For Pauline Poloai, Melbourne Storm’s Female Pathways Manager, she can’t thank rugby league enough for the opportunity the game has given her.
Pauline began working in rugby league 15 years ago, beginning with NRL Victoria and heavily involved in the local game and community across the state. Since then, her development has led to her most recent role, heading up Melbourne Storm’s new Female Pathways program – it’s a big role, equally rewarding and challenging.
Pauline’s own experiences throughout the game of rugby league have driven her into her most recent post and there is one word that is a constant when talking about the future of Storm’s Female Pathways – opportunity.
“We now have 60 young female athletes across Victoria who have the opportunity to play rugby league for Melbourne Storm,” Poloai explains.
“[The role] has been a great opportunity. It's opened doors for me and created a platform for me to advocate for young females, but also to provide opportunity for the next generation to succeed in their goals.
“Words can't ever express how grateful I am to this game.”
You could argue Poloai is much more than an advocate for young female athletes coming into and through the Storm Pathways system. She along with others in the Club played an integral role in the implementation of Storm’s initial Female Development program which has now progressed into fully fledged U17 & U19 sides competing in NSWRL competitions as of 2026.
“To see girls out there in the purple jersey shows there is a genuine pathway for females here in Victoria,” Poloai said.
“A lot of these girls had to make that sacrifice and move across either to New South Wales or Queensland previously and we did lose quite a substantial number of girls to those two states because the opportunity just wasn't here for them.
“Since having our two Storm teams entering the competition, we've had a high rate of players coming back to Victoria, because they're closer to home and closer to family.
“For our Club, it's been a massive milestone in getting these two teams up and running.”
For everyone at Melbourne Storm, there’s many more milestones to come for the Club’s Female Pathways program but there’s no downplaying the significance of season 2026 on the ‘Road to AAMI Park’.
“The long-term plan has always been to have an NRLW team, but to have these two teams now officially in the competition just goes to show the growth that we have here in Victoria,” Poloai said.
“This is the future of Melbourne Storm right here playing in the Lisa Fiaola and Tarsha Gale programs and it’s exciting.
“Taking that Storm culture and drive we’ve seen in the men’s program, I know we can do it in the female space.”
The famous Storm culture that has been harnessed, built and embraced since the Club’s inception in 1998 is already running deep within the women’s program which is highly represented by players from Pasifika backgrounds.
“Our Club is always founded on culture,” Poloai explains.
“The one thing a lot of our girls share is their culture. They come from a highly populated Pacific Islander culture, so that’s where the connection comes from for us.
“We're united by who we are as people, our love for the game but also recognising the strong Polynesian culture that we have among our playing group.”
Melbourne Storm’s U17’s and U19’s female sides are now a month into their first full-time competitive season and have acquitted themselves well across the opening stages of the season with the Lisa Fiaola Cup side sitting in sixth position and in the Finals race.
You can catch both sides in action the next two weekends at Casey Fields (Saturday 14 March and Saturday 21 March) against Wests Tigers and then the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Melbourne Storm’s Female Pathways program is proudly supported by Club partners Ellis Air, BMD, Big Ant Studios and RedSpot as well as the Australian Government through the Play Our Way program.
