Teenage front-rower Mya Terehia Hill-Moana made her Kiwi Ferns debut against Fetu Samoa during a whirlwind 2020 season.
Huntly-born Hill-Moana began the year playing for Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs’ Under 18s team in the Tarsha Gale Cup, before the competition was halted by COVID-19 in mid-March.
A member of the Auckland Under-18s competition-winning Taniwharau side in 2019, Hill-Moana returned to New Zealand and played a key role in Upper Central Stallions’ triumph in the NZRL National Women’s Championship.
She was named player of the match as the Stallions edged Auckland Vulcans in the Championship final.
Hill-Moana won an interchange spot in the Kiwi Ferns’ line-up and impressed on debut with the 18-year-old’s strong runs and work-rate in the 28-8 win over Samoa at Mt Smart Stadium.
After representing Māori All Stars in the 2021 and ’22 pre-season matches against Indigenous All Stars, Hill-Moana made her NRLW debut for Sydney Roosters and cemented a front-row spot – culminating in a premiership winner’s ring in April 2022 as part of the club’s line-up that defeated St George Illawarra in the grand final. She was an engine-room mainstay for the Roosters in the NRLW competition played later in 2022, where the Roosters’ campaign ended in the semi-finals.
Hill-Moana was a front-row starter in the Kiwi Ferns’ mid-2022 Test against Mate Ma’a Tonga – only a month after her 20th birthday – and racked up 12 runs for 106 metres and 15 tackles in the 50-12 victory, with a World Cup berth at the end of the season coming as no surprise for the impressive tyro. She featured in all five of New Zealand’s matches at the tournament, coming off the bench in the semi-final win over England and the heavy final loss to Australia.
The tyro backed up for the Roosters again in the expanded 2023 NRLW premiership, featuring in eight of their 10 games – including the semi-final loss to the Titans – and averaged 91 metres and 14 tackles per game to earn another Kiwi Ferns call-up for the Pacific Championships.
Hill-Moana played all three of New Zealand’s matches in the post-season campaign, including the drought-breaking win over Australia in Melbourne.
After representing the Māori Ferns for the third straight year in the 2024 pre-season All Stars clash, Hill-Moana played six games for the high-flying Roosters but did not feature in their triumphant finals campaign. She will get the opportunity to add to her 10 Test appearances for New Zealand during the Pacific Championships.