Tired of flattening boys, Su’a is tackling cross-code stardom after being added to state squads

Tired of flattening boys, Malaela Su’a is tackling cross-code stardom after being added to state squads for both rugby union and league.

Tired of flattening boys, Malaela Su’a is tackling cross-code stardom after being added to state squads for both rugby union and league.

Over the past 18 months, the Mabel Park State High School student personified girl power as co-captain of the Metropolitan East boys representative team at the Queensland Junior Rugby Union Championships.

Mabel Park State High School girls rugby league player Mackenzie Baty.

She also co-captained her primary school boys rugby league team, Harris Fields State School, to a Queensland State Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium in 2017 where she scored three tries in a tightly contested match.

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Now 13, she is unable to play in boys’ competition but is showing promise in both rugby codes.

Su’a was named in the Queensland squad which played in the National Sevens Championships at Ballymore in December.

Following her rugby duties, the teenager has also been identified by the Queensland Rugby League and this month attended atraining camp as a member of the rugby league Queensland Academy of Sport under 15 squad.

Malaela Su’a in action.

Su’a has been playing rugby since she was six and has benefited from individual coaching from her uncle, former Australian seven-a-side player James Su’a.

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Inspired by the women’s gold medal-winning performance in seven-a-side rugby at the Rio Olympics, Malaela said she wants to play senior sevens for Australia. She is part of a talented bunch of Mabel Park players, with school mates Mackenzie Baty,Rialey Baty, Indee Brown, Keilee Joseph, Shaylee Joseph, Jessiakah Reeves, Kiarah Siauane, Courtney Tamati and Athena Vili members of either state rugby union or league teams.

The Mabel Park girls took their preparation to the next level late last year when they were screened for musculoskeletal problems at Australian Catholic University’s Allied Health Clinic.

The battery of tests conducted by ACU physiotherapists identified injury risks that can be addressed through training programs - story with Damien Stannard