SHE trialled in an unfamiliar position and was far from pleased with her efforts, but the St George Dragons saw in Lauren Roels a player who they definitely wanted on their Tarsha Gale roster.
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They offered the hard running, strong tackling 17-year-old a spot in their 2023 squad.
Given the under 18s Tarsha Gale Cup provides a vital step in helping young women progress to the elite level, it came as both a huge surprise and a big honour for Roels.
"It really is exciting," she said.
"It was a surprise. After the trial actually Dad and I looked at each other and I said 'I'm not going to get in am I?' and he said 'No, you're not'.
"But in my email I got from the Dragons saying I made the team, they also invited me to trial for their Harvey Norman [NSW Women's Premiership] team, so that's really cool."
The path which has taken Roels to the Dragons began over a decade ago - she first played league as a six-year-old.
She quickly fell in love with the sport and over the years has worked hard to develop a good technique. Though not the biggest player, Roels is undeniably strong.
Having worked hard at Oberon High School to ensure her grades were good, Roels' parents agreed to let her trial for the Tarsha Gale Cup.
As well as working with the Dragons, the talented teenager trialled with Manly, the Canberra Raiders and Cronulla Sharks as well.
"Raiders was the best one I trialled for game wise, Dragons I thought I was horrible and Manly I was horrible because of a bee sting. Sharks wasn't a trial, it was training because they already have a team, they were just trying to fill a couple of spots," she said.
"It's great to see how different clubs run their teams and all the different talent and just what different clubs want. No matter where you go, they all want something a little bit different.
"It was good to go to so many trials and learn how they wanted you to play, it was a real eye-opener as to how everything works and how you can better yourself."
As for the process with St George, Roels enjoyed the chance to again test herself against other emerging talents.
But as the Dragons tried her out at prop, it was a challenge.
"I put down for second rower and a lock, but the ended up trialling me as a forward - I'm not big enough for that!," she said.
"It was a one-day trial. We had a warm up and then we got divided up into three teams with subs and had a little round-robin, you verse every team, and then at the end there was a probables and possibles which was quite fun."
Though Roels didn't think she'd done enough to impress the Dragons, her Mother Colleen was back at home asking for some divine intervention.
"I'm a little bit superstitious, my Mother passed away a few years ago and she was the biggest St George supporter ... I looked up to the sky and said 'Come on Mum, help our girl out'," Colleen said.
When Roels signs her contract with the Dragons she'll join the 11-team competition. Her club will be looking to build on a 2022 campaign that carried them to the first week of finals.
But before Roels lines up for the Dragons, she has plenty of other league assignments to keep her busy.
On Tuesday she will be part of the inaugural Western Rams side that played at the Lisa Fiaola Cup gala day at Tuggerah.
Playing four games over the day at an event which involves 360 of the best under 17s talents in the state is something Roels is delighted to be part of.
Wearing the iconic green and white Western colours is something she has long aspired to do.
"It's exciting to have something for the girls," she said.
"It's good when everyone is sort of at the same level with their talent and when you have all these talented people together, it's just awesome to watch.
"It's really good to wear Western colours, you feel really proud, you feel kind of accomplished."
On Friday Roels will be wearing the colours of the Blacktown Red Belly Warriors when she plays at the 50th NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival on the South Coast.
It will be the first time that Roels has participated at the carnival, also known as the Koori Knockout, and she's eager to form bonds with her new team-mates.
They'll compete in the youth division.
"There was meant to be a team for the Central West region but there were too many girls coming from all over the place so they didn't go through with that team," Roels explained.
"The coach of that team, he suggested that we go to Blacktown. We called them up and they said I could play with them.
"We met the coach watching one of my friends play for the club, she's in the opens. I talked to him about training as obviously we live far away and couldn't make all the training sessions, but he said it was okay and it's a really nice comp.
"He said that he played when he was a kid and he's still friends with his team-mates and everyone just becomes really close as a team. He said it's a good little sisterhood that they make, so I'm looking forward to it."
Around 30,000 people are expected to attend the knockout including NRL stars Josh Addo-Carr and Tyrell Fuimaono. It concludes on Monday.
Roels will then return to club duties with the under 18 Panorama Platypi side which plays in the Western Women's Rugby League competition.
Roels and her family offered their thanks to Western Women's Rugby League officials, in particular Cas Hanrahan, for the opportunities they've helped to provide.
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