‘From Coldstream Guards to World Cup’: Jade Mullen’s rapid rise in women’s rugby league

Jade Mullen’s route to the Women’s Rugby League World Cup has been anything but conventional, underlining how quickly the women’s game is evolving and how new talent is entering the international stage from outside traditional league pathways.

The 34-year-old, originally from Caerphilly, earned a place in Wales’ squad for the showpiece tournament in Australia after a last-minute switch of codes from rugby union to rugby league. Within months of first playing the 13-a-side game, she was facing some of the sport’s leading nations on its biggest platform.

From Army union captain to late league convert

Mullen has extensive rugby union experience, having captained the British Army’s women’s side at high-profile venues such as Twickenham. That background gave her elite conditioning and leadership skills, but she had never played rugby league before January of this year.

The turning point came when Wales captain Bethan Dainton – who, like Mullen, serves in the British Army – urged her to try league. Encouraged by a close friend who had already established herself in the 13-a-side code, Mullen decided to test herself in a new environment.

She joined London Broncos at the start of the season and began training with them from January onwards in preparation for the league campaign kicking off in March. The schedule was demanding. For a spell she was training twice a week with the Broncos while also continuing rugby union commitments, describing that dual workload as tiring but ultimately rewarding.

That rapid transition is significant beyond one player’s story. It illustrates how the professionalisation and visibility of the women’s game are creating crossover opportunities, particularly for athletes in structured environments such as the armed forces, where strength and conditioning, discipline and team culture are already embedded.

Promotion with London Broncos and a World Cup call

Mullen’s move quickly paid off at club level. She was part of a London Broncos squad that won the National Championship and secured promotion to the Women’s Super League, a step up that places the club among the leading domestic sides in England and exposes players to stronger weekly competition.

For Wales, that rise matters. Playing in the top tier means Mullen and several of her team-mates will face higher-intensity fixtures during the regular season, providing a more robust base for future international campaigns.

The Broncos’ success came while Mullen was still fulfilling Army duties, a dual role that required understanding from all sides. She is grateful for the flexibility the club showed during a packed calendar that included both domestic rugby league and service rugby union commitments.

Throughout the season, she embraced the increased physical demands of league, highlighting her enjoyment of defensive work and the contact area. She has even suggested that rugby league feels more physical than union, a comment she makes with a smile, acknowledging that her union friends may not agree.

Life in uniform: Army duties and rugby responsibilities

Mullen left home at 17 to join the British Army, where she was first introduced to rugby union. Seeking to develop her skill set, she stepped into club rugby with Pencoed back in Wales before moving on to Worcester Valkyries and then being picked up by Harlequins in 2018, staying there until last year.

Alongside her rugby, she serves as a warrant officer currently attached to 1st Battalion, the Coldstream Guards in Windsor. Balancing a full-time military career with elite sport requires careful coordination between service commitments and training demands.

As captain of the Army team, she led them to victory over the Navy at Twickenham in 2023, a landmark moment in her union career. For a Welsh player, lifting a trophy at the famous English national stadium carried added significance, capped by winning the inter-services competition – a long-standing fixture in the armed forces sporting calendar.

Her Army and club responsibilities intersect directly with the governance of the sport. Selection for Wales at the World Cup places Mullen within the international system overseen by the International Rugby League, while domestic promotion with London Broncos elevates her into a Super League structure that underpins many national-team programmes.

Wales’ World Cup challenge and what it means for the programme

Wales are competing in the Women’s Rugby League World Cup for the first time in their history, a milestone that reflects the broader expansion of the women’s international game and the federation’s investment in building a pathway from grassroots to test level.

The tournament format places them in a demanding group. They have already suffered heavy defeats in their opening two matches, losing to England and then 76-0 against Samoa in their second group game. Those results underline the gap that still exists between emerging nations and established powers, particularly in depth of experience in the 13-a-side code.

Yet for Wales, simply being present at the World Cup carries strategic importance. It offers:

• Exposure to world-champion and Tier 1 opposition, setting clear performance benchmarks.
• Increased visibility for players who are still relatively new to rugby league, including those transitioning from other codes.
• Momentum for domestic development, as World Cup participation can help attract new players, sponsors and institutional support.

They now face another formidable test in their final group match against hosts Australia, who are the reigning world champions. Progression to the semi-finals was always going to be a steep challenge given the strength of the pool, but the experience against the best teams remains a critical building block for future campaigns.

Support from home and the wider forces community

Competing on the sport’s biggest stage has prompted strong backing from Wales and from within the armed forces. Mullen says her family have supported her throughout her career from a distance ever since she left home at 17, and that continued as she travelled to Australia for the World Cup.

The Army rugby team, currently on tour in Canada, have also sent messages of encouragement. For Mullen, missing an Army rugby union fixture for the first time in several seasons underlined the significance of her World Cup involvement. Being cheered on from afar by team-mates in another hemisphere has added a personal dimension to an already demanding campaign.

Her journey from Army recruit to union captain, newly converted league player and now World Cup international encapsulates the intertwined nature of military structures and elite sport. For Wales and London Broncos, it is an example of how disciplined, late-entry athletes can strengthen developing programmes. For the women’s game more broadly, it highlights how quickly opportunity can open when federations commit to expanding competitions and aligning domestic and international calendars.

As the group stage concludes, Mullen’s story sits at the intersection of three institutions – national team, professional club and armed forces – showing how each can play a role in elevating women’s rugby league on and off the field.