Cowboys captain Tallisha Harden wants to help the United States qualify for the 2026 World Cup and has spoken with officials about a role with the Hawks.
Harden, who captained the Indigenous women’s team in last week’s All Stars match and was a member of the Jillaroos squad that won the World Cup in 2022, qualifies for the USA through her Hawaiian grandfather.
With the NRL's historic season opening double-header in Las Vegas on March 3 (AEST), rugby league in the US is attracting unprecedented interest and the involvement of Harden would be a massive boost for the women's game.
The possibility of Harden linking with the Hawks follows revelations by ARLC chair Peter V'landys that the NRL was considering taking a women's game to the United States in future seasons.
She seems super pumped to get involved with the women’s game out here, both as a player and beyond that.
Ady Cooney, USA coach
The 31-year-old sent a message of support to the USA women’s team before their matches against Canada and Jamaica in last year’s Americas Championship and is keen to play in November’s World Cup qualifiers.
“I have been in contact with USA women's rugby league head coach Adrian [Ady] Cooney since late last year, just to kind of express interest in getting involved,” Harden said.
“I've had some initial chats with him, just to see what that might look like, with the possibility of maybe helping out on the coaching or mentoring side of things.
“We talked about my eligibility a little bit, and my grandfather is Hawaiian on my mum's side.
“We have got lots of extended family still in Hawaii, so that’s really cool that I might get to possibly represent that side of my family.”
The USA side will play Brazil, who made their debut at the last World Cup in England in 2022, while Canada and Jamaica will meet, in the Americas qualifying tournament on November 6 at the University of North Florida.
The two winners will play off on November 9 for a place in the 2025 World Series, which will feature a team from the Americas, Africa, Europe and Pacific vying for the final RLWC2026 berth.
“Whether I'd play a small part in that, as a player or a coach, I'm just grateful to even be having that conversation,” Harden said.
“My granddad, he's a proud Hawaiian man, and a lot of my aunties, uncles and cousins based here in Australia have gone over to Molokai and reconnected with our family there; whether that be reunions or trips over individually.
“It's been pretty awesome but I've missed out on all of them, though, because it usually happens during NRLW.”
However, Harden has previously played in the United States with the Highlanders Indigenous Rugby 7s team in 2012.
“We won a tournament in New York, which was amazing, so that was my first experience over there,” said Harden, who has featured on the NFL’s website for power rankings.
“I'd love to get back over there to experience it and obviously meet a lot of the girls from the USA team if that arises.”
Cooney said it would be a huge boost for the USA women’s team to have player of the calibre and experience of Harden, who has represented Australia and Queensland since 2015 and is preparing for her seventh NRLW season.
“She actually sent a message to the team just before our first game in Jamaica," Cooney said. “It was a really good motivational thing for the girls, I don’t think they expected it at all.
“Conversations have continued since then and she said she was willing to do whatever was necessary to try and make that team to play.
“She knows there will be competition and she isn’t a walk in, which I fully respect, but she seems super pumped to get involved with the women’s game out here, both as a player and beyond that.
“Potentially she could get into coaching and be a mentor for a lot of these young players who are going to be coming through.”
