Keebra Park products Chante Temara, Tyesha Mikaio and Lyllian Mikaio picked for Queensland under-18

It has been a big few weeks for Keebra Park and its renowned rugby league nursery ... but the Southport-based school is not just producing talented male footballers.

IT has been a big few weeks for Keebra Park and its renowned rugby league nursery.

Tanah Boyd signed a top 30 NRL deal with his hometown club the Titans; David Fifita and Payne Haas made their State of Origin debuts while Jai Arrow started his second Maroons series; and players such as AJ Brimson and Moeaki Fotuaika have shone.

But the Southport-based school is not just producing talented male footballers.

Three Keebra products will don the maroon of Queensland in the under-18 girls’ State of Origin match against NSW next Friday at North Sydney Oval. Chante Temara is joined by sisters Lyllian and Tyesha Mikaio.

Lyllian and Temara both graduated in 2018 after helping Keebra to the Karyn Murphy Cup premiership, while grade 12 student Tyesha is the school team’s captain this year.

Chante Temara, Tyesha Mikaio, and Lyllian Mikaio. Picture: Tim Marsden

Lyllian, an 18-year-old utility forward, will lead Queensland out and can’t wait to play for her state alongside her sister.

“It will be a really exciting opportunity. It’s the first time that we get to play together in representative footy,” she said.

Keebra Park girls sport academy co-ordinator Nathan Small said their program had expanded to include about 100 students now.

“It was always just a senior girls program and mainly looked at touch footy,” Small said.

Front: (L-R) Tyesha Mikaio, 17, Lyllian Mikaio, 18. Back: Chante Temara, 18, Zahara Temara, 21, Tazmin Gray, 23, and Chelsea Lenarduzzi, 23. Picture: Tim Marsden

“Probably in the last one to two years we have really looked to diversify and get into rugby sevens, get into rugby league, consolidate with netball and possibly look at the opportunity of AFL moving forward because there are so many professional pathways for young female athletes these days.”

Small said their profile on the female sports front had been lifted by the feats of Keebra alumni such as Jillaroos representative Zahara Temara and rugby sevens-turned-AFLW player Brooke Walker.

“We were kind of lucky that we had some students in the recent years go on to some really good success and they’re fantastic,” he said.

“They come back in and they share their time, they share their journey and expertise.”