Stingrays unveil Maddison Weatherall as inaugural senior women's captain/coach

But that noise got a whole lot louder when the Flinders Field-based club unveiled St George Illawarra Dragons NRLW star Maddison Weatherall as their captain/coach - where she will join brothers Zaan and Dylan, as well as her cousins Ben in Stingrays' colours.

"One of the main reasons I joined the Stingrays is my two older brothers and older cousin, who just moved over from New Zealand, are playing there and we thought it would be really exciting to all play at the same club," Weatherall, 19, said.

"Dylan, Zaan and I played together at Western Suburbs during our juniors but we've never had four Weatheralls at the same club before - it's very special for our family."

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For years, the Rays have been the dominant force in the Illawarra under 18s competition, seeing them claim back-to-back premierships.

And with the majority of those players, including the likes of Dragons winger Teagan Berry, Riley Scott, Madi Singleton and Shante Lenartowicz (who are all in this year's Illawarra Tarsha Gale side) being too old for that age group, the club needed to provide a pathway for them to stay at the club.

As such, the five-time capped Dragon hopes to pass on her experience to this talented group - which included a number of players Weatherall has played alongside before.

"As this is my first time properly coaching, my main focus is helping girls fulfil their potential as players and get to where they want to be," the former NSW under 18s representative said.

"Going into my first session, it was a little daunting but all the girls were really attentive and eager to learn.

"We obviously have some talented youngsters but also have numerous women who are new to the game, so it's my responsibility to teach them the rules and put them in the best positions to succeed on the field.

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"The young girls have had plenty of success at a junior level, so they're all looking forward to the challenge of stepping up to the open's."

By nominating themselves for the maiden open's season, the Stingrays continue to establish themselves as one of the top women's clubs on the South Coast, in both tackle and tag.

"I've only been here a couple of weeks but the club seems to really want to push the participation of females," Weatherall, who credited the work of team manager Donna Singleton at the club, said.

"A lot of the times, we will warm-up and do drills with the men, which I know all of our team really enjoy.

"Everyone is on the same page and willing to do the hard work to continue to make female rugby league bigger.

"There's plenty of girls at our club that start by playing tag because they're not quite ready for the tackle format but look up and aspire to be like women in our team - a lot of them are just happy to watch us play.

"The female game continues to grow at all levels and it's important clubs like the Stingrays keep pushing the importance of grassroots participation, to ensure the sport maintains its upwards trajectory."

Weatherall, who had some time off after the 2020 NRLW season, hopes this coaching role can help take her game to the next level.

"After a little bit of time away from the sport, I'm looking forward to getting back into it and hopefully reaching a new level as a player," the former Maori Ferns All Stars said.

"I know I didn't play as well as I could last year with the Dragons but am now more driven than ever to be as fit and strong as I can.

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"I'm confident a strong year with the Stingrays can act as the perfect springboard into my best season with the Dragons.

"But before I worry about that, I'm concentrating on helping the Stingrays succeed in their maiden season in the Illawarra competition because I can't see any reason why we can't go all the way in year one."

Joining Weatherall and the club's Tarsha Gale players in the Rays' squad in 2021 will be Jess Nolan, Ellie Fowler, Tamieka Jarrett, Kristi Pan, Cassie Angeloska, Jade Lees, Astrid Nicholls, Courtney Kiara, Rosei Boyland, Madi Simpson, Latisha Beringer, Jaimee-Lee Cotter, Ebony Alexander and Rhiannon Findlay.

If you'd like to join the Stingrays club, please contact Donna Singleton on 0468 373 343.

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