Six North Queensland Toyota Gold Stars will battle it out to be crowned the Inaugural Gold Stars Player of the Year at Thursday’s Presentation Night at Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre.
Captain and fullback Romy Teitzel set the QRLW competition alight in its first full season, finishing with a league-high 68 points from eight games, including nine tries, 16 goals and 42 tackle breaks. The 22-year-old Tully junior also led all backs with 135 metres per game.
At just 19-years-old, Emma Manzlemann proved to be one of the standout No.9s in the QRLW, finishing third in the league in linebreaks (8) and tackle breaks (44). The Mackay junior made 169 tackles at 95% efficiency and averaged 112 running metres per game.
Cairns product Tahlulah Tillett shone in the halves for the Gold Stars, leading the team in try assists (8) and line break assists (8), while also finishing third in the competition with 982 kicking metres. The 23-year-old stared in the Round 5 clash against Valkyries, scoring a try and setting up two more in a 32-14 win.
One of the youngest members of the Gold Stars squad, centre Jasmine Peters was one of the best defence players in the competition, missing just six tackles in seven games. The 19-year-old Mackay junior, who signed her first NRLW contract with the Gold Coast Titans last month, averaged 4.3 tackle breaks and 109 running meters per game.
Fellow Titans NRLW signing Shaniah Power averaged a team-high 129 running metres per game to go along with 30 tackle breaks. The 24-year-old Bowen junior led the Golds Stars forwards with tries (3) and made the second-most tackles in the team (145).
Finally, 24-year-old second-rower Rangi-Marie Edwards-Bruce averaged 80 running metres a game and scored two tries. A native of Kaitaiai in New Zealand, Edwards-Bruce was one of the Gold Stars best in the narrow semi-final loss to the Burleigh Bears, running for a season-high 134 metres, including 54 post-contact, and three tackle breaks.
