Elizabeth Macgregor Excels On Debut In The NRLW

Parkes local Elizabeth MacGregor is the youngest member of the Bulldogs’ inaugural squad, at only 18 years of age, the fullback earned an NRLW call up in Round 4 and scored a double on debut.

We spoke to Elizabeth about her foot­ball journey: “I have played football for as long as I can remember, most of it being club football up until I was 16 when I played representative footy for Western Rams and NSWCCC through school.

“At 17 I began training with the Sydney Roosters under 19s Tarsha Gale team and played my first year of under 19s with them.

This involved a lot of travel to and from Syd­ney three times a week in order to live my dream of playing football as well as still liv­ing in my home town and completing school.

“Halfway through 2024 I received a phone call and it was an offer to be in the Bulldogs top 24 squad. At the time I was on bed rest after having ankle surgery so I couldn’t be­lieve it. Fast forward to the start of 2025 and I played my second year of 19s with Bull­dogs and when that season finished I con­tinued training with the NRLW team.

“When Brayden (NRLW coach) told me I would be making my debut against the Roosters I was quite nervous, but he has instilled a huge amount of confidence in me which helped with my preparation signifi­cantly.

“Going over for my first try was so surreal.

The first half didn’t go well for our team so to score our first try was amazing but the cutout pass from Ash Quinlan was unreal to get me over in the corner. Everyone in the team was so happy for me and I couldn’t ask for more supportive team mates. I was happy with one try but the second one just topped it all off, looking over at my family and friends cheering for me, some even cry­ing. It was unreal and I feel so blessed to have people who care about me and my success in rugby league.

“I had so many family and friends at the game to support me and lots of people watching from home. I can’t thank them enough for all their support, especially my parents for all the effort, especially the trav­el, they have put in to get me to where I am today.”

After such a thrilling debut, its no surprise that Elizabeth came out scoring first for the Bulldogs in her second game. Her stats speak for themselves – four tries in just two appearances, eight tackle breaks and four line breaks and only one missed tackle.

Elizabeth was personally identified by Head Coach Blake Cavallaro in Parkes, NSW as a 15-year-old, and despite being just 18 years old, Cavallaro believes the fledgling fullback will have plenty of impact on the Club’s inaugural NRLW squad. “Eliz­abeth is six-foot, she’s fast and she’s ath­letic,” Cavallaro said.

“She can play anywhere between fullback, wing and centre and her arrival to the squad will help to inject a spark that will positively influence her teammates.”

President of The Parkes Spacemen RLFC Tony Dwyer said of Elizabeth: “She’s a terrific girl, she deserves every success she gets because she trains very hard.

She’s put so much time and effort into get­ting to where she is, we’re so proud of her, and she’s just a terrific person too.”