Youth and experience the perfect mix for Trillo Metals Women’s Canterbury Bulls’ campaign

The Trillo Metals Women’s Canterbury Bulls squad for the upcoming NZRL National Women’s Premiership possesses an impressive mix of hard-edged experience and precocious young talent for incoming coach Tyron Rapana to blend together.

A spectacular CRL Happy Hire Women’s Premiership grand final – with Hornby Panthers edging out Linwood Keas 26-24 in a thriller that entailed a plethora of lead changes – was an ideal lead-in for the Trillo Metals Women’s Canterbury Bulls’ tournament foray in Hastings on September 12-13.

“I’m pretty excited with the amount of talent we have in Canterbury, and especially with the amount of new faces to come to the team,” Rapana says.

“I thought it was a great battle on Sunday between Hornby and Linwood. Both teams showed exactly why they should be in the grand final.

“There were a couple of mistakes from both teams, but all in all I thought it was great game.”

The grand finalists form the nucleus of the Trillo Metals Women’s Canterbury Bulls squad, with 16 of the 24 players – eight apiece – coming from the Panthers and Keas. Six players from 2023-24 premiers Sydenham Swans have been chosen, along with two Eastern Eagles.

Next-gen talents from both clubs shone on CRL Snap Fitness Grand Final Day, with Hornby’s Tyler Limmer scoring a try and earning Player of the Match honours, while Linwood’s Metua Cranwell had a blinder in the centres and Ava-Lea Maxwell scored a sensational long-range solo try.

Meanwhile, Panthers loose forward Kyra-Lee Westland, the Trillo Metals’ Women’s Canterbury Bulls Rookie of the Year in 2025, proved the difference in the decider with a second-half double – including the late match-winner.

“I’ve been coaching some of these younger players for a long time, and things that are really important to me are attitude, the amount of effort they put on the field, and staying in the moment and being focused,” enthuses Rapana, who will have Jonny Limmer as his assistant coach.

“Those [younger players in the grand final] really amplify that. For me, it was a no-brainer. They earned their spot, most definitely.

“And Kyra-Lee Westland, it’s not only that she scored two tries, kicked three conversions, but it’s the effort that she does on defence that makes her the kind of player that she is.”

But leadership is equally crucial – and Rapana’s squad has a healthy supply.

Halfback Cassie Siataga is a rugby league international for Samoa, along with a host of achievements in other sports, while Shade McGregor-Pakau has captained the Trillo Metals Women’s Canterbury Bulls from centre but was a back-row workhorse in the grand final. Both player came across to Linwood from Woolston this season.

Hornby co-captains and second-rowers Ripena Umaga and Anika Gates-Thorn, and Sydenham’s former Kiwi Ferns prop Bunty Kuruwaka-Crowe bring vast experience to the Canterbury pack.

“It’s always good to have that – not just the experience that they have, but the calming effect they can have on younger players,” Rapana says.

“And it’ll be great for them to pass on their knowledge and skills to these younger girls as a whole, I think. It’s only going to make rugby league in Canterbury a lot stronger.”

The NZRL’s shift to a weekend tournament, rather than a week-to-week National Premiership, presents a new set of challenges from Rapana and the Trillo Metals Women’s Canterbury Bulls.

Every squad member is certain to play a crucial role as fatigue and attrition rate become greater factors, as opposed to having the luxury of running out a first-choice 17 for each match. A silver lining comes in the form of player availability with less of a clash with the Farah Palmer Cup.

“Initially I thought it was a little bit [of a step back] but I also have to look at the positive of it and having the tournament format also relieves the pressure between players that were playing FPC and Canterbury Bulls,” Rapana explains.

“So there was a little bit of leeway there as well … the majority of the players play both codes, and when you’ve got players who play both but their first choice is rugby league, we want to be able to celebrate that and allow them to be on the team because this is their first choice.”

After two seasons of immense progress under Joseph Purcell-Mika culminated in a third-place finish in the 2025 NZRL National Women’s Premiership, Rapana says a spot in the September 27 final in Auckland is the goal – as well as continuing to cultivate the framework that has been established off the field.

“It’s always the plan is to aim for the top. However, what we’re trying to do at the moment is build the culture within Canterbury Bulls and make it stronger than it’s ever been so that it will make our choices harder for next year when we come to selecting the team – because there’s going to be so much more talent.

“They’ve already got these strong bonds, a lot of them, from coming through the age-groups, and a lot of the players from Hornby Panthers and Linwood Keas played rugby together for Linwood Bulls this year.”

Photo Credit: Michelle Wong