There's plenty more to No Tears On The Field than women's rugby
It’s another big year for women’s rugby, so it’s fitting that a documentary about its grassroots is now out.
No Tears On The Field was clearly a labour of love for producer/director Lisa Burd.
The experienced documentary maker spent last season at club rugby fields around Taranaki covering the women's competition, highlighting the struggles it cops in a rural setting.
What Burd found though, was something much more interesting than lacing-up boots and hitting tackle bags on cold winter evenings. She unpacked a story about farming and small town Kiwi women, their commitment to do something for themselves, and the relationships they have – most significantly with their fathers.
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It’s framed around the Taranaki club season and two teams in particular. The rugby scenes are very nicely shot - Burd makes good use of the iconic local scenery.
Given how youthful the women’s game is, all the players we’re introduced to feel fresh and interesting. That’s is a unique selling point of women’s rugby, one that hopefully doesn’t get ground down by professionalism but will always be found at the grassroots level.
What has been done to death though is the constant call-back to the hurdles of decades past to get women’s rugby going, and No Tears On The Field is no exception. The film heads there early and trudges through the same story anyone with even a passing interest in women’s rugby has already heard.
Phoenix Fraser, a talented flanker for Clifton.
Supplied
While it obviously shouldn’t be forgotten, it’s also about time that narrative was left alone unless that’s specifically what the story is about. Some members of the original Black Ferns side are in their mid-60s now and while it took longer than it should have for female players to earn professional status, that’s now an entrenched part of the game.
The documentary shows several promising players getting identified by the national high performance unit, kitted out and flown to Auckland to get training from the Black Ferns’ staff.
Double Olympic gold medalist Micheala Brake features, although she seems shoehorned in as a local girl made good considering she’s barely played any club rugby since turning professional as a teenager. But this family bond connects her with the other characters in the film.
Maddison Davison is coached by her father Justin in the Clifton RFC side. Burd does a great job of exploring their relationship and depicting the conflict between Justin’s salt of the earth manner and the care he feels for his daughter.
Black Ferns Sevens superstar Michaela Blyde with her father, Stephen, a former Taranaki rugby representative.
Supplied
Similarly, Southern Sharks prop Kate Thompson’s bond with her mother and their shared experience of loss transcends rugby. It also gives us a glimpse into something many may struggle to understand: why a young woman would choose to spend her weekends playing such a physical sport.
This is the film’s strength - looking at the day to day lives of Davison and Thompson - as working farmers and the support they’ve had from their families and tight communities.
The title No Tears On The Field is taken from some advice Thompson got from her mother, herself a tough woman. It’s coming from a learned toughness growing up in a man’s world, and while it seems harsh, she’s clearly doing it to protect her daughter.
As with our national game, there’s much more to No Tears On The Field than just kicking and passing a ball. It’s about community, belonging and commitment, no matter whether you’re running out onto Eden Park or the local paddock with your mates.
SSCA
