NRLW Talesha O’Neill still has something more to give

It’s certainly been a long journey, but Talesha O’Neill is finally playing back playing rugby league at the elite level and this time it’s for the Parramatta Eels.

When O’Neill found out last week that she would be making her debut for the club against the Wests Tigers, she cried and so did the Parramatta Eels physio.

“Matt, our physio is amazing and is the reason I’m playing,” said O’ Neill.

“During the pre-season I was seeing him twice a week to keep my knee and body strong.

“When I got my starting number, I told him it was because of him and we both cried.

“It was a lovely moment and a recognition that without those support staff I would not have got through pre-season.”

But to understand just how significant that moment was, you need to understand a little bit more about O’Neill’s journey.

O’Neill played her first game of rugby league for New South Wales in 2012. In 2012, very few people were talking about women in rugby league and the women had to pay for everything themselves.

“We were wearing men’s footy shorts and our jerseys were down to our knees,” said O’Neill.

“We got to play at Penrith Park and we trained on the back fields and in caravan parks; but I didn’t care because it was my dream to wear the jersey.

“I also made the All Stars team and played alongside Karyn Murphy.”

But then, O’Neill decided to join the army, moved to Townsville and played a mixture of sports including rugby league and rugby union.

Then an opportunity arose. In 2016, the Cronulla Sharks announced they were offering contracts to women for a 9-a-side competition. O’Neill decided this was her chance, flew herself down and trialled. She was contracted and received just enough money to pay for private health insurance.

That’s when things really started moving at pace. O’Neill played City v Country in 2017, represented the Blues again in 2017 and also played in Papua New Guinea as part of the Prime Minister’s XIII.

O’Neill met Brad Donald during that tour.

“Brad told me this was my time to shine,” said O’ Neill.

“I played a good game and then was picked in the Jillaroos squad for the Rugby League World Cup in 2017, which was a massive highlight for me.

“So was that first State of Origin game at North Sydney Oval where we stayed on the field signing autographs for hours after the game ended.”

At that point the National Women’s Rugby League Premiership had been announced and O’Neill signed with the St George Illawarra Dragons for the first season. But, injury had struck and O’Neill had had knee surgery just before pre-season, so did not have the opportunity to do a full pre-season.

In her own words, O’Neill was not at her best that season.

“I had had such a good year and I didn’t want to let that opportunity slip,” said O’Neill.

“I really wanted to be part of the NRLW that first year.”

Then more injury. O’Neill had…