Rachael Pearson (born 30 August 1993) is an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n professional

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 as a for the

Parramatta Eels Women Parramatta Eels Women are a rugby league team, representing the Parramatta region of Sydney, New South Wales. The team is part of the Parramatta Eels club and plays in the NRL Women's Premiership, National Rugby League Women's Premiership. The cl ...

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 ...

Background

Prior to joining the

Helensburgh Tigers The Helensburgh Tigers are an Australian rugby league football team based in Helensburgh, a country town of the Illawarra region. The club are a part of Country Rugby League and has competed in the Illawarra Rugby League premiership since its i ...

for the 2021 NSW Women's Premiership season, Pearson had played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and

League tag League Tag is the name of two distinct modified version of rugby league football. Both versions of League Tag maintain the basic structure of rugby league, and replace physical tackling with an alternate means to end each play. The northern hemisph ...

in and around her hometown of Hay, New South Wales. After several matches with Helensburgh, Pearson was selected for

NSW Country Origin The Country New South Wales rugby league team is a representative rugby league football team. Between 1987 and 2017 there were two tiers: the Origin team that consisted of professional players who originated from clubs of the Country Rugby Leag ...

in May 2021. Pearson scored a try in a Country's 1640 loss to City. Pearson was subsequently signed by the St George Illawarra Dragons, making an impressive NRLW debut at halfback on 27 February 2022 in the Dragons' opening match of the postponed 2021 season. Pearson is the cousin of fellow NRLW player

Emily Bass Emily Bass (born 1 October 1998) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a er for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL Women's Premiership. Background Born in Toowoomba, Queensland, Bass attended Scots PGC College in Warwick, Queensla ...

, and the two were on opposing sides for an NRLW match on 13 March 2022.

Playing career

Pearson was selected by her peers in the

Rugby League Players Association The Rugby League Players Association is a representative organisation based in Australia. The RLPA, as it is more commonly referred to, is the representative body of elite rugby league players, protecting and promoting the welfare and interests ...

Dream Team Dream Team may refer to: Sport Basketball * Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona * Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship * Dream Team III, the 1996 ...

for the 2021 NRLW season, prior to playing in the Grand Final. Following the Grand Final loss, Pearson was selected in an extended

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 ...

squad and on 24 June 2022, made her

Women's State of Origin The Women's State of Origin is an annual rugby league fixture between two Australian state representative women's sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. First played in 1999 as the Women's Interstate Challenge, the game ...

debut. In a match in which both teams scored three tries each, Pearson's four goals (two conversions, two penalties) from five attempts helped New South Wales win, 2014.

References

Living people Parramatta Eels (NRLW) players 1993 births Australian female rugby league players Rugby league players from Wagga Wagga {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1990s-stub