Wairoa’s Amelia Pasikala selected for Sydney Roosters

Amelia Pasikala in action as a midfield back playing rugby union with the Hawke's Bay Tui last season. Photo / Ian Cooper

A young wahine toa from Wairoa is enjoying a rapid rise to rugby league stardom, making the jump from union rugby in Hawke’s Bay to a place on a team in Australia’s national women’s league in less than a year.

The Sydney Roosters officially announced the inclusion of 19-year-old Amelia Pasikala, of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa and from Wairoa, as a prop in their 2023 NRLW squad this week on Monday evening.

Pasikala says she has been union “through and through” for most of her life, playing the code since young, starting with rippa rugby at 4-year-old through to high school games within Hawke’s Bay and eventually club play before debuting for the Hawke’s Bay Tui in 2020, age 16.

She had huge success with the Tui in the Farah Palmer women’s rugby championship last year, with the team going on to win the competition.

Earlier last year Pasikala tried her hand at playing league for the first time with the under-18 Ngāti Kahungunu rugby league team and was quickly selected to represent the New Zealand Māori Rugby League at the Pasifika Youth Cup.

Australian scouts noticed her and eventually made an offer for her to join the under-19 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in Sydney, Australia to compete in the Tarsha Gale Cup.

“It was definitely a hard decision, my heart was heavy when I had to make that call,” Pasikala said.

She said she still didn’t know if she had made the right decision after arriving in Australia, but she was motivated to expand her horizons.

“I just thought this was an opportunity, I want to dip my foot in it and not put all my eggs in one basket,” she said.

The Bulldogs made the finals but were beaten 26-22 in a heart-breaking defeat against the Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy near the end of April.

Pasikala said she was informed by a team manager that John Strange, the Sydney Roosters NRLW team coach had spoken about her and he wanted her for the Roosters’ NRLW side.

“I never thought this conversation would happen, considering I was playing in the under-19 division and just jumping straight from that bracket to open women NRLW. That’s at the top, that was a massive leap and I was thinking, ‘no, you’re lying’,” Pasikala said.

“She told me ‘he sees something in you, he seriously wants you and he can work with you to get you prepared for NRLW.’”

She said the decision still wasn’t easy as she had originally thought she would be able to return to New Zealand in time to compete with the Hawke’s Bay Tui again for the 2023 season.

“I thought that was a great plan, I had it all in my head because I didn’t think NRLW was in the books this year, being so young. My knowledge of the game isn’t as strong and I was under-prepared, however that has changed.”

She said that while she is still a union player at heart, she can now see a future and opportunities for herself playing rugby league.

“The sport is so well known here and the support systems are great.”

She said the support from home had been overwhelming.

“To see the people who started with me since I was four through to now and just all the aroha and support they give me. It is massive and definitely the drive behind what I do,” she said.

“Some people can’t do what I do because they didn’t get the opportunity to, so I am definitely paving that way for our kids back at home.”

She said she was motivated to change narratives around how people viewed Wairoa.

“They think of Wairoa as gangs or all that negative stuff and it is like no, we produce amazing athletes!”

“Wairoa to the world, that is my motto.”

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz