Live stream: Ipswich State High v Hills Sports High School, NRL Schoolgirls Cup national final
The Shalom Sauaso-Kaiah Hansell one-two punch proved too hot for Hill Sports to handle as Ipswich SHS turned on the style to storm to the national NRL Schoolgirls title. Catch up on the REPLAY.
Broncos
Don't miss out on the headlines from Broncos. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Shalom Sauaso and Kaiah Hansell.
Remember the names.
The pair were pivotal as Ipswich SHS crushed Hills Sports High 28-6 in the NRL National Schoolgirls final at Cbus Super Stadium on Wednesday.
Hansell scored three tries in an excellent display of classy finishing.
Then there was Sauaso.
She was pivotal and rightly awarded the game ball after earning player of the match honours, on top of her player of the tournament honours.
One second, she was stopping a certain try with a tackle that was equal parts clutch and crunching in defence. The next, she was driving the footy upfield with a barnstorming run.
She also nailed four of five attempts at goal, including some tricky ones from the touchline.
It should come as no surprise given Sauaso has already represented the Reds in the Super W rugby union competition and has a Broncos NRLW deal.
Ipswich coach Alex Nicholson was thrilled with the performances of both, particularly hat-trick hero Hansell who was a natural hooker playing out of position on the wing.
“I suppose dreams do come true,” Nicholson said of Hansell’s performance.
As for Sauaso, Nicholson noted that “it takes a really special person” to nail three conversions from the touchline in a match as pressure-packed as a national final.
“She’s extraordinary, she’s going to do great things after this and she officially has fulfilled everything possible as a schoolgirl this year with her honour belt,” Nicholson said.
“I’m speechless, the feeling’s amazing, the girls are amazing, and their whole community is just so proud of them.”
The match was a tense affair early, with the two sides trading tries inside the opening 10 minutes.
Ipswich took a slender 12-6 lead into the half-time break and then took total control in the second half as they stormed to the national title.
Star Hills halfback and Bulldogs-contracted Olivia Vaalele was a shining light in defeat and kicked superbly.
For Ipswich, the demons of last year’s shock Titans Schools League final, where they coughed up a 26-0 lead to lose to Mabel Park 28-26, have now well and truly been exorcised.
PREVIEW
Hills Sports High will have redemption on their minds as they enter a second-straight NRL Schoolgirls Cup final on Wednesday.
While their coach Patricia Raikadroka was adamant her side was not tapping into the emotion of their loss in last year’s inaugural final, it will be hard for them to forget it.
But it is a different Hills Sports side going into the big dance against Ipswich State High on Wednesday. The grand final will be live streamed on KommunityTV at 2pm. Check out the schedule and more links below.
It is a Hills Sports side that is another year older, another year wiser and hardened by several tough battles throughout an imporved NSW Schoolgirls Cup campaign.
They will need to be as they go up against an Ipswich Sports High side which has been forged over years of hard work, with the right finishing touches added this season to make them into world beaters.
They have strike right across the park with the nation’s leading NRLW prospect pulling all of the strings in the middle of the park.
It sets up for an intriguing NRL Schoolgirls Cup contest, with a few key players set to break it wide open. Check them out below:
Shalom Sauaso, Ipswich State High
Position: Lock, NRLW club: Broncos
She is arguably the best schoolgirls rugby league player in the country. Sauaso is the style of player who strikes fear into oppositions because they simply don’t know what will come next. A dynamic ball-runner, good passer and even possesses a sneaky kick or two. She inevitably turns up in the big moments.
Olivia Va’alele, Hills Sports High
Position: Five-eighth, NRLW club: Bulldogs
The Sydneysiders’ answer to Sauaso. While she doesn’t possess the same raw power as her rival, Va’alele has the raw skillset to compete with anyone on the field. She has also grown a lot in the past 12 months both as a player and as a leader of her side.
Mercedez Taulelei-Siala, Ipswich State High
Position: Halfback, NRLW club: Knights
The dynamic ball-runner has been moved into the halves in the second half of the season to unlock a new part of her game: her ballplaying ability. While she still has a run-first mindset and rightly so, the Knights pick-up has the skills to cause chaos in the final.
Anastasia Leatupue. Hills Sports High
Position: Fullback, NRLW club: Roosters
The underage prodigy showed exactly what she was capable of at the ASSRL Under-16 girls nationals earlier this year when she scored tries for fun for the title-winning NSW CHS side. Has blinding speed off the mark and a sharp right foot step that Ipswich will need to have down on their cheat sheet.
Lina Tanielu, Ipswich State High
Position: Front row, NRLW club: Titans
Talk about power personified. The Titans young gun who was part of Queensland’s national title-winning side earlier this year can carry the ball in one direction - forward. She has a power game to match any rivals and hits people for fun.
Ella Walker, Hills Sports High
Position: Front row, NRLW club: N/A
If Hills are going to fight fire with fire up front, then the Australian Schoolgirls representative is the way to go. She is more than just a stock standard hard ball carrier, but she will step into whatever role is needed by here side. Has a fantastic redemption story half written.
The burning desire behind Walker’s rise from ashes
Rising rugby league star Ella Walker is proof the getback is much more important than the setback.
Only 12 months ago, the young front rower’s career appeared in tatters after she was cut down by a serious knee injury which required surgery on her anterior cruciate ligament.
Rather than be daunted by the long road back to the top, Walker has attacked it like a pre-season hillclimb, helping spearhead Hills Sports High’s rise to a second-straight NRL Schoolgirl Cup national final.
The decider against Queensland juggernaut Ipswich State High will be live streamed on KommunityTV as part of our exclusive coverage of the NRL Schools League seasons. Check out the schedule and more links below.
Walker’s return to the field has been emphatic.
Since making a comeback in July she has helped NSW Combined High Schools to a second-place finish at the ASSRL Nationals, earning and Australian Schoolgirls call up for her efforts and been a cornerstone of Hills Sports High’s Schoolgirls Cup campaign.
Hills Sports coach Patricia Raikadroka said there was a passion which burned inside Walker, which was the driving force behind her resurgence.
“She cares about this team,” Raikadroka said.
“I know she had been doing everything that she could to get back to the game and it’s just a testament to the character she is.”
Walker was forced to watch from the sidelines last year as her school side heartbreakingly fell to Queensland rivals Mabel Park in the national final for the inaugural NRL Schoolgirls Cup.
Raikadroka said she’s had her eye on helping her team make amends throughout her nine-month-long recovery.
“It’s been a lot of hard work from her,” Raikadroka said.
“From her parents as well, to get her back to where she is and I have such respect for her, getting back to the team around nine months post op and already making such an impact.”
The Hills team challenging for the title is almost unchanged to their inaugural side last season and although there’s plenty of pressure to make up for last year’s loss, Raikadroka said the girls aren’t feeling it.
“If they are feeling it, I definitely haven’t seen it,” she said.
“Everything I’ve seen from them has been very positive, very relaxed but also very focused.
“I think the way they played last week (in the conference final) and the way they’ve been building over the last few weeks means that they understand the responsibility, but also the privilege they have to be able to be in these types of games.”
Super sensation Sauaso driving Ipswich to title
Ipswich SHS Supergirl Shalom Sauaso has played Super W for the Reds, has been named in the Australian schoolgirls rugby league side and has been signed by the Broncos - yet her greatest achievement of 2024 could be yet to come.
The rampaging, ball-playing lock forward will lead her Ipswich State High side into battle in Wednesday’s NRL Schoolgirls Cup national final.
The clash against Sydney giants Hills Sports High will be live streamed on KommunityTV as part of our exclusive coverage of the NRL Schools League seasons.
Sauaso, who is so versatile she would easily be named the best lock forward and five-eighth in schoolgirl football this decade, said the chance to captain her side in the national final at CBUS Super Stadium meant the world to her community - and her.
“It is hard to put into words how this feels,” she said. “It is a dream come true.’’
Sauaso also heaped praise on her long time mentor and former Ipswich State High coach Veronica White, a recent NRLW Hall of Fame inductee.
White oversaw the rise of the female rugby league program at Ipswich but left this season to begind the groundwork of a women’s program at Gold Coast rivals Palm Beach Currumbin SHS.
“It (the national final) will be a very proud moment for everyone involved, especially the girls, and Ms White as well,” Sauaso said.
“Ms White has played a huge part in the Ipswich State High School rugby league programs development to being an elite program.
“Even though she is not here to celebrate with us, she is watching from afar and constantly in our thoughts.’’
The lock forward has been inspirational in her approach this season, helping pilot Ipswich State High to an SEQ final win over Marsden State High last month, before backing up in the state final a fortnight ago against The Cathedral College.
Sauaso, who scored the grand final winner against Marsden SHS two weeks ago with just seven seconds left, said it had been a huge year of personal achievements for her.
But she was quick to point out that those achievements belonged to not just her, but the mountain of supporters who have helped her get to where she is.
WATCH REPLAY: NRL SCHOOLGIRLS CUP FINAL
WATCH REPLAY: NRL SCHOOLBOY CUP FINAL
“I have taken some time to reflect on these achievements,’’ she said.
“But it has been a huge effort by my village. I would give this all back to my village. “Through all the tough times, they have been there supporting me. Ipswich State High School has understood me as an elite player and supported me in following this dream.
“My parents have also played a huge part in my success. They have invested a huge amount in me, and this has seen them take time off work and make other sacrifices to help me experience this success.’’
Sauaso will have an impressive support cast in her Ipswich State High teammates including Newcastle Knights-bound playmaker and fellow Reds Super-W player Mercedez Taulelei-Siala.
Originally published as Live stream: Ipswich State High v Hills Sports High School, NRL Schoolgirls Cup national final
Reece Walsh: The truth about me and Madge after Origin KO
Michael Maguire’s appointment fuelled a fresh narrative as to whether he and Reece Walsh would see eye-to-eye in Brisbane. The star fullback sets the record straight after their Origin showdown.
‘Hope he learns’: Reynolds’ call on Mam, Hunt, futures
Broncos captain Adam Reynolds has backed Ezra Mam to learn his lesson from the drug driving episode which has clouded his immediate NRL future, while backing the club’s pursuit of an emotional Ben Hunt reunion.