Melanie Howard (born 10 May 1993) is an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays for the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

in the

NRL Women's Premiership The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for women's rugby league in Australia, female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the ...

and the

Central Coast Roosters The Central Coast Roosters, formerly Central Coast Centurions, are an Australian rugby league football club (previously known as the Rip or Storm) based in the Central Coast region in New South Wales. They competed in the New South Wales Cup w ...

in the

NSWRL Women's Premiership The Harvey Norman Women's Premiership is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. It is the only state wide open age competition for women in New South Wales and is run by New South Wales Rugby League. The NSWRL Women's Premiershi ...

. Primarily a , she is a

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Prime Minister's XIII Prime Minister's XIII, or sometimes informally referred to as the PM's XIII, is the name of a representative rugby league team, comprising Australian players from National Rugby League clubs that did not qualify for the NRL Finals, or whose tea ...

representative.

Background

Born in

Gosford, New South Wales Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council (New South Wales), Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast region, about north of Sydney central ...

, Howard played her junior rugby for the Northern Lakes Warriors.

Playing career

In June 2018, Howard represented NSW Country at the inaugural Women's National Championships. On 31 July 2018, she signed with the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint- ...

in the

. In Round 1 of the

2018 NRL Women's season The 2018 NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) was the first season of professional women's rugby league in Australia. Teams Pre-season Only two of the four sides, the Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors, took part in pre-season trial games. T ...

, she made her debut for the Dragons in a 4–30 loss to the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

. On 6 October 2018, she represented the

in their 40–4 win over Papua New Guinea. In May 2019, she represented NSW Country at the Women's National Championships. On 26 June 2019, she joined the

NRLW team. On 25 October 2020, Howard started at in the Roosters' 10–20 NRLW Grand Final loss to the

. On 13 November 2020, she made her

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

debut for

in their 18–24 loss to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

References

External links

Sydney Roosters profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Melanie 1993 births Living people Australian female rugby league players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin Women players Prime Minister's XIII women players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league five-eighths St. George Illawarra Dragons (NRLW) players Sydney Roosters (NRLW) players Rugby league players from Gosford, New South Wales Sportswomen from New South Wales