Staggering amount of money Wales is funded every year, loss to Jillaroos

They may have conceded 228 points across their three matches but Wales’ first appearance at the Women’s World Cup has given the nation a taste of what could be possible.

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Despite falling short against three of the world’s best female rugby league powerhouses in Australia, England and Samoa, Wales have emerged from the tournament with a renewed sense of belief and determination to close the gap between them and the other nations.

However, they face a difficult challenge with cross-code athlete Ffion Lewis revealing the entire nation’s women’s program only receive $15,000 (AUD) across an entire year.

It is a staggering figure when compared to the resources available to countries such as Australia who have more than 50,000 female participants, while Wales has only recently surpassed 300.

“There’s definitely been improvements. We knew that coming to the World Cup there needed to be a bare minimum expectation and standard of allowing us to perform,” Lewis told foxsports.com.au.

“Wales funding for a year is just $15,000 Aussie dollars. You put that into perspective where women in this tournament are getting double that just for a match fee so it had its challenges.

“There are people that have put a lot of time and effort into making this opportunity possible.

“None of our staff get paid. They’re all doing it off their own back but we knew what out goal was. You’ve got to invest in order to gain.

“We don’t want to go down from here. We’ve set this bar. We don’t want to go home to Wales and be like we’ve done a World Cup and we leave it there.

“There is where we can step it up from here going forward.”

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While the results from the World Cup weren’t what they were aiming for and there is still a disparity in resources, the players remain enthusiastic about the experience.

“If you compare the resources, the funding and where we’re at in our program, there’s obviously got to be a realistic expectation for us,” Lewis added.

“It was just cool to be a part of a World Cup. It’s our first World Cup and then competing against them, that’s what you aspire to be.

“No athlete wants to lose, but it’s just flipping that perspective to think how awesome to say that we’ve played against the Jillaroos in their country in a World Cup.”

This led Lewis to reflect on the significance of simply being able to compete against the world’s best.

Starting out in rugby union, where she represented Wales in a World Cup, she admitted she wished she had discovered rugby league earlier in her career but the opportunity didn’t exist.

“I love league. It’s so much fun and I wish I played it sooner and I wish I played it when I was younger,” she admitted.

“That never would have been possible for us because there wasn’t an opportunity for girls to play in Wales.

“We’ve only now broken a record of over 300 girls playing league in Wales, but you put that into perspective, like Australia alone has 50,000. It’s hard to compare those.”

Although they finished the tournament winless, the experience was able to bring players from across the United Kingdom, as well as players who have come through their heritage connections, like Sian Williams and Tayla Preston.

The most experienced player in the team who has spent the past five seasons in the NRLW with the Eels, Sharks and Bulldogs, Preston believes the experience could have a lasting impact on the next generation of Welsh players.

“I think that’s what is special and making lifelong memories too. You’re going to have memories of facing the elite girls of the game,” Preston told foxsports.com.au.

“Obviously the girls have aspirations to play in the NRLW and also in the Super League too. For us, it’s just us bridging the gap and closing that gap between us and them.

“We’re only a small nation, but we want to see them continue to grow and see the game of rugby league grow back in Wales. There’s only just over 300 girls playing rugby league.

“We’ve got 50,000 plus female participants in Australia. For me, we weren’t that far away five, ten years ago.

“If you put yourselves out there and give it your all, I think you’re inspiring the next generation which is pretty special.”

Their maiden World Cup has shown what can be achieved with limited resources, unpaid staff and a small player base.

Now, the Wales players want to see what’s possible if investment matches their ambition.