In the space of this decade the game has gone from something which barely existed to a mainstream sport which in inspiring a generation of young girls.

The western area is playing a major role in that.

Few people have played a bigger part in the success of the women's game than Jess Skinner and recognition of that from the NRL in 2018 was one of the landmark moments for the sport in this region.

Skinner's national prize and the rise of women's rugby league, the final part of our Moments That Mattered series.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED:

Most people in the area weren't aware of the work Jess Skinner did before she was honoured with the NRL Women in League Achievement Award.

Women's rugby league, the tackle format, was in its early days but already Skinner was having a huge influence on the its development.

Skinner had been coaching Western Rams league tag and tackle sides, and had pioneered the inaugural League Tag Academy Program, developing female juniors across remote and rural communities in the Barwon Darling, Outback and Castlereagh Leagues.

It was August 25, 2018, when NRL chairman Peter Beattie and Jillaroos player Rikeya Horne made the trip to Dubbo to present Skinner with the honour.

At the time Skinner had been coaching and volunteering six days a week, and had often been travelling 1000km a week to train girls at places like Menindee and Bourke.

"The game would fail without people like Jessica Skinner," Beattie said at the time.

"They are very special people, fantastic for the community and they build a community and what she's doing to encourage young women to play rugby league is really important.

"I'm delighted that she has won this national award."

It was a tearful Skinner who accepted the award in front of her friends and family at Apex Oval, as her journey hadn't been without heartache.

Her husband Ryan Selway had died in November 2017 at just 29, leaving behind Jess and their children Tawhiao and Naia.

But Ryan was the one who pushed Jess to get into coaching five years ago, with his memory keeping Jess going "every day, every week".

It had been tough at times, with the huge amount of travel taking up plenty of time around her job as a Trangie Central School teacher.

"There's a lot of hard work, a lot of late nights ... it is hard but it's so much more rewarding. All the positives outweigh the negatives," she said.

"I'm hugely passionate about the sport, particularly with women taking off so much ... it's just shooting and I'm just really lucky that I'm on this ride at the moment."

As modest as Skinner is, even she can recognise the impact her award had on the women's game.

Things were already in a good place and growing but the award and national recognition shone a light on the region.

"It was a surprise because there's so many great women in sport and many who've been involved longer than me," she said.

"It was an honour.

"It took off after that. The Western Women's Rugby League started, pathways were formed, and it all came after that.

"It was fantastic, not just for me. It was for everyone in the western area."

That has been something Skinner has said over and over.

Despite all she's done since August of 2018 - including the chance to be assistant coach of the Prime Minister's XIII in Fiji earlier this year - she has spoken about western the whole time.

It hasn't been about the rewards or her own personal call-ups, as beneficial and noteworthy as they've been, its all about ongoing development.

"The talent here is amazing. The girls in the western area have so much heart and courage and they love the sport," she said.

"It's our responsibility to grow the game."

While the award was one major moment for Skinner and the game, there is another that sticks in the coach's mind when it comes to the sport's development.

In 2017 a Western nines tackle side made the trip to Wagga having barely trained together or really done much work on technique.

"We lost but what came out of it was a real drive and committeemen," Skinner said.

"We had mums, students, police officers and players with other stressful jobs but they were all just on a high and were asking when the next game is.

"I saw that and just thought we had to do something."

And do something she did. Skinner is largely self-taught when it comes to her coaching but put in a huge amount of work and all that led to the prestigious NRL award the next year.

As stated above, the impact was huge.

The award brought attention to the western area and it's gone from strength to strength since then.

As Skinner has said, it's not all about her.

She's been the face of it at times but volunteers from all over have helped the western area become one of the country's top developers of women's rugby league talent.

"The first thing that comes to mind now is how great it is for girls in sport," Skinner said, looking at all that's happened this decade.

"It's enormous and it's all happened so quick. It was something when I was in school or uni, it wasn't there.

"There was the knockout footy and that ran successfully but week in, week out competition wasn't there."

It is there now.

The formation of the Western Women's Rugby League competition has taken the game in this region to another level.

In just two seasons the number of clubs has grown while the 2019 campaign saw matches played in the opens division, the under 18s, under 15s, and under 13s.

For Skinner and so many others in this area the thought of what those under 13s players will be capable of when they hit the senior age groups is a scary one.

On top of that, Skinner has been the driving force behind the formation of the Western Women's Rugby League Academy.

Western is one of three centres across Australia - the others are located in Sydney and Brisbane - currently running a women's academy, designed to help develop players skills to a level high enough to help boost the game's player pool.

Through that academy Skinner and her fellow coaches are further strengthening an area which has developed NSWRL players like Phillips, Wellington's Rhianna Sutherland and Kandy Kennedy of Bathurst.

But despite all the work she's done and all the success the region has had, Skinner continues to look forward.

"I still think there's a little ways to go," she said.

"We forget how big this area is. We could go as far as Bathurst and then to places like Bourke and Menindee.

"There's a pocket we're not quite hitting, and that's just because of distance."

And no-one would doubt Jess Skinner being the one to tap into those pockets and help them reach the next level as well.