PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID GUBERT; MARTY CAMBRIDGE/ARU MEDIABest Body WinS
“Both male and female Sevens
teams play in various world series
throughout the year,” says Ransome.
“They travel to cool locations like
Hong Kong, Dubai, Las Vegas,
London. Everyone in the crowd
gets dressed up and drinks a lot!”Why get involved?
Once upon a time, women didn’t
really get into contact sports –
but female involvement in Rugby
Union is definitely growing. “I’ve
heard that by 2026, 40 per cent of
Rugby players around the world
will be women,” says Aussie Sevens
Olympian Charlotte Caslick. “I guess
the Olympics showcased [Sevens]
to such a broad audience, so you’ve
got people playing all over the world
now.” So how does Caslick prep
herself for the tackling? “It took me
a while to get used to the contact,
it was quite daunting at the start.
But you kind of figure out along
the way that the harder you go, the
easier it gets, if that makes sense.
You’ve got to mentally prepare
yourself to go 100 per cent all the
time. You can’t go half-hearted into
attack or when you’re running with
the ball because that’s when you
could end up getting hurt.” Got it.
If you think contact’s not for you,
at least tune in to see our girls play,
or attend live matches (for dates,
see box on the previous page). WHHow did you start
playing footy?
My sister was
playing in a local
Doonside team, 15
a side, and I was
only meant to be
water girl but I
ended up jumping
on the wing for
a girl who got
injured. I was only
14 so I wasn’t legal
to play. I played in
my school team
and got selected
for NSW when
I was 16 or 17, then
I signed with the
Australian squad
in October 2015.What do you love
about Sevens?
I love how it’s so
challenging. And
the opportunities
are unreal, they
have a really good
developmentprogram and a
lot of pathways.Do you think
women’s contact
sport is getting
more popular?
Definitely,
especially
post-Olympics- that gold-medal
win for the
women’s Sevens
was massive
exposure for the
sport. We [the
players] get
involved with
schools and we’ve
really intrigued
the kids, and
parents are
supporting them.
It’s good to see
numbers rise, and
that it’s heading in
a positive way.
It’s a pretty rough
game – how doyou prepare
yourself
mentally?
I grew up playing
street ball with my
brother and his
friends. I’d get real
competitive, so
I guess I was used
to contact. But
signing with
Australia was
probably the
biggest wake-up
call with contact- it got more
technical and you
do it more often.
What would you
say to women
considering
trying football?
I guess I’d say to
them, the majority
of the game is
mental – you’ve
got to be ready
to take hits and
put hits on.Sure, they’ve won gold. But the women’s Aussie Sevens were kind
enough to let WH staffers Jacqui and Alice muscle in on their training,
thanks to SOS Rehydrate, official partner of Australian Rugby. The
three-hour session started in the gym, followed by drills, interval runs
and skills training. They taught us to tackle – way less terrifying than
expected! We actually put Charlotte Caslick and Georgie Friedrichs
on the ground. Felt awesome at the time; we hurt a bit later that
night. To watch us taking on the pros, go to womenshealth.com.auWe tried it
WH trained with the Rugby Sevens!WE ALSO LOVE
OUR RUGBY
LEAGUE GIRLS!
Aussie women in
all footy codes- Sevens, 15s,
League, AFLW and
soccer – are
smashing it at
the moment. The
Harvey Norman
Jillaroos (the
Australian women’s
national rugby
league team) have
been doing exciting
things lately –
including taking out
the Anzac Test in
May against the
Kiwi Ferns, a comp
that the NZ team
dominated last year.
We’re pumped
about the upcoming
2017 Women’s
Rugby League
World Cup, from
Nov 16 to Dec 2.
For the first time,
the women’s Cup
will be held in
conjunction with the
men’s tournament,
including a double-
header final. The
best part: all the
Jillaroos matches
will be broadcast
on Channel 7 this
year! You can
attend games
live in Sydney
and the final in
Brisbane. Yew!
WE CHAT TO...
MAHALIA MURPHY
This Aussie Sevens player, 23, is also part of the Wallaroos
Rugby Union squad for the women’s 2017 Rugby World
Cup, which kicks off on Aug 9 (watch it on Fox Sports)...42 womenshealth.com.au SEPTEMBER 2017