Three products of the Sydney Roosters' female pathways program have been rewarded for their standout junior careers, with Anastasia Leatupue, Kewa Kahuroa and Lahni Moore all selected in the 2026 Australian Schoolgirls team.
The trio were among 36 of the country's most talented young players named by the Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League Council, drawn from schools across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, a significant honour and a strong reflection of the depth being built through the Roosters' junior representative pathways.
Leatupue, a lock forward out of The Hills Sports High School in Seven Hills, backs up her Schoolgirls selection after also earning the honour in 2025. The consistent, damaging forward has been a mainstay of the Roosters' junior representative sides over the past two seasons, playing a starring role in the Club's run to the 2026 Lisa Fiaola Cup preliminary final.
Kahuroa, a prop representing Central Coast Sports College in Kariong, caps off a stellar 2026 campaign with Schoolgirls selection after being crowned Central Coast Roosters Players' Player and Best and Fairest at the Club's Junior Representative Awards. The powerful front-rower has been one of the form players of the competition all season.
Moore, a St Joseph's Catholic College, East Gosford product, joined the Roosters' Central Coast Lisa Fiaola Cup ranks as one of the Club's 2026 recruits and has quickly made her mark, earning selection in the Australian Schoolgirls squad in her first season in the jersey.
Head NRLW coach John Strange said the honour was a testament to the hard work each of the three had put in throughout their time in the Roosters' pathways.
“It's a testament to the three girls who have worked incredibly hard to achieve this honour of representing Australia through the Schoolgirls, and it's been great to have them in our pathways here at the Roosters and to see their development from when they came in and where they're at now,” Strange said.
Strange was full of praise for each player's individual qualities, starting with Moore's competitive edge.
“Lahni Moore is very tenacious, she's a real competitor, she competes on absolutely everything with and without the ball and she's a really good line runner and great defender,” he said.
He was equally glowing on Leatupue's impact through the middle.
“Anastasia is a really powerful centre who takes two to three players to bring her down every time she carries the ball, and she's great defensively as well,” Strange said.
And on Kahuroa, the coach pointed to a rare combination of size and skill.
“Kewa, for a middle forward and edge back-rower, has so much power. For someone who's very tall she's got great footwork, a really good post-contact offload, and she's also very aggressive in her contact when she defends,” he said.
Leatupue, Kahuroa and Moore are far from the only Roosters juniors to have been tearing it up in 2026, with representative honours flowing through the Club's pathways all season long. At the Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League Carnival, players from the Club's two junior rep teams turned out for their respective states.
National 16s honours went to Ivy O'Brien (QLD Maroons), Leilani Mereko, Jaggar Curnow, Jasmine Taiapa and Sharleze Bartlett (Combined Independent Schools), Ivy Hagan and Lara Murray (Combined Catholic Colleges), and Silia Tuitufu (Combined High Schools).
In the National 18s, Aaliyah Te Mete lined up for the QLD Maroons, Kahuroa, Mia Vaotuua, Makenna Hammond, Sienna Kennedy Wilkie, Stella Hall and Isabelle Newton for Combined Independent Schools, Moore and Scarlet Hagan for Combined Catholic Colleges, and Leatupue for Combined High Schools.
All five Roosters players named in the NSWRL Women's 19s Extended Squad — Mia Vaotuua, Liesl Hopoate, Tyra Dymock, Logan Fletcher and Leatupue — went on to be selected in the 20-player squad that faced Queensland at North Sydney Oval, after starring in the Club's 2026 Minor Premiership Tarsha Gale campaign.
The Roosters were also among the most heavily represented clubs in the NSW Female City v Country program, with 12 pathway players selected across the 17s and 19s fixtures at WIN Stadium, Wollongong. Talia Berryman earned her first representative selection in the City 17s, while Stella Hall and Kahuroa backed up for a second consecutive year in the Country 17s alongside Academy graduates Lara Murray, Mia-Cheri Lokeni and Leilani Mareko. Tyra Dymock, Leatupue and Liesl Hopoate lined up in the City 19s, and Mia Vaotuua, Logan Fletcher and Makenna Hammond represented Country 19s, with Vaotuua capping the day off by being named Player of the Match in the 19s City v Country fixture.
It all adds up to a season that underlines just how much depth is coming through the Roosters' female pathways. Congratulations to Leatupue, Kahuroa and Moore, and to every player who has pulled on a representative jersey in 2026.
