GLOUCESTER’S Tayla Predebon continued her meteoric rise in rugby league when she was selected Country Northern side to meet Southern in a representative trial to be played on Saturday April 14.
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This could lead to selection in the Country side to meet City in May.
The match will be played on the same program as the CRL’s junior representative finals of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup competitions. This will be at a venue to be decided.
Predebon had her first taste of rugby league last November when she played for Taree Panthers in the nines competition run by the Hastings League. From there she was named in the Hastings team to play in 13-a-side trials for the Northern team at Muswellbrook in February. The 17-year-old prop was tipped for higher honours by Hastings League president Geoff Connor, who managed the team.
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Predebon is the only player from the Hastings side to gain selection in the Northern squad. She’ll be joined in the Northern side by two Group Three players who last year represented Country in the inaugural clash against City at North Sydney Oval.
Holli Wheeler from Old Bar and Forster-Tuncurry’s Kylie Hilder have both gained selection. They were members of the Newcastle side beaten in last year’s NSW Women’s Rugby League grand final and are playing for CRL Newcastle this season. Hilder was named Country's player of the match in the clash against City. She’ll play hooker, with Wheeler expected to turn out in the back row.
A total of 20 players have been named in the Northern squad to be coached by Mick Young. There will be nine current Australian representatives involved in the match.
Country Rugby League chief executive Terry Quinn believes the high level of talent selected for the trial is testament to the strength of the game in regional NSW.
“It’s a fantastic time for women’s rugby league and having nine current Jillaroos trialling for Country representative jerseys is a strong indication of the talent coming from regional NSW,” Quinn said.
“It’s also been great to see how many girls are waiting in the wings for their opportunity to progress along the pathway.”
Meanwhile North Coast will meet Newcastle in the final round of the Andrew Johns (under 16) and Laurie Daley (under 18) cup competitions on Friday at Tuncurry. The games were postponed from Wingham last Saturday because of wet weather.
