump too.
“It was cool to be out there with an amazing group of women, there were so many fantastic women and I had no expectations but my focus was doing the best I could do.”
The athletes were also assessed for skills with the ball and in defence, with the majority of the women being more adaptable than their male counterparts due to their playing backgrounds.
“It was nice seeing a lot of the women out there giving it their all,” Pakulis said.
“It was interesting watching the men’s side versus the women’s side because the women’s side had a lot more rugby league players compared to the men, where there ended up being a lot of American football players.
“I felt like the women’s side was super competitive, everyone was such a strong player and such a good athlete, that even throughout the Combine I had no idea what the outcome would be.”
Culture and clubs
Besides the opportunity to play at the National Championships, Pakulis and Bailous are also looking forward to the opportunity to learn about Indigenous culture from their First Nations Gems team-mates and coaching staff.
With teams from Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand also participating, the pair will also get a taste of Pacifika cultures at the tournament, which starts on March 21.
"Something I have always admired in Australia is their appreciation for Indigenous cultures," Pakulis said.
"In Canada, we have one Indigenous team and they are still growing and trying to become a bigger voice or a bigger show, because that is often under represented here.
“It will be really nice to be with an Indigenous team that is appreciated and is supported, and has so much culture behind them."
After the National Championships, Pakulis and Bailous will visit the Canberra Raiders, Newcastle Knights and NRLW clubs in Sydney and Queensland, with the hope that they will be signed before their return to North America.
The Raiders have spoken with USA Rugby 7s star Liz Tafuna, while the Bulldogs expressed interested in Nira Fowler after seeing her play for Chicago North Shore at the NRL Vegas 9s tournament.
“We are going to do some training early in the week [with the Gems], then play at the National Championships and afterwards they are going to take us to see some teams," Bailous said.
"I am going to have a close look at those and hopefully I get to train with the Knights and the Titans, and some other clubs."
