With player agreements in place and contracts being signed, the Newcastle Knights NRLW season will soon get underway with the backing of the NSW Minerals Council for a further two seasons.
The NSW Minerals Council will sponsor the 2022 NRLW Premiership winners throughout the 2023 season and the next.
The Knights NRLW side won last year and they are determined to have another good season this year retaining some of their key players including Scone’s Yasmin Clydsdale, Hannah and Jesse Southwell and Tamika Upton from far north Queensland.
The Club will wear the NSW Mining logo on their jersey for the 2023 and 2024 seasons which Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee couldn’t be more excited about.
“It’s exciting to be part of an industry providing more pathways for women into a professional sport and for careers in mining.
“The premiership win last year was incredible to see, and we are very proud to have been a strong supporter of the club in its first year in the NRLW,
“This sponsorship aligns with our own focus as a responsible mining industry to provide more opportunities for women in a more inclusive and diverse workforce,” Stephen said.
The NSW Minerals Council has sponsored women’s NRL in the Hunter for a long time, sponsoring the Newcastle Knights in the U19s Tarsha Gale Cup and the Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership for a number of years.
Yasmin Clydsdale has signed a three-year contract to stay in Newcastle with the Knights after a successful 2022 season where she scored a try in the NRLW Grand Final and won her way into selection for the World Cup with the Jillaroos.
She said the partnership between the Knights NRLW and the NSW Minerals Council is a very important one.
“It’s great to have sponsorship from the mining industry because they employ many local people from Newcastle and all the way to the Upper Hunter. It is great to see companies like the NSW Minerals Council work with rugby league all the way from NRLW level down to grassroots.
“This partnership creates communities to build better things and encourage more people to participate in rugby league at any level.”
Yasmin said vice versa the partnership is perfect for Newcastle’s home team because everyone knows someone who works in the mining industry either directly or indirectly.
“I am sure that the majority of Novocastrians know or have known someone to be associated with a mining company. So to have this personal connection with a sponsor shows the genuine relationship that is there.
“It is great to see the mining companies do their part in the community and how it consistently builds connections between the NRLW team and the communities they are representing,” Yasmin said.
Each year, the Newcastle Knights host a Voice for Mining Round at McDonald Jones Stadium during the NRL season. The first was in 2013 to celebrate the proud contribution made by tens of thousands of mining families across the state and the many good things that mining brings to NSW.
There’s a long list of players who have worked in the state’s mining industry too including Phoebe Desmond from the 2022 Knights NRLW season, as well as Tony Butterfield and Josh King from the men’s side.
The Knights have already shown their support for mining regions in the state this season travelling out to Mudgee in Round 5 where they played the Sea Eagles and finished in a 32-all draw.
Newcastle Knights CEO Philip Gardner welcomed the commitment yet again from long-time supporter NSW Minerals Council.
“You build success from strong foundations and this partnership with the NSW Minerals Council is one of the strongest in the game,
“We can continue to grow the game for women and keep achieving at a high level with this kind of long-term support.
“Mining is central to the prosperity of our region, vital to our state and such a big part of our community. So it is wonderful to have mining, an industry that is one of the pillars of our region, to continue its support for our women’s program,” Philip Gardner said.
For the 2023 NRL season, the Voice for Mining Family Day will be held on Sunday, 20 August 2023, when the Newcastle Knights men’s side play the South Sydney Rabbitohs.