Under 19 SG Ball/Tasha Gale Cup footy kicks off this weekend and while New Zealand Warriors have an SG Ball game vs Manly Sea Eagles in Sydney, there are a bunch of young men and women from Aotearoa named for Australian teams. The purpose of this yarn is not to highlight every Kiwi-NRL/NRLWahine junior who has been selected for the first round, it is to touch on a few important hot pockets as we keep learning about the new wave of youngsters from Aotearoa.

The funkiest hot pocket is Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs who have the biggest cluster of Kiwi-NRL/NRLWahine juniors of all these teams. On the back of this breakdown which featured a note about Bulldogs investing in an 'all girls house' in Sydney, there are at least nine young wahine from Auckland named in the Bulldogs Tasha Gale Cup team for the first round.

Shaquaylah Mahakitau-Monschau has already been signed to the Bulldogs NRLW squad and she is the starting halfback for their U19 team this weekend. Younger sister Lahnayah Daniel is also named at edge forward with both coming out of Waitakere College before spending time at St Peters School Cambrige.

• Simina Lokotui: Mangere East/Grammar Tech

• Tiaane Fesolai: Te Atatu/Mt Albert

• Shaquaylah Mahakitau-Monschau: Waitakere College

• Maeya Talamaivao: Mt Albert

• Lahnayah Daniel: Waitakere College

• Riley Fruean-Otineru: Otahuhu/Mangere East

• Shafenior Lui: Mangere East

• Tusitina Fale: Otahuhu

• Josinah Filisi Tauiliili: Mangere East

Lokotui is named on the wing, Fesolai at centre, Talamaivao at prop and Fruean-Otineru at lock. Lui, Fale and Tauiliili are named to come off the bench.

The Bulldogs SG Ball team has less Kiwi-NRL juniors but they have added Linwood's Genesis Ah Kam Sherlock and Dargaville's Kaawyn Patterson to their pipeline this year. Sherlock is named at centre and joins fellow Canterbury Rugby League juniors Bronson Reuben who is starting half and Sosaia Alatini who is starting edge forward.

Reuben is from Kaiapoi, just north of Christchurch and played in the Bulldogs system last year. Alataini is a Hornby junior who had a fabulous 2024 campaign with Bulldogs which saw him promoted to NRL training this summer.

Patterson was the starting hooker for NZ Warriors U17s last year and along with Hudsyn Frost who is starting prop for Cronulla Sharks U19s, they are notable departures from the NZ Warriors pipeline. Patterson won the NZW U17 player of the year award and Frost won the clubman of the year for that team, now they are both starting at the U19 level in their first games since moving to Australia.

That flows into both Sharks U19 teams named. The SG Ball team has the Blackburn-Kingi brothers in Dallas who is on the wing and Hemi who is named on the bench. There are links to Taranaki and Manawatu for the Blackburn-Kingi brothers which could be due to their time at Manukura in Palmerston North, but we'll keep learning.

Sharks appear to have made a significant investment in the Blackburn-Kingi brothers as they left Aotearoa to go to school in Sydney where they have generated plenty of buzz. Along with Otahuhu junior Frost, Elijah Paea played for De La Salle College last year and seems to be an Otara junior.

Tipene Thompson is on the extended bench for Sharks and he is from Turangi with links to Taupo Phoenix rugby league. The Sharks Tasha Gale Cup team has Alianna Tonu'u at starting from and she is an Otara junior who was part of a wave of youngsters from Auckland who played for Manly Sea Eagles in NSW Women's Premiership last year. Sea Eagles don't have an NRLW team and a move into the Sharks system may suggest that Tonu'u could be chasing an NRLWahine gig with Sharks this year.

Another Otara junior who played NSW Women's Premiership last year is Fane Finau, who is still with Newcastle Knights and is named as starting edge forward for their U19 team this week. Knights have one of the funkiest Kiwi-NRL wrinkles as they have named an all-Aotearoa halves combo in SG Ball with Haami Loza joined by Palmerston North's Ryder Crosswell.

Loza and Sosaia Latu have excellent 2024 seasons, starting in SG Ball and then U21 Jersey Flegg Cup. Latu mainly played on the wing last year and now he is named at centre, while Loza is the starting halfback. Crosswell was in the Knights system last year as well and he has commanded selection as a starting half.

Ezekiel Faga-Ieti has also departed the NZ Warriors system to be named on the bench for Knights in SG Ball. The Hornby junior had a fabulous time at St Thomas of Canterbury College as they went back to back with national championships and was around the NZW U19 squad last year, but has now linked up with Knights.

There are a few more NRLWahine juniors who could be in the St George-Illawara Dragons system with Illawara playing against St George in Tasha Gale Cup this weekend. Seriah Palepale is a Mangere East junior who played alongside Wainuiomata's Trinity Tauaneai in the Bulldogs U17 team who won the Lisa Fiaola Cup last year, then they both made the Australian Schoolgirls team at the end of 2024.

Trinity started the year with Bulldogs but was playing for Illawara in NSW Women's Premiership (while still at school) and along with Palepale, they appear to have shifted to play junior footy with Illawara. Trinity is already in the wider NRLW mix for Dragons and perhaps they have recruited Palepale to join her, along with Gezreyal Maiu'u who is named at edge forward for St George.

Gezreyal is the younger sister of NZ Warriors prop Zyon and she has a impressive athletics background, also playing rugby union at Mt Albert Grammar School. Dragons have always had nifty NRLWahine recruitment and with three notable juniors from Aotearoa in their two affiliated junior teams, this is likely to bolster their NRLW pipeline.

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