Qld’s next NRLW stars? All 20 teens named in this Queensland under-19s team
Who are the top 20 next generation NRLW players named in the Queensland Under 19s women team? We give an insight into every member of squad here, including top tier Titans, Cowboys, Broncos and Roosters talent.
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The Queensland under 19 women’s team include three members of the Queensland schoolgirls currently playing at the ASSRL national championships at Redcliffe.
Tavarna Papalii (Keebra Park SHS), Ebony Raftstrand-Smith (Keebra Park SHS) and Malaela Su’a (Mabel Park SHS) were schoolgirl sensations in the side.
RE-WATCH DAY ONE OF THE ASSRL NATIONALS
RE-WATCH DAY TWO OF THE ASSRL NATIONALS HERE
Country Queensland were well represented, including Emily Bella (Mackay Cutters), Libby Suhra (Mackay Cutters), Lily Peacock (Mackay Cutters), while Sienna Laing and Lily Kolc head the Gold Coast brigade.
Papalii is signed with the Roosters, Raftstrand-Smith the Cowboys and Su’a with the Gold Coast Titans.
A long striding No. 13, Papalii said she was approached last year to trial for the Roosters and this year hit the Sydney junior girls competition with gusto.
“It (signing with the Roosters) was not something I planned to do,’’ she said.
“Blake Cavallaro (head of pathways, Roosters) approached me and they offered me to play Tarsha Gale.
“It was something out of my comfort zone but I thought it would be good exposure playing Tarsha Gale in Sydney.’’
The Roosters even had plans to blood Papalii in its Harvey Norman women’s squad, but she was too young.
“So I finished off a season with Tarsha Gale (under 19s) and I was offered a contract.’’
She now lives in Sydney but does online learning with Keebra Park SHS on the Gold Coast.
Queensland Under 19 team
Sienna Laing Burleigh Bears/Gold Coast Titans
Blink and you might miss this kid. Laing, a Gold Coast Titans NRLW prospect, is a quicksilver winger who the Queensland camp will love having on the end of their backline. She has good pedigree. Her dad Aseri played ARL for the Wests Magpies while she comes out of the high class Palm Beach Currumbin SHS system.
Alyssa McCarthy Wynnum Manly Seagulls/Brisbane Broncos
The Wynnum back rower had a great Harvey Norman under 19s season alongside Mino-Sinapati and Lofipo (see below) before mixing it with the best in the BMD Premiership.
A staple in the forward pack, McCarthy leads from the front with maximum effort and charging carries up the middle.
Chantay Kiria-Ratu Souths Logan Magpies/Gold Coast Titans
A newcomer to the game of rugby league, Kiria-Ratu was a 17-year-old BMD Premiership player with the Tweed Seagulls.
The Keebra Park product has speed, vision and is beaming with potential.
Delaney Claridge Central Queensland Capras
Prop forward Claridge had a big season in Harvey Norman under 19s with the Capras which was the foundation for her selection in the side. A Calliope Roosters junior, Claridge has claimed a hotly contested middle forward position.
Destiny Mino-Sinapati Wynnum Manly Seagulls/Gold Coast Titans
Mino-Sinapati was so impressive in the Harvey 19s season, she was promoted to the Gulls’ BMD Premiership side where she kept her foot on the gas.
2023 has been a terrific year for the Marsden alumni.
Ebony Raftstrand-Smith NSWRL Canterbury Bulldogs/North Queensland Cowboys
Originally from the Richmond Rovers in New Zealand, Raftstrand-Smith hails from a high achieving sporting family and last season was a member of the historic Queensland schoolgirls side. Blessed with agility and footballing knowledge money can’t buy, she is a great signing by North Queensland as the Cowboys and at this year’s ASSRL National Championships, she has been blistering.
Emily Bella Mackay Cutters/North Queensland Cowboys
The goal kicking play maker for Mackay would have been one of the first players picked in the state side. Her uncle Martin was a Queensland State of Origin front row ironman and now his niece, Emily, is representing her state. Bella is a lovely ball player who can kick goals. The North Queensland Cowboys have her in its NRLW system.
Helen Uitualagi Wynnum Manly Seagulls
She is from the Seagulls heartland of the Capalaba Warriors who starred for the City under 19s last season. A centre or winger, she is fast, but plays above her weight.
Uitualagi has no self preservation thoughts coming into contact and goes hard at the defender.
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Jacinta Carter NSWRL Newcastle Knights/Newcastle Knights
A Whites Hill product from the heart of the Wynnum Manly Seagulls catchment, Carter has been a high achieving middle forward who initially had interest from the Broncos before the Knights stepped up to the plate. She was a two try hero for Queensland Under-17 City side last season and has been likened to NRLW star Millie Boyle with her work rate.
Libby Suhra Mackay Cutters/North Queensland Cowboys
The production of high class rugby league players coming from the Mackay region continues, with Cutters backrower Libby Suhra making the Queensland 19s final squad. A Cowboys NRLW prospect, she will be playing back-to-back championships after making the state side last season.
Lily Kolc Burleigh Bears/Gold Coast Titans
A young veteran who played for Queensland at last season’s under 19 national championships, Kolc is a crafty hooker who has already taken the step up to play in the senior QRLW competition. She has led an inexperienced Marymount rugby league squad by example during the school’s formative seasons in the Titans Cup.
Lily Peacock Mackay Cutters/North Queensland Cowboys
The St Catherine’s Catholic College student is coming off a bumper 12 months in the sport after initially being a member of the historic Queensland schools side which defeated the NSW/ACT last year, and then this season playing Harvey 19s with the Cutters.
She is an exciting outside back.
Malaela Su’a Brisbane Tigers/Gold Coast Titans
![Rugby League Queensland juniors Malaela Su’a [18 years old], Tavarna Papalii (17 years old), Lenniece Wright (17 years old) and Ebony Raftstrand-Smith (17 years old). Picture: Nigel Hallett](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/dff557b010c616e357ed33852277d846?width=650)
Malaela Su’a is a Mabel Park SHS year 12 student who last year had the distinction of earning selection in the senior Super W Queensland Reds squad alongside Skyla Adams, and then playing for the history making Queensland schoolgirls rugby league side. Now she is settled in league as a mobile No. 13 or edge forward, Su’a earned promotion into the Tigers BMD squad after starting the year as a prolific tryscorer in the 19s competition.
A seriously good prospect.
Prue Peters Wynnum Manly Seagulls
Yet another product originally from the rugby league rich Rockhampton region, Peters was a Harvey 19s forward powerhouse who could both school tries herself, or create them directly or through strong running and a quick play the ball.
Rilee Jorgenson Burleigh Bears/Gold Coast Titans
She is a schoolgirl prodigy who had her formative years under state coach Veronica White at Ipswich SHS. She has been ahead of the curve when it comes to rugby league development playing within her age group.
Shaylee Joseph NSWRL Central Coast Roosters/North Queensland Cowboys
The sister of Jillaroo Keilee, Joseph is also a mobile middle forward who grew up playing at Waterford Demons, a hot bed of junior talent in Logan City. A fan of Penrith growing up, Joseph does the simple things to perfection, often finding her stomach in a tackle and smothering ball carriers in defence. A Mabel Park SHS product, she had been improving her skills playing in the Open Women’s NSW Cup this season alongside her representative sister Keilee, and has since earned a top 24 contract with North Queensland.
Keilee was recently awarded Queensland Player of the Match following her State of Origin debut.
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Sienna Lofipo Wynnum Manly Seagulls/Gold Coast Titans
Lofipo had been superb in the Harvey 19s earlier in the year and was given a shot in the BMD where she impressed.
She touches the ball more than anyone, plays hard and fast, leads her team around the paddock and controls the game expertly – and as a result she was in the Queensland State of Origin game two squad.
An Australian Schoolgirls half in 2022, Lofipo comes from the rich sporting region of Logan where she honed her skills at Marsden State High.
Skyla Adams NSWRL Indigenous Roosters/Brisbane Broncos
From the Nerang Roosters via Keebra Park SHS, Adams is a glorious young talent with time and plenty of it. She is a lovely ball playing halve who puts players into gaps, while also challenging the line with her own fleet-a-foot forays. A youngster who scored her first try in the under 8s playing against the boys, she is one to watch in the future.
Played fullback for the premiership winning Bond University side that won the Queensland Premier Women rugby competition last year.
Tavarna Papalii NSWRL Indigenous Roosters/Sydney Roosters
The rangy Papalii will be one of the first players chosen in the Australian schoolgirls side when it is named on Friday. A mobile No. 13 with the running game of an edge forward, she continues to enhance her reputation the greater the challenge. Watch for her to bob up playing NRLW with the Roosters down the track.
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