Rising talent Sualo Lafoga is chasing her dream of one day playing rugby league professionally.

Sualo recently played in the national age group tournament in the North Island where she was part of the Scorpions (South Island) under 18 women’s team which surprised many onlookers with a runner-up finish.

Eighteen Southlanders were involved across the various under 16 and under 18 Scorpions teams competing in Rotorua and Tauranga, including Tarryn Mclatchie who was also part of the under 18 women’s team which lost to Wellington after stunning Counties in the semi-final.

“We came up against Wellington in the grand final and we just came up a bit short but we were proud to make that grand final,” Sualo said.

“All the other years we’ve lost to (Counties), but I think this year we were more confident because it was the last year for our girls playing under 18, so we wanted to give it a really good run.”

Rugby league is a passion for Sualo, who first started playing alongside the boys in the under 12s at Invercargill’s He Tauaa club. A couple of years later there were enough numbers for a girls-only under 14 grade and she hasn’t looked back.

“A lot of our cousins and family friends played league, and I just got dragged into it and ended up really liking it. I like that there’s a lot more opportunities in league, and it’s a faster game than rugby.”

The Southland Girls’ High School student has been a competitive swimmer and also plays rugby and touch. In fact, it was in the opening minutes of the senior women’s club rugby final where she injured a cruciate ligament in her left knee playing for Star which put the rest of her league season in doubt.

“I played the rest of the game, which I probably shouldn’t have. I had to miss the first XV season for school and trials with the Scorpions, but they’d already seen me play so I was lucky to get selected.”

Sualo is in her first year with SBS Bank Academy Southland and was benefiting from the support provided by the two year programme. Nutrition, mental skills and sleep advice had all been hugely valuable, along with the ongoing guidance of the Academy’s strength and conditioning coach Josie McKerchar.

Sualo is a member of the One New Zealand Warrior’s Academy, which provides gym programmes and sessions with Future Warriors development coach Tony Iro. She was part of the Fetū Samoa (Samoan Stars) under 18 women’s team which won the Pasifika Youth Cup (PYC) earlier this year, beating Aotearoa New Zealand Māori 20-18.

Sualo will be part of another Fetū Somoa team made up of players from Wellington and the South Island at the next edition of the PYC in Auckland next weekend.

The ultimate goal is to ply her trade professionally, a goal which has been fuelled by the ongoing development of the NRLW, especially with the Warriors rejoining the women’s competition next year.

NRLW and Jillaroos player Isabelle Kelly, a member of the champion Sydney Roosters team who was voted the 2024 Players’ Champion by her peers, is someone Sualo looks up to, as well as cross-code star Stacey Waaka.  

“Isabelle Kelly is a beast and I like how Stacey Waaka has transitioned from sevens into the Broncos, that was pretty cool. I really want to make the NRLW and move over to Australia. There’s a lot of opportunities for girls to play league over there. There are so many selectors over there, but I’m also excited for the Warriors.”

Article added: Friday 11 October 2024