When Losana Lutu made her mark for Wests Tigers this season, the Fijian international always demonstrated talent beyond her years. So much so, that she had made her NRLW debut by the end of 2022.
Touted as one of the rising stars to come through the ranks at the Tigers, Lutu competed in her first Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup season this year under coach Letitia Taylor.
She excelled at both halfback and hooker in the Under 19s competition, scoring five tries from nine matches and helping the Tigers to a Semi-final appearance, which quickly caught the attention of True Blue and Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership coach Brett Kimmorley.
Lutu debuted for the NSW Women’s Premiership side off the bench in Round Four - within a month of the Tarsha Gale Cup finishing - before playing at fullback for the next two games.
Her stellar season led to representative honours with NSW City Under 19s in the Women’s National Championships, before she lined up at five-eighth and set up a try for the NSW Women’s Under 19s in their State of Origin win.
The Tigers’ youngster showed no signs of slowing down after returning to the NSW Women’s Premiership, where she partnered Emily Curtain in the halves from Round Nine. Lutu helped the Tigers progress past the Semi-final stage against North Sydney, before tasting Grand Final glory against Cronulla-Sutherland in a 21-20 thriller.
It was already a breakout year for Lutu when she earned the ultimate reward of an NRLW contract with the Parramatta Eels and a debut in Round One for the 2022 season.
At 18, she is still only scratching the surface as one of the players to watch in the women’s game and there is little doubt the future star could make even greater strides next year after a whirlwind 2022.
