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The men\u2019s competition will be hotly contested at the three-day event. Photo: Cee Bee\u2019s Photos.<\/p>\nThe Lismore Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival is putting women in the spotlight, with a growing number of players set to take the field in the 2026 competition.<\/p>\n
The three-day carnival will return to the Crozier Field and Oakes Oval sporting precinct from today, Friday 18 September, until Sunday.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s competition has grown in both quality and profile in recent years, with players coming from NSW and Queensland competitions and the NRLW.<\/p>\n
Carnival coordinator Chris Binge said the women had become an important part of the event and were bringing a new edge to the competition.<\/p>\n
That growth was particularly evident last year with the inclusion of NRLW players, while more local women are now securing contracts with professional clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese ladies bring such a different edge to this whole event. They bring a different edge to the competition,\u201d Binge said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe standard of football that these ladies produce and play is second to none.\u201d<\/p>\n
Binge said the growth of women\u2019s rugby league at the elite level was now being reflected at the knockout carnival, with young players progressing through higher levels of the game.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s competition will be hotly contested at the three-day event. Photo: Cee Bee\u2019s Photos.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen you look at the NRLW and the growth in the space, you now have all these young women that are playing at higher levels,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The carnival attracts teams, families and supporters from Aboriginal communities across the region and beyond, with more than 7,500 people attending in previous years.<\/p>\n
It has become a major event on the region\u2019s sporting calendar, as well as an important gathering for Aboriginal communities.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s competition will again be hotly contested, with the carnival regarded as one of the premier regional Indigenous rugby league events on the NSW north coast.<\/p>\n
For many teams, the Lismore carnival also serves as a tune-up for the NSW state carnival in October, with local bragging rights at stake.<\/p>\n
The event has also attracted current and former NRL stars over the years, including Greg Inglis, Albert Kelly and Cody Walker.<\/p>\n
Teams from Cabbage Tree Island, Cubawee, Muli Muli, Tabulam and Tweed are among those that regularly feature at the carnival.<\/p>\n
Run by Northern United Rugby League Club, the event relies on the support of volunteers, officials and community groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lismore Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival is putting women in the spotlight, with a growing number of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-895736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}