Nineteen-year-old forward Otesa Pule was a bolter in the Kiwi Ferns’ Rugby League World Cup squad after a stellar NRLW rookie season for Sydney Roosters in 2022.
Auckland-born Pule played her junior rugby league for Caboolture Snakes in south-east Queensland, before playing a dominant role in the Roosters’ 2022 Tarsha Gale Cup triumph – scoring 13 tries in eight games – and featuring in Queensland Under-19s’ victory over NSW.
Graduating to the top-grade ranks, Pule was a damaging interchange presence for the Roosters as they reached the semi-finals, winning the club’s Rookie of the Year award.
The young powerhouse grasped her opportunity on the international stage following her New Zealand selection for the World Cup in England, featuring in all five of the Kiwis Ferns’ matches, scoring a try in the semi-final defeat of England and coming off the bench in the loss to Australia in the final.
Pule enjoyed a superb sophomore NRLW, scoring five tries and cementing a second-row spot in the Roosters’ drive to a semi-final appearance, before earning another Kiwi Ferns call-up for the Pacific Championships.
The 20-year-old was a second-row starter in both matches against Australia and the clash with Tonga, getting through plenty of work on both sides of the ball and revelling in the drought-breaking win over the Jillaroos in Melbourne.
The 2024 NRLW campaign brought another glittering highlight for the tyro, playing every match for the Roosters and starting at prop in their grand final victory over the Sharks before taking her place in the Kiwi Ferns’ Pacific Championships squad.
Pule was 18th player for New Zealand’s opening loss to Australia in Christchurch, made 86 metres off the bench in the win over Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby and came off the pine again in the loss to the Jillaroos in the Sydney final.
