The long game: Trailblazer Tiana's NRLW blueprint

Three NRLW players will reach the 50-game milestone this weekend coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the Harvey Norman Women in League Round. 

Sharks captain Tiana Penitani Gray was set to be another, but for a quad strain to rule her out of her milestone match. 

“It’s poetic isn’t it?” Penitani Gray said earlier in the week at the Women in League 20th anniversary launch. 

But behind the celebrations, the dual international also wants to see actions. 

While she won't be on the field, her bid to help the Sharks claim their first win of the 2026 season against the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium on Saturday is uppermost in her mind. 

“Last week we went down against the premiers (22-16) but it didn’t feel like we lost because we showed such promising signs in turning things around from week one, to week two,” she said. 

“We weren’t proud of week one (18-4 loss to Knights) but we feel like we’re playing our brand of footy now.” 

In tandem with 12 NRLW clubs vying for a spot in the six-team finals, Penitani Gray’s thoughts move to what she’d like to see happen in the women’s game for 2027 and beyond.

While she won't be able to play, this weekend, Olivia Higgins (Knights), Tallisha Harden (Cowboys) and Olivia Kernick (Roosters) will reach 50 games.  

Since August last year, when Ali Brigginshaw (Broncos), Keeley Nizza and Isabelle Kelly (Roosters) became the first three to reach 50, there have been 10 others. 

The trio this weekend takes the total in the NRLW to 16, with Penitani Gray set to become the 17th when she returns to the field. 

“It’s a special milestone and those who have reached this point have been around a lot longer than what 50 games feels like,” Penitani Gray told NRL.com. 

Kelly and Kezie Apps were playing for NSW in 2014, four years before the NRLW started in 2018. 

“My first season was three or four games but now we can play potentially 13,” Penitani Gray said as the NRLW went from four, to six, to 10, to 12 teams in eight years. 

“But absolutely we want to see more footy and I want to see more girls reach these milestones more quickly. 

“Yes we like to acknowledge what women are doing in the game but we also want longer seasons, but we don’t necessarily want more teams. 

“We want to be able to grow the talent that we already have at different clubs and maintain the same level of product that we’ve worked so hard for. 

“That’s a very strong viewpoint among all the women players at the moment. 

“Expanding means more games, a longer season, but with the same amount of teams – not spreading the talent further than it is already.

“It will be exciting to see more clubs added over the next 10 years or so.

“But immediately, first and foremost, we want a longer season. 

“It would be nice to not have such a long off-season where you do all that training by yourself.”