IF Katie Page needed any validation for throwing her support behind women’s rugby league it came from her husband Gerry Harvey on Friday night.

The pair watched the Jillaroos beat New Zealand 16-4.

“Gerry watched it and said ‘oh my god those girls do play’,” Page said. “By highlighting what these women are going to be doing and what they have been doing, and getting it out there to 24 million Australians it changes the whole thing.”

Page, as chief executive of Harvey Norman, is leading the change with the company becoming the major partner for this year’s Women’s Rugby League World Cup.

It will be the first time players competing in the six team tournament will not have to pay their own way to play.

“Harvey Norman has sponsored women in league for a dozen years,” Page said. “Rugby league is in our DNA. The women’s initiative is in our DNA. In general women’s sports has accelerated in the past 12 months with lots of companies like ours and sports investing a lot more in women’s sport.

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“This is what we are seeing. This is what should happen.”

The men’s and women’s final will be played as part of a double header in Brisbane on December 2.

World Cup chief executive Andrew Hill added: “The sponsorship allows us to profile our athletes on a global stage with a broader audience watching them.”