Chapman ready to make No.1 mark in All Stars debut

Chapman ready to make No.1 mark in All Stars debut

Author : Alicia Newton NRLW Chief Reporter

After watching All Stars clashes on television and being part of extended Indigenous squad camps as a teenager, Jaime Chapman had been counting down the days until her 18th birthday.

And who could blame her?

With women’s rugby league on the rise each year, Chapman is coming into a period where the opportunities available are better than ever before.

The former Cronulla local will get the chance to play in her favoured fullback position for the Indigenous All Stars on Saturday after making her NRLW debut for the Dragons on the wing last year.

“I’m really excited to play fullback, I didn’t get a chance at the Dragons with Sammy [Bremner] there so I’m looking forward to it,” Chapman told NRL.com.

“I feel like I can definitely shine playing that role and it’s a position I’m comfortable with and have played there a lot growing up.”

Chapman is a prime example of the new pathways in place across the women’s game developing the next generation of stars.

She began playing rugby league as a six-year-old before stopping due to previous restrictions preventing girls from playing at age 12.

It resulted in her father, David Chapman, starting a rugby sevens team in the Sutherland shire to keep his daughter and other players active with the ball in hand.

From there, Chapman reverted to league once the Tarsha Gale Cup and Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership began to take shape at the Sharks.

“It’s been a bit different for me, whereas you get a lot of girls who are in their 20s but have only played for a few years,” Chapman said.

“It’s just really good to see that there is a clear pathway in place now for young girls to work their way up and know what the next steps are.”

Chapman’s goals for the season won’t end with an Indigenous All Stars debut in Townsville with the promising youngster looking to build on her inclusion in the Jillaroos train-on squad ahead of the World Cup.

“We had a camp the other week and it was awesome, I felt like I’d been there for years,” she said.

“The girls are so inclusive. Meeting a lot of them face-to-face is very different to what you see on the field.

“What I took away from that experience is I want to build on myself as a person. I want to build my strength mentally and physically and I need to get in the gym a bit more and get some more muscle.

“Isabelle Kelly, you see her train every day. I would love to play for the Jillaroos next to her one day.”

A change of scenery in the off-season, with the 18-year-old moved to Ocean Shores in northern NSW to live with her father, has given Chapman a fresh perspective on the game.

Chapman’s grandmother is from Kamilaroi land, near Gunnedah.

“I was introduced to my Aboriginal heritage in my older years when I asked dad if I can play in the Indigenous Oztag team because I was aware of it,” Chapman said.

“I’ve learned lots about my culture, my mob, and my tribe over the past couple of years since.”

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2021 Indigenous Womens Team