Shirley Russell once coached a rugby team where the training space was the harsh surface of a military parade ground.
It says much about her knack for finding better solutions that the team ended up training on the grassy horse paddock of the then-US Ambassador.
The Queensland Rugby Union’s newest Life Member has enjoyed a wonderfully varied life in the game which has meant treasured experiences in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
It is for her pioneering role within Queensland women’s rugby that Russell, 56, was recently honoured as the first female Life Member of the QRU.
“It was very humbling and still is. I’m very proud to be in the footsteps of so many legends of Queensland rugby on and off the field,” Russell said.
“It’s an individual honour only possible because of the amazing people and teams that have supported me.”
The New Zealand-born Russell had a headstart growing up with rugby all around her in her teens in early 1980s Taranaki when All Black Dave Loveridge was the local hero.
“I saw Australia as a place of opportunity. Maroon is always in my heart because it’s the colour of Inglewood United rugby club (where Loveridge played) as well as that of Queensland,” she said with a smile.
In 1996, she played at flanker beside QRU Hall of Famers Selena Worsley and Tanya Osborne in the original Queensland women’s team which won 41-3 over the visiting Alberta side, from Canada, at Ballymore.
“There was pride playing something we loved and representing family and friends. We did have battles in our infancy just to get on the field because we had both supporters and detractors,” Russell said.
“It’s great to see the girls in Super Rugby Women’s still running out of the tunnel at Ballymore with the QRU’s full support.
“To have played a part in the pioneering can’t be taken away. We all had desire and passion in the old days. Now, there are wonderful opportunities for women in rugby.”
Russell moved to the Northern Territory and earned selection from there in the Wallaroos squad for the 1998 World Cup in Amsterdam.
Coaching extended her contribution to the game. A decade on from winning a national title (1996) as a Queensland player, she was coaching a team in maroon to the 2006 title.
Those early fights for proper recognition took subtle forms whether it was the women getting less than optimum training times and fields or struggling for anyone to run against in an opposed session.
“I organised modified training against the Wests Under-19s boys on an outside field at Ballymore one time because we needed some intensity to our opposed work. I got a warning and a ‘please explain’ from the QRU for that one,” Russell said.
She solved a training impasse in even more novel fashion when she found herself coaching the Laos men’s national team years later.
“We were training on a military parade ground so not ideal. I happened to meet the US Ambassador and she organised something far better…training in her daughter’s horse paddock,” Russell said.
Russell was an assistant coach for the Wallaroos’ 2006 World Cup and was on the coaching staff for Australia’s first major women’s triumph on the international stage when the 2009 World Cup was won in sevens in Dubai.
“I coach rugby players. Most often, they just happened to be women,” Russell said of breaking down gender stereotypes.
Her stint as a premiership-winning coach with the Sunnybank men’s Colts, beside Tim Dinnen, in 2006-07 had a strong advocate in then-Sunnybank chief Gaven Head.
“Gaven has given me incredible support over the years,” she added.
She continues to do coaching clinics for the Classic Wallabies and was part of an enthusiastic group of Vintage Reds women’s players who offered support to the 2024 crop.
“As one of the ‘Old Girls’, we OGs love seeing the impetus that the women’s game now has.
The girls entertain and people want to watch,” Russell said.
“I’ve had my pinch-me moment. While I’m the first female Life Member, I think it’s wonderful that I won’t be the last.”
