Hawke’s Bay product Amelia Pasikala received a Kiwi Ferns call-up as a 19-year-old at the end of her 2023 NRLW rookie season with Sydney Roosters.
The Wairoa-born forward, of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, played for Hawke’s Bay Tui in the 2022 Farah Palmer Cup but made a phenomenally fast transition from rugby union, representing NSW City under-19s and starring for Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the 2023 Tarsha Gale Cup to catch the attention of the Roosters.
Debuting in Round 3, Pasikala played in seven of the Roosters’ last eight matches – including three second-row starts – while she scored tries off the bench in big wins over the Tigers and Eels.
The teenager was named as one of 12 Kiwi Ferns newcomers for the Pacific Championships at the end of the year and debuted off the bench against Australia in Townsville. Pasikala scored a try against Tonga just after entering the fray but soon afterwards suffered a gut-wrenching dislocated ankle in a hip-drop tackle, ending her campaign.
Pasikala joined Canberra in 2024 and made four NRLW appearances before being named in the Kiwi Ferns’ wider squad for the Pacific Championships.
