Sunshine Coast Falcons Harvey Norman under-17 and under-19 2025 squad previews

Sunshine Coast Falcons women’s under-17 and 19 head coaches have lifted the lid on their pre-season takeaways, standout factors and players to keep an eye on for the 2025 season. Read the full preview.

Sunshine Coast Falcons female under-17 and under-19 2025 season previews. Pictures: Patrick Woods.

The Sunshine Coast Falcons junior representative season is quickly approaching with a number of standout local talents ready to make their mark.

Hundreds of players took part in their respective pre-season trials before coaches made the tough decisions to select their top squad for 2025.

All four Falcons teams will host the Western Clydesdales in round one with the games to be played at the Sunshine Coast Stadium on February 15.

Prior to kick off we caught up with the women’s under-17 and under-19 head coaches to see how they were tracking.

Check out the full men’s under-17 Cyril Connell Cup and under-19 Mal Meninga Cup previews here.

Harvey Norman U17’s

Coach: Jo Kerr

Captain: Ace Pollock

Last Season: Unknown

In 2025 teams will now compete in six round-robin games before competing in a finals series, as opposed to three games last year without finals.

The Falcons, who will need to top their group to progress to the finals, have been placed alongside the Western Clydesdales, Ipswich Jets and Wide Bay Bulls.

Kerr and her coaching staff hosted open pre-season trials once again this season, giving an opportunity for any aspiring Sunshine Coast and wider regional players to impress with their skills.

That squad of 40 was later trimmed to 31 after the first four weeks with around 10 players returning to the squad who were bottom age players in 2024.

Sunshine Coast Falcons under-17s female head coach Jo Kerr. Picture Patrick Woods.

Early takeaways: “Having those players return and become the leaders of the group pretty quickly has been great. There’s also plenty of 15 and 16-year-olds coming through so even though they’re bottom age it shows they’re pretty strong players.”

Competitive edge: “The extended season this year is really exciting. One of the things we really lacked last year was the ability to go and play a team twice, knowing what we could correct to beat them. That’s a big plus and the potential to play finals is also exciting. The aim is to top our pool to go on and play the Northern conference side but we’ve got a good fight with Toowoomba as they got us last year.”

Players to watch: “I’m eager to follow the progress of all of the girls we had last year. They took so much experience from even just being around the squad last season so it’s allowed them to come back as better players.”

Falcons under-17s captain Ace Pollock and vice-captain Marley Chan. Pictures: Patrick Woods.

Captain’s chat: “It’s a fresh bunch of players but we’re slowly coming together and find our groove each week. I think last year we started to really fire as the season was coming to an end so it’ll be good this year to expand on that and track our progress from round one to six and hopefully finals. We’re not the biggest team but our speed and our ball skills are quite exciting I think. Our forward pack does a great job at finding their front so I think we’ll be threatening in attack, hitting out the back or even on the edge.”

Squad list: Daisy Ashley (Forward), Sophie Bachinger (Forward), Lily Bain (Half), Georgia Bottams (Forward), Sailor Bowker (Centre/Wing), Grace Brain (Forward), Alani Caines (Forward), Shaya Carfantan (Half/Utility), Mackenzie Cassar (Second Row), Marley Chan (Half), Lilly-Anne Cittolin (Second Row), Annja Croft (Utility), Stella Diaz (Wing), Tahlee Donald (Centre), Jade Fitzsimmons (Second Row), Lula Hewton (Hooker), Asha Holmstrom (Utility) Kiahna Hume (Second Row), Pearl Lloyd (Lock), Zhyra Lohse (Utility), Sahra McDermid (Fullback/Centre), Zoe Metcalf (Utility), Maicie Moller (Second Row), Kirra Pamenter (Wing), Ace Pollock (Second Row), Aamira Renouf (Fullback), Ghaeddia Rihari (Hooker), Haylie Rogers (Centre), Chloe Routh (Wing), Mereana Saseve (Forward), Harper Smales (Half).

Harvey Norman U19’s

Coach: Jack Reed

Captain: Unconfirmed

Last Season: 6th (four wins, two losses)

There is a strong buzz around the Falcons under-19’s side this season off the back of an exciting club affiliation announcement with the Brisbane Broncos NRLW side.

Former Bronco Jack Reed will take the head coaching reins this season, locking away his top 30 squad with a great mix of returning players, 2024 under-17s standouts and some cross-code rugby union talents.

The Falcons will play two matches against the Western Clydesdales and Ipswich Jets while also taking on powerhouse clubs Tweed Seagulls and Norths Devils.

Sunshine Coast Falcons under-19s female head coach Jack Reed. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Early takeaways: “It’s been really positive, pre-season was tough but the commitment and energy was really good which has been key. The girls have taken plenty away from some eye-opening trial games as they reflected as a group on areas we need to work on heading into round one. We’re pretty unscathed injury wise and they’re all really excited to get stuck into the season.”

Competitive edge: “We don’t want to look at the result at the end of the day, we’ve spoken to the players about the process of being in the Falcons system and lifting their levels of professionalism. I think it’ll be their attitude that’ll hopefully set us apart from most teams. There hasn’t been too much I or the coaches have thrown at them for them to take a backwards step which is something every good team needs to have. We’ve got hungry, tough middles and exciting outside backs so our biggest challenge is putting those pieces together.”

Sunshine Coast Falcons under-19s female players Lila Parr, Sarah McGuire and Macie Bullman. Pictures: Patrick Woods.

Players to watch: “Our senior leaders are all really exciting and all players that have been with the Falcons for a little while. Makayla Elliott is coming up from the under-17s where she was captain last season, Sarah McGuire another middle that’s stepping up from the under-17s, Mia Vines who is an exciting outside back, Takoda Thompson who is an established representative player and Lila Parr who is making a return from injury. Those players are all key pieces to our side but with that being said I think you could name any player in our top 30 as they’re all taking steps in the right direction.”