While last year was tough for Harden product, Tara McGrath-West who unfortunately missed the side’s 2024 campaign due to a sternum injury, 2025 is already looking like a massive year for her as she joins the Brisbane Broncos. This means her time with the Dragons has finished as she joins her new team for two years.
The 23-year old Harden-born prop will make the move to Queensland after spending two seasons with the Red V, having made her NRLW debut in 2022. McGrath-West was officially granted a release from her former club.
At 23, she spent her Tarsha Gale Cup days with the Raiders before making the move up to Sydney to play in the Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership for the Bears and eventually earning an NRLW contract with unprecedented form and commitment. She was rewarded with an NRLW debut in Round 1, 2022 and had grown into an integral part of the Dragons squad over the past two seasons before she made the change.
Broncos NRLW Head Coach Scott Prince said, “Tara has been a great pick up for us. “She’s a young forward in the competition, unfortunately missing some footy due to a sternum concern, but she’s on the mend and we’re looking forward to her joining our squad and mixing with our already experienced pack.
“With our systems, programs, and coaching, we look to certainly improve her footy over the next couple of years which is what’s most exciting for me and our team.
“If Tara shows that she is willing to apply herself in every aspect of her game, we know that we can take her to the next level.”
Tara said, “I was signed with the Dragons for the 2025 season and I wanted a bit of a change in environment and get into an uncomfortable situation and push myself a bit more and I got a release from Dragons and I knew Broncos were interested in me for 2026-27. I went to them and a couple of other clubs and put some interest out and I ended up signing with Broncos.
“2025 and 2026 is locked in and 2027 is a mutual option. It’s pretty much a three year deal, but we will sit down in 2026 and have a meeting.
“I turn 24 in June this year.
“2024 was a rest year for me and I didn’t do anything until the back end of the season. Everything looks like I’ve recovered well, but we won’t really know until the season starts, once it’s tested, because sternums are a bit hit and miss and the injury can come back pretty quickly.”
At 180cm and currently 85kg, Tara is a mobile Prop with excellent defence.
“It makes it easier for me to move around a bit, but I am pretty light at the moment. I should be a little bit heavier because of the position I do play.
“I am a big believer that defence obviously wins games, so I pride myself with making sure that if the ball comes near me I’m getting in and getting involved in the tackle.
“With my move up there I did express that I was looking to go back to Uni, so that will be an option for me during the day because we train of an afternoon and I will also be working in a similar position to what I was down at the Dragons, involved in a community space.
“I love getting out to the schools and things. I love that line of work.
“The women are pretty happy with the payments they get for the amount that they do, but it would be nice to be able to get that bit more, but for us we just want to be full-time athletes, that is our biggest push at the moment, not so much the financial side of it, we just want to be full time so that we can focus on it, so we are still happy to be part time with full time expectations. We want that full time role and then money will come into consideration with that.
“The Dragons were incredible with the experience and it ended in a mutual agreement which was really important to me because because the Dragons have been a bit part of my life for the last three years and I do have a lot of love for the club and everyone that is involved there and they understood where I was coming from with it all as much as they wanted to keep me, they respected my decision and they wanted to help me out with where I was going moving forward and constantly checking in even after we ended our contract agreement. They have been incredible.
“I was in Harden for the Christmas period and then I was also there two weeks ago. This offseason I have been really fortunate, obviously ending with Dragons meant I finished up my role with them and it has given me a lot of free time to go back home and visit the family which is good.
“At the end of last term I got into Trinity and MPS as well and I also got in the High School for their presentation.
“I was originally a Trinity girl.”
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