Westpac Tarsha Gale Cup | Six players to watch
Over the next three weeks the top six teams from the Westpac Tarsha Gale Cup (Under 19s) will battle it out for a spot at this year’s Grand Final (27 April).
Here are six players from the top-six clubs, who could set the finals a light ahead of the 2024 season decider.
1. Illawarra Steelers – Indie Bostock – Centre
The Steelers enjoyed a dominant 2024 season winning all eight games, topping the competition in attack (244 points) and being miserly in defence conceding just 28 points. They held four teams to zero scorelines: the Bears, Eels, Dragons and Panthers.
Centre Indie Bostock kept the score sheet ticking over with 13 tries in six games, including four in Round Nine in the 38-4 win over the Sharks. Her tally topped the Tarsha Gale competition. In fact from that Sharks game, Bostock claimed five of the nine line breaks. Hooker Chelsea Savill did her part with 26 goals and two tries over the season.
2. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – Isla Talau – Utility
The Bulldogs started the season with five straight wins as they looked to make it two Minor Premierships in a row. But a Round Six loss to Manly Warringah (20-18) gave them a second-place finish.
Six players scored four tries or more with lock Pauline Suli-Ruka starting the season with a double in Round One and ending the same way in Round Nine. Fullback Abby Aros (pictured above) bottled seven tries, including a hat-trick, but utility Isla Talau proved valuable everywhere. She scored her six tries coming off the bench, starting in the second row or at centre.
3. Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy – Mele and Ashley Ketuu – Wingers
For the fourth year in a row the Roosters have finished in the top-three on the Tarsha Gale Cup ladder, including winning the Minor Premiership in 2022.
Three of the Roosters back-five – fullback Tyra Ekepati (five), centre Elizabeth McGregor (six) and winger Mele Ketuu (eight) – are in the club’s top-four try scorers. Keeping the points scoring in the same family Mele’s sister Ashley Ketuu is on the other wing and scored two tries. The Roosters front row of props Moanlei Brown, Phoenix Lamese and hooker Imogen Hei are not just in the engine room of the Roosters defence, they have scored nine tries between them.
4. Manly Warringah Sea Eagles – Danii Nicole Gray – Halfback
In their second season in Tarsha Gale Cup Manly moved from 10th last year to the top-four in 2024 to play finals for the first time. They stated their intentions from the get-go scoring 52 points in both their opening two games against the Dragons and Rabbitohs.
Centres Aleksandra Tunufai and Taleenza Nelson had a large say in the Sea Ealges fortunes this year with 12 tries between them. But halfback Danii Nicole Gray not only scored five times herself, she made nine line breaks during the regular season, and kicked 26 goals.
5. Newcastle Knights – Evah McEwen – Second row
The Knights are back in the finals for a fourth straight year and this season enjoyed the same number of wins (five) as their opponents in Finals Week One – the Sea Eagles. Adding to the intrigue in this contest is the Round Five 24-24 result between these two clubs.
Evah McEwen not only began her year scoring a double in the 16-10 Round One win over Canberra, she topped her team in the try-scoring department with nine also making her the second highest overall in Tarsha Gale Cup in 2024. The second rower was pushed in the points scoring by her winger Lily Mcnamara, who not only scored eight tries but kicked six goals.
6. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks – Tia-Jordyn Vasilovskik - Fullback
The Sharks four wins and an 18-all draw with Manly Warringah in Round Four put them one point ahead of the Raiders on the Tarsha Gale Cup ladder enabling them to grab the sixth and last spot for the 2024 finals.
They did not play their Finals Week One opponents, the Roosters, during the regular season but the Bondi Junction club won their last three games while the Sharks lost their last two heading into the finals. The Tricolours will have to keep an eye on fullback Tia-jordyn Vasilovski, who opened the season with a double in Round One for the Sharks and ended it with eight tries in total. Forward Koreti Leilu is also a handful – she scored four tries coming off the bench and three starting at prop.
