Times are changing but there are still moments that make Tahnee Norris very aware that she’s a woman coaching rugby league, not just a rugby league coach.
For instance, during State of Origin camp this year, the Queensland women’s coach walked into a stadium and the groundskeeper addressed the male coaching staff with an update instead of her.
It would be a simple mistake if these acts of casual sexism didn’t happen all the time. It’s the assumption being that men are head coaches and women are there to support them.
“These little things happen all the time, they’re all similar,” she says.
“I’ve got male assistants and there’s a mutual respect between us and they’re good blokes, so they’re the first ones to turn around and go, ‘no, that’s the coach there’.
“But the assumption is usually that one of the male coaches is the women’s Origin coach.”
It’s…