Melanie Howard (born 10 May 1993) is an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays for

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

in the

RFL Women's Super League The Rugby Football League Women's Super League (known as the Betfred Women's Super League due to sponsorship) is the elite women's rugby league club competition in England. Originally competed between four teams in the 2017 season, the league ha ...

. Primarily a , she is a

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Prime Minister's XIII Prime Minister's XIII, or sometimes informally referred to as the PM's XIII, a representative rugby league team, comprising Australian players from National Rugby League clubs that did not qualify for the NRL Finals, or whose teams were knocked ...

representative.

Background

Born in

Gosford, New South Wales Gosford is a Waterfront (area), waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic v ...

, Howard played her junior rugby for the Northern Lakes Warriors.

Playing career

St George Illawarra Dragons

In June 2018, Howard represented NSW Country at the inaugural Women's National Championships. On 31 July 2018, she signed with the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

in the

NSWRL Women's Premiership The NSWRL Women's Premiership, known as the Harvey Norman NSWRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship from Harvey Norman, is the top level of women's rugby league football in New South Wales, Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League, ...

. In Round 1 of the

2018 NRL Women's season The 2018 NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) was the first season of professional women's rugby league in Australia. Teams Pre-season Only two of the four sides, the Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors, took part in pre-season trial gam ...

, she made her debut for the Dragons in a 4–30 loss to the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

Sydney Roosters

On 26 June 2019, she joined the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

NRLW team. On 25 October 2020, Howard started at in the Roosters' 10–20 NRLW Grand Final loss to the

Leeds Rhinos

On 17 March 2025 it was reported that she had signed for

in the

Representative

On 6 October 2018, she represented the

in their 40–4 win over Papua New Guinea. In May 2019, she represented NSW Country at the Women's National Championships. On 13 November 2020, she made her State of Origin debut for

in their 18–24 loss to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

References

External links

Sydney Roosters profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Melanie 1993 births Living people 21st-century Australian sportswomen Australian female rugby league players Leeds Rhinos Women players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin Women players Prime Minister's XIII women players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Gosford, New South Wales Sportswomen from New South Wales St. George Illawarra Dragons (NRLW) players Sydney Roosters (NRLW) players