Sevens superstar Maddison Levi is set to make her 15-a-side debut for the Wallaroos against New Zealand on Saturday, but her sister and Aussie sevens teammate, Teagan, who has been outstanding for the Titans during an NRLW stint, will not be released to play for the Jillaroos at the Rugby League World Cup.
The developments came as Rugby Australia chairman Daniel Herbert hailed a $40 million redevelopment of Ballymore that will make the iconic Brisbane venue the new permanent home of the Wallaroos and national sevens programs.
Herbert said the goal was to complete the Wallaroos’ move to full-time status by the end of the year after RA, the Queensland Rugby Union and the Queensland government unveiled plans to turn the eastern stand at Ballymore into a “Teams in Gold” high-performance headquarters. Along with state-of-the-art facilities, there will be a new training field built on the eastern side.
Construction will start later this year and is hoped to be finished before the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Australia.
The new facility will complete a rebirth of Ballymore, which is owned by the QRU and once staged Test matches and Reds games, before falling into disrepair and being deemed unsafe. The western stand was rebuilt as part of a $31 million project in 2022.
The facility will effectively be the first home for Australian women’s rugby, and also house the men’s sevens program and the Wallabies when they are in Brisbane. The two sevens programs are based at RA headquarters in Moore Park, but have to rotate training fields in eastern Sydney.
“We want our teams to be world-class, and we’ve always wanted to give them a world-class base,” Herbert said. “Ballymore gives us the opportunity to do that. It’s going to be one of the best rugby facilities, not just in the country, but anywhere that I’ve been and seen. So, it’s hugely significant and very exciting.
“Having those teams out there training together, training around the Reds – men’s and women’s – and having the community able to come and watch, it’s fantastic.”
The construction of a new headquarters is the latest in a string of developments in the Australian women’s game and follows the appointment of Tim Walsh as the new director of women’s high performance, Reg Tayler as his successor as national sevens coach and Sione Fukofuka as the new Wallaroos coach.
Fukofuka’s appointment last week, and the search that preceded it, drew criticism for being far too drawn out, given Jo Yapp departed as Wallaroos coach in September.
Fukofuka will not take over the side until 2027, as part of a release agreement with his previous employers, the Scottish Rugby Union, so Walsh is serving as interim coach along with Mike Ruthven, Ben Mowen and Tayler.
Walsh, who coached the women’s sevens team to Olympic gold in 2016, told the Inside Line podcast this week the next big task was moving the Wallaroos into a full-time program by the end of the year.
“We’d like to do that this year,” Herbert said. “We’ve started to see that with the placements we’ve made with Tim Walsh and now Sione. We’ve got a team over there with a pretty experienced coaching team around him for the Wallaroos Test match this week. You can see the integration there that Tim’s already started. ”
The Wallaroos will play their 100th Test on Saturday when they take on New Zealand in Auckland, and though Australia have never beaten the Black Ferns in 30 attempts, the addition of sevens superstar Levi could help them make even more history.
Levi is one of Australia’s most dominant sevens players, having scored 270 career tries since making her debut in 2021. She trails Kiwi Michaela Blyde by only 17 tries on the list of most World Series tries.
Levi has been named on the bench for a probable debut in the second half.
Evidence of Walsh’s plan to share more sevens and 15s talent between the formats is also seen in the Wallaroos backline, which also contains halfback Tia Hinds, centre Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea and winger Maya Stewart, and Bienne Terita and Levi coming off the bench.
Walsh told Inside Line he hoped to also have Teagan Levi as an option for the Wallaroos in the future, after the Aussie sevens star returns from a stint in the NRLW.
Teagan Levi has been in red-hot form for the Titans, prompting questions about whether she could extend her short stay in league and be available for the Jillaroos at the Rugby League World Cup in October and November.
But Levi’s contract with RA stipulates she must return to rugby after the NRLW season on October 4.
“I’d love to see Teagan with an Olympic gold medal around her neck [in 2028] and then play at a home World Cup [in 2029],” Walsh said. “Post-NRLW season, she will be back training, preparing for round one of the World Series [in Dubai on November 28-29]. She will be returning after her commitments with the Titans.”
Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
About the Author
