As part of the international rugby league extravaganza, Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns will take on Tonga and the Kiwi Ferns squad highlights the continued growth of wahine rugby league. Aotearoa last played against Samoa in 2020 and all international teams are building to the World Cup this year, a World Cup in which Aotearoa will be eager to make an impact. As a baseline marker of Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns talent, most of the squad comes from NRLWahine while there are a few notable selections from domestic footy in Aotearoa.

This Kiwi Ferns squad comes at the same time as wahine State of Origin where a few wahine born and raised in Aotearoa will be competing for Queensland or New South Wales. Despite losing some wahine, the selections of Amy Turner and Page McGregor are bonus eligibility selections. Both have previously represented Australia in Sevens rugby with Turner hailing from Tokoroa before moving to Australia, winning a gold medal for Australia and the 2016 Olympics.

Turner started at centre for Broncos earlier this year in NRLWahine and has been re-signed for the second campaign this year. Page is the younger sister of Kiwi Ferns veteran Raecene and while Raecene represented Australia Sevens at youth level, Page was playing Sevens for Australia before shifting to NRLWahine where she impressed with Dragons. Page also played centre and got injured in the NRLWahine final, with Roosters making the most of her absence to snare the win.

Hailee-Jay Maunsell is another selection boost as she is based in Australia after leaving Invercargill as a youngster, before rising through the Titans wahine system. Roxy Murdoch-Masila joined NRLWahine with Broncos ahead of this season and she is selected to represent Aotearoa after featuring in the 2020 England Women Performance Squad. Murdoch-Masila even went as far as pledging allegiance to England last year, only to be now named in a Kiwi Ferns squad.

Among a cast of hearty Kiwi Ferns who consistently play NRLWahine, there are Christyl Stowers and Laishon Albert-Jones. Stowers made her debut in 2020 and then grabbed Counties Manukau MVP honours earlier this year in the NZRL National Women's Premiership, while Albert-Jones led Akarana to the championship and tournament MVP honours. Albert-Jones is a half and will be in the mix for a halves spot alongside Raecene McGregor. Stowers is a smaller, mobile middle forward.

As part of pandemic niggle, Aotearoa Warriors lost their wahine team and this forced player to pick up gigs with Australian teams. Warriors are doing their best to stay afloat and instead of whinging about the club's moves under adversity, we can find positive nuggets like Albert-Jones, Charlotte Scanlan and Katelyn Vaha'akolo having roles as Warriors Community Foundation staff.

Scanlan and Vaha'akolo both played for Knights in NRLWahine, while also having community roles in Auckland with Warriors. Wahine rugby league is like most women's sport in Aotearoa with no equality and many players at this level have jobs outside of rugby league, elevating their mana. Warriors don't have an NRLWahine team but are working towards their return, meanwhile they are providing jobs to wahine rugby league players.

Wahine rugby league also looks different at a grassroots level. Players from around Aotearoa move to Auckland to play at a higher club level and this make it tricky to find the grassroots club where they started. Instead of highlighting and celebrating the grassroots club, I have listed players with the region where they started their footy journey.

This also highlights low-hanging fruit for growth. As NZRL continue to provide tournaments and competitions for wahine, there will be more players from around Aotearoa reaching higher levels. Mya Hill-Moana is a fantastic example of early growth as she flourished with Taniwharau wahine before finding opportunities in Australia, then winning an NRLW championship with Roosters.

Taniwharau is based in Huntly but they have wahine teams competing in Auckland competitions. This shows where wahine rugby league is poised right now and that there will continue to be growth in talent, coaching and resources around Aotearoa to provide similar pathways to Hill-Moana's journey. Maunsell is the only player from the South Island in this squad for example and this will change over the next five years.

Amy Turner (Tokoroa)

Annetta Nu'uausala (Auckland)

Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly (Bay Of Plenty)

Charlotte Scanlan (Manawatu)

Christyl Stowers (Auckland)

Georgia Hale (Auckland)

Hailee-Jay Maunsell (Invercargill)

Kararaina Wira-Kohu (Whangarei)

Karli Hansen (Auckland)

Katelyn Vaha'akolo (Auckland)

Krystal Rota (Auckland)

Laishon Albert-Jones (Auckland)

Madison Bartlett (Wairoa)

Mya Hill-Moana (Huntly)

Ngatokotoru Arakua (Auckland)

Nita Maynard (Gisborne)

Page McGregor (Sydney)

Raecene McGregor (Sydney)

Roxy Murdoch-Masila (Auckland)

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