Central Qld’s leading women of sport: From rising stars to icons of the game
Central Queensland has produced a huge line-up of female champions. We list 21 players, coaches and officials who have made their way to the top or who are well on their way.
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Central Queensland has produced - and continues to produce - elite athletes in a host of sports.
We have compiled a list of female players, coaches and officials who have made it to the top level or are showing they have the potential to be the next big thing in their code.
From cricket to combat sport, basketball to barrel racing, and football in all forms, these 21 stars are shining bright on the sporting stage.
ESTABLISHED
Tamika Upton (rugby league)
An Australian touch representative, Tamika made the transition to rugby league in 2019 after having played the game as a junior.
Just weeks into her first season with Yeppoon in the Rockhampton Rugby League senior women’s competition, she was recruited by the Brisbane Broncos.
The champion playmaker went on to win two NRLW premierships with Brisbane before moving to the Newcastle Knights for the 2022 season, where she would claim title number three.
She was awarded the Karyn Murphy Medal for Player of the Match in the Knights’ grand final win in which she became the competition’s all-time leading try-scorer.
Tamika is recognised as one of the best fullbacks in the game, and has twice represented Queensland in the State of Origin arena. She was selected in the Australian team for last year’s World Cup but withdrew due to injury.
Georgia Muir (football)
The highly skilled right winger was the 2022 Football Queensland Premier League Central Coast Women’s Player of the Year.
She scored 31 goals for Clinton, the second highest in the competition.
She returned to Gladstone after finishing university in Brisbane, where she gained invaluable experience playing with clubs such as Mitchelton in the Queensland Premier League.
Georgia has fantastic dribbling skills and, as is reflected in her goals tally, her finishing is excellent off both feet.
As quick as lightning, she reads the play well and gets herself into the right place at the right time. She knows when to inject herself and when to drop back and lend support to her teammates.
Belinda Sharpe (rugby league)
The now 35 year old has blazed an incredible trail since officiating her first junior fixture at Gracemere as a teenager.
She made history in July 2019, becoming the first female referee to control an NRL game.
Belinda has also refereed women’s State of Origins, NRLW grand finals and countless Q-Cup games.
Her greatest and most recent achievement came in her second appearance at the Rugby League World Cup in England in November.
After controlling and running the line in both men’s and women’s games at the international tournament, she was awarded the women’s grand final between Australia and New Zealand at the iconic stadium, Old Trafford.
Lisa Morgan (hockey)
Having enjoyed success as a player, Lisa is now strengthening her position as one of the game’s leading coaches.
She was named Hockey Queensland’s 2022 High Performance Coach of the Year after taking the Queensland under-18 girls and the Queensland Masters over-34 women to national titles.
Lisa made the transition to coaching at age 30 after a decorated playing career in which she was a member of the Australian under-21 outdoor squad and represented Australia at the first indoor World Cup in 2003.
In 2017, she won Hockey Queensland’s Coach of the Year for both indoor and outdoor.
Mariah Storch (rugby league)
The proud Central Highlands product has forged an incredible career since starting league at age 17 in Blackwater.
The tireless second rower twice represented Queensland Country and won back-to-back NRLW premierships with the Brisbane Broncos in 2018 and 2019.
When Covid put football on hold, Mariah turned her attention to motherhood, welcoming daughter Henley in February 2021.
She returned to competitive sport just eight weeks later, teaming up with the CQ Capras in the BMD Premiership.
Her big-game experience, passion and leadership were a boon for the team, who she captained to the grand final in 2022.
She was awarded for a standout season, named the QRL BMD Premiership Player of the Year and also included in the competition’s Team of the Year.
Leanne Caban (barrel racing)
The 54-year-old from Emerald has one of the most decorated - and enduring - careers on the rodeo circuit.
Her most recent success came at the Australian Professional Rodeo Association National Finals in November last year.
There she won the barrel racing title, something she’s desired since she first started in the sport more than 30 years ago. She also took home the All Around cowgirl buckle.
Leanne grew up around horses, and started doing pony club and campdrafting, as well as track work for her father who had a number of race horses.
She was introduced to rodeo at 18 and never looked back, amassing an impressive array of titles, many of them at the prestigious Mt Isa Rodeo.
Jess Jonassen (cricket)
There is little the 30-year-old has not achieved in her decorated domestic and international career.
A left-arm orthodox bowling all-rounder, Jess has been a mainstay of the Australian women’s team since 2012.
In her first three months of international cricket, she took five one-day wickets and four T20 wickets. She then starred with the bat in her Test debut in the 2015 Women’s Ashes, scoring 99 and 54 to be named Player of the Match.
Jess has gone on to win back-to-back WBBL titles with the Brisbane Heat and been a vital part of Australia’s four ICC T20 World Cup wins.
She is also just the fourth woman to take 100 ODI wickets for Australia, and won gold at 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
She is the current captain of the Brisbane Heat and the Queensland Fire in the Women’s National Cricket League.
Amanda Ohl (rugby league)
Amanda has been instrumental in the development of female rugby league in Central Queensland, on and off the field.
A talented player, she has channelled her experience and knowledge into coaching, where she enjoyed success with teams such as the Rockhampton Rustlers women, who won consecutive 47th Battalion titles.
She was appointed head coach of the CQ Capras women in 2020 for the inaugural season of the QRL’s statewide competition only for it to be cut short by COVID.
She remained at the helm, taking the team from second last in 2021 to runners-up in 2022, an achievement that earned her the QRL BMD Premiership Coach of the Year.
One of the most outstanding measures of her success is her ability to bring players from across the Central Division, which covers a huge footprint, and mould them into a cohesive playing unit.
She is also an experienced administrator who for a decade has worked as an operations manager with the QRL.
EMERGING
Emma Paki (rugby league)
The 20-year-old took her footy career to another level in 2022, winning a premiership in her first year in the NRLW.
It was an incredible achievement for Emma, who debuted for the Newcastle Knights in Round 4 of the competition.
She joined the club after several standout seasons with the CQ Capras in the QRL’s statewide women’s competition, the BMD Premiership.
The talented centre/winger was named the BMD Premiership Rookie of the Year and included in the Team of the Year last year.
It has been a meteoric rise for the former Australian touch rep, who only got her first taste of rugby league playing for The Cathedral College in the Karyn Murphy Cup when she was in Year 12.
She is currently recovering from surgery after rupturing her ACL in the NRLW grand final.
Ella Calleja (Aussie rules)
The 18-year-old has taken the next step in her burgeoning career, signing with the Southport Sharks who play in the QAFLW.
A natural talent, Ella has all the skills of a fantastic forward. She reads the game well, has speed to burn, can kick off both feet and possesses a great vertical leap.
Part of the Gold Coast Suns Academy, she represented Queensland at the NAB AFLW under-18 national championships and was a member of the North Queensland women’s team last year.
A member of the Yeppoon Swanettes, she was named Player of the Final after the team claimed its maiden premiership in 2022 in the AFL Capricornia senior women’s comp.
She was also named the competition’s Best and Fairest in 2021 and 2022.
Alenna Whipp (rugby league/rugby union)
The 18-year-old is proving to be a dual code sensation, scoring state honours in both league and union.
The crafty playmaker plays her club league with Rockhampton Brothers and is a pivotal member of the CQ Capras under-19 women’s team. In 2021, she made the Queensland Country under-17s and last year, represented the Queensland Sapphires at the under-19 nationals in Brisbane.
Alenna has established herself as a rising star in union as well.
She starred in Frenchville’s premiership win in the 2022 Rugby Capricornia women’s 7s competition, named Player of the Final. She was the first female to receive Frenchville’s Player of the Year award.
She was selected for the CQ Bushrangers, and was one of the youngest players to represent the Queensland Country Orchids.
Sienna Harmsworth (hockey)
The latest member of the Harmsworth family making a mark in hockey, this young gun had an exceptional year in 2022.
She captained the Capricornia primary schoolgirls team which finished second at the state championships, and was one of only two 11-year-olds then selected in the Queensland under-12 team which won gold at the nationals.
She was Player in the Final in Rockhampton’s win at the North Queensland under-11 carnival.
Sienna, who plays with Wanderers in the Rockhampton Hockey Association competition, was Player of the Final and Player of the Year in the under-12 division, and an integral member of the club’s under-15 premiership-winning team.
She rounded the year out by being named a shadow for the Queensland under-13 indoor hockey team after starring for the Rockhampton team that finished third at the state championships.
Sally Vagg (swimming)
A star performer from the Rocky City Swimming Club, Sally is a multi state and national medallist who swam at the 2021 Olympic trials.
A highlight for the 16-year-old came in 2022 when she represented the Australian Junior Dolphins at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Hawaii.
There she gained invaluable experience competing in three races in her pet stroke, the butterfly.
She is a consistent performer and her greatest strengths are her ability to hold technique and finish races strongly.
She is gearing up for another big year, with one of her main goals to make the Australian team for the 2023 World Junior Championships.
Lillian Yarrow (rugby league)
The hard-running front rower has the rugby league scene buzzing. A genuine workhorse, she has gone from strength to strength in her career.
Lillian was an integral member of the victorious Queensland Country under-17 team in 2021 and made the Queensland Sapphires under-19 squad last year.
After starring for Emmaus College, she was named the inaugural winner of the Reg Cannon Award for the Female Player of the Carnival at the 2022 Confraternity Carnival.
She was in the Queensland team that played in the first-ever Australian schoolgirls clash, which was the curtain-raiser to the 2022 women’s Stage of Origin at Suncorp Stadium.
She claimed another piece of footy history when selected in the Australian schoolgirls team - the first to travel and to play in an international fixture. The Aussies scored a convincing 48-nil win against Fiji.
Mahli Rea (cricket)
The talented teen is cementing her standing as one of the best young all-rounders in the game. Mahli, 14, is currently representing Queensland at the under-16 national championships in Canberra.
Her selection came after she captained the Central Infernos at the Queensland Cricket Under-15 State Challenge, where she was named Player of the Tournament and included in the Team of the Tournament. She was also crowned Best Batter after scoring 208 runs and Best Fielder after taking five catches.
She earned another Player of the Carnival gong several months earlier after representing Central Queensland at the inaugural North Queensland Alliance under-15 girls championships.
A top-order batter and right-arm pace bowler, she plays for BITS in the Gladstone under-17 comp and for the Sunshine Coast Scorchers in the Queensland’s premier women’s competition, the Katherine Raymont Shield.
Isabelle Shearer (netball)
It was clear the Rockhampton netball was destined for big things as soon as she set foot on a court with Frenchville as a seven-year-old alongside her twin sister Katelyn.
She started playing Senior A netball at age 14 and representative honours quickly followed. Isabelle became a mainstay in Queensland underage teams and in 2019, she was selected in Netball Australia’s under-17 squad and Tall Athlete National Squad, travelling to the AIS in Canberra for training camps.
The Cathedral College graduate moved to Brisbane in late 2020, where she has continued to flourish.
In that year, she made the Queensland and national under-17 squads and in 2021 earned the same honours in the under-19 division. In 2022, she played for Queensland at the national under-19 championships and represented the Queensland Sapphires at the Australian championships.
She was also identified by Netball Australia under the AIS framework as Emerging Athlete, and included in the North Queensland Emerging Athlete Program designed to support high-performance development.
She has just been signed as a training partner with the Queensland Firebirds for 2023.
Georgia Ralphs (Muay Thai)
The 17-year-old powerhouse burst on to the international fight scene with a gold-medal winning performance.
Representing Australia for the first time, she won the under 65kg 17-18 years division at the ISKA Muay Thai Championships in Turkey.
That victory earned her a second national selection, and she is now gearing up for the World Muay Thai Games in Thailand in March this year.
Georgia, who is also the ISKA 60kg Queensland champion, started training at The Muay Thai College in Gracemere eight years ago.
Coach Chloe McLachlan said Georgia’s incredible work ethic, natural ability and physical strength were sure to guarantee her more success in the combat sport.
Bella Janes (basketball)
The talented power forward played a crucial role for the Rockhampton Cyclones under-18s who went through undefeated in the 2022 season of the Central Queensland Junior Basketball Competition.
Bella is a big who can score on the inside and has a reliable outside shot.
A member of the Cyclones NBL1 squad last year, she will be looking to fill a permanent role in the team in 2023.
She is a current member of Basketball Queensland’s State Performance Program who is on the radar for the Queensland North under-18 state team.
Charlie Stirling (tennis)
The 15-year-old continues to serve up success and had a year to remember in 2022, which culminated in her being crowned the Central Region Player of the Year.
She won the Queensland Junior Development Series’ 15 years girls title, as well as registering three tier one wins at tournaments in Gladstone, Rockhampton and Mackay. She won the Emerald Open Ladies singles and represented Central Region at the Queensland Teams Event in Brisbane.
Charlie has a well-rounded game complimented by incredible speed around the court.
She is tenacious and has a great work ethic, traits which will hold her in good stead as she looks to improve her UTR rating by playing more state and national tournaments.
Taryn Roberts (swimming)
A hunger to learn and a penchant for hard work are two of the key ingredients that have helped propel the Rocky City swimmer to incredible success in the pool and open water.
Taryn, 16, goes into every meet with a demanding schedule - and delivers every time, bringing home countless medals and awards at every level of competition.
At just 14, she swam at the Olympic trials in 2021 and late last year produced very respectable results in her first international competition, representing Queensland at the Japan Invitational and the Japan Open in Tokyo.
She then lined up at the states in Brisbane in December, clocking some of her fastest times in 18 months, a positive sign as she sets her sights on selection for the 2023 World Junior Championships.
The superfish is now preparing for the open water nationals in Western Australia, where she is a two-time 5km champion.
Sophie Driscoll (basketball)
The talented guard’s talent is catching attention on the local scene and beyond.
Sophie led the Rockhampton Cyclones under-18s to the Central Queensland Junior Basketball Competition title in 2022.
She represented Queensland North at the national championships as a bottom age player, holding her own against more experienced and more senior players.
A member of the Rockhampton Cyclones NBL1 squad, she is sure to get more minutes on court this season as she continues her rise through the ranks.
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