Queensland Rugby League Awards: CQ Capras win big, with women’s captain Mariah Storch BMD Premiership Player of the Year

Mariah Storch reflects on a memorable season personally and one which proved to be the most successful for the club. See which of her clubmates and officials were also awarded for their efforts.

CQ Capras’ inspirational skipper Mariah Storch cannot wait for women’s side’s pre-season to start.

She is keen to get back into training in a bid to replicate the form which saw her awarded the 2022 Steph Hancock BMD Premiership Player of the Year.

The 25 year old was acknowledged as the premier female player at the Queensland Rugby League Awards where the Capras featured prominently.

Storch’s teammate Emma Paki won BMD Premiership Rookie of the Year, while Amanda Ohl was named the competition’s Coach of the Year.

Captain Mariah Storch took out the BMD Premiership Player of the Year.

The club’s head coach, Lionel Harbin, got the gong as Hostplus Cup Coach of the Year after taking the men’s team from wooden spooners to the finals series this year.

Storch (second rower), Paki (centre) and Tamika Upton (fullback) were included in the BMD Premiership Team of the Year, while clubmate Nixon Putt (second rower) was included in the men’s line-up.

The Capras rounded out a spectacular season by taking out the Club Championship of the Year, the first time the award has gone outside south-east Queensland.

Storch said it was a great year for the Capras’ women and the club in general.

The women finished second last in 2021 and, like their male counterparts, enjoyed a dramatic form reversal that saw them charge to the grand final, where they suffered a last-minute defeat.

CEO Peter White (centre) with the QRL's Club Championship award, which was awarded to the CQ Capras in 2022. He is flanked by Amanda Ohl who won the BMD Premiership Coach of the Year and Lionel Harbin who was named the Hostplus Cup Coach of the Year. Photo: J&A Photography - Josh Woning

Storch said receiving the top honour was “indescribable”.

“I didn’t think I’d ever get the opportunity to be in the Team of the Year, let alone win Player of the Year,” she said.

“But realistically, they could have given it to anyone in our team and it would have been appropriate.”

Storch said while the personal accolade was “appreciated immensely”, it could not erase the heartbreak of the grand final where the Capras were beaten in the last 20 seconds by the North Queensland Gold Stars.

“Nothing can ease that. It still brings a tear to my eye when people mention it,” she said.

But Storch is confident the Capras can go one better next year and she will be doing all she can to realise the premiership dream.

Storch only started playing rugby league at age 17 in Blackwater, enjoying a meteoric rise through the ranks.

After winning two premierships with the Brisbane Broncos in 2018 and 2019, Storch set her sights on motherhood in 2020 and welcomed baby Henley in February 2021.

Nines: Crushettes' Mariah Storch in action with the Blackwater Crushettes in 2017.

She made a stunning return to rugby league with the Capras just nine weeks after giving birth.

“I knew when I finished that season that I just wanted to knuckle down and come back bigger and better and make sure I had the runs on the board,” she said.

“We had a lot of pre-season camps at the start of this year which Amanda organised that got us all on the right foot.

“We also had pretty much the same group of girls. We won our first three games of the season and the inclusion of (NRLW players) Hayley Maddick and Tamika Upton just made us even better.”

Storch believes her running game is her biggest asset but many would say it’s her dedication and willingness to do the extras that are her greatest traits.

“I do put a lot of effort in off the field as well,” she said.

“I try to do the best for the girls around me because if I don’t do my best then they can’t do theirs.”