Gabby Davis, Geena Elliott, Sydney Harrison, Tara McGrath-West, and Samantha Poidevin were the lucky five who earned selection, and all five played in Yass’s Under 17s Girls side last year, which reached the preliminary finals. 

“A bunch of us went over for the trials towards the end of last year,” Gabby said. 

“We played our trial game two Saturdays ago and then the final squad was announced, so it’s pretty exciting.” 

While it does make things easier for the girls to join the squad with four teammates alongside them, Gabby said that they knew most of the other players through the local competition. 

“We have contact with pretty much all of the girls throughout our previous season with the Magpies, [when] we played them,” she said. 

Along with the Goulburn Stockmen, whose Under 17 side went undefeated in 2018, the Magpies have the most players in the side, which is indicative of the club’s strength. 

“It’s exciting and it shows that the future is a bit promising when we go to Opens as well, we’ve got a good strong base there to build on,” Gabby said. 

2018 was the 17-year-old’s first season playing rugby league, having played touch football and league tag in seasons prior, which made the transition to the sport easier.

“It’s pretty exciting to get these opportunities and have them present themselves so quickly,” she said. 

“I’ve always been a sporty person … I was always interested in playing league when I was younger, but there wasn’t opportunities for girls to play unless it was with the boys. 

“When the opportunity presented itself to play, I jumped at the chance and gave it a crack.” 

The Tarsha Gale Cup is an nine-a-side competition for girls under the age of 18. The Canberra Raiders’ first of six matches will be this Saturday against the Parramatta Eels at Raiders Belconnen from 12.00pm.