Get to know the Jillaroos: Plane trips, celebrity spotting and all-time greats
Ahead of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, NRL.com sat down with some of the stars of the Harvey Norman Jillaroos to find out a little more about the squad as they fly out to England!
Which player do you not wanted to be seated next to on the plane to the World Cup?
“Shenae Ciesiolka and her husky voice at the minute! But, she sleeps in to about midday, so she could sleep for the whole flight so she might not be too bad." — Tarryn Aiken
“Sammy Bremner, she will talk my ear off. I feel she will outdo me with the word count.” — Kennedy Cherrington
“That one is tough! I reckon maybe Tarryn Aiken because she’ll steal all my snacks, I reckon she will eat all my snacks. Or Ali Brigginshaw would eat all my snacks too actually. Probably either of those two because they will eat all my snacks.” — Shenae Ciesiolka
“Kezie Apps, she will be talking the whole time. Or singing, dancing.” — Keeley Davis
What are you going to do to pass the time on the flight?
“I should be able to sleep on the plane, but I have to download some movies on Netflix, probably annoy Shenae Ciesiolka, maybe will annoy Chappo [Jaime Chapman], but Chappo will annoy me, but we’ll pass the time." — Tarryn Aiken
“Bit of both, sleeping and watching shows, will tap into a bit of both. I can sleep anywhere, and catch up on my shows because we have had no time in camp and I have been really disciplined with my sleep at night, I am like ‘ohh Netflix! No, you have a 6am start’, so no." — Kennedy Cherrington
“Definitely going to try and sleep, but watch movies as well, and we have been given these little weaving arts and crafts to do and when we play another team, that’s our gift to them, so a couple of us can probably do some weaving as well, so that will pass a bit of time.” — Shenae Ciesiolka
“I am a good sleeper, so I am hoping to sleep. Probably some card games I reckon we will be playing, but mainly sleep I reckon." — Keeley Davis
What are some of the famous landmarks or celebrities you'd like to see throughout the UK?
“I am going to say the London Eye and Big Ben. It will be my first time in the UK. And David Beckham and his family and maybe some of the actors from Harry Potter.” — Kennedy Cherrington
“I don’t actually know any of the landmarks in the UK, but maybe Cristiano Ronaldo because they play over there.” — Tarryn Aiken
“I have no idea... Big Ben in London and David Beckham.” — Keeley Davis
Rugby League World Cup Round 2 Wrap: Group B
Who in the Jillaroos squad is the worst at packing and brings too much stuff?
“Shenae [Ciesiolka] had been messaging me the whole week before camp about packing her bag! A week before camp started, her bag was full. 100% she has the most stuff, I have seen her bag, it’s insane. I don’t know what’s in there, clothes, toiletries and stuff. But I do have a lot of shoes, I’ll admit that, because you can never have enough shoes.” — Tarryn Aiken
“Shannon Mato. She had to take stuff home, she’s lucky she lives on the Gold Coast. She probably spent almost a grand yesterday on shopping, but the shopping is better there! And she has a little owl and she has her two big roller bags, her big duffle bag with extra stuff and her!” — Kennedy Cherrington
“Probably myself, I have packed a lot, I need to go through it all. I have packed a lot and I could not even fit it in two bags... it’s clothes and just unnecessary accessories. ‘oh, I might need an extra one of this, or I might need an extra one of that’, so me – or probably Tarryn Aiken. Tarryn has packed about 20 pairs of shoes; she’s packed four dress shoes, she’s packed about six boots, five runners – she thinks she needs them all.” — Shenae Ciesiolka
“I came up to camp with Emma Tonegato and she had 27kgs in her first bag, so she is going to have a lot of stuff but I will probably use some of it, so I can’t complain. I have no idea what’s in there, probably a lot of clothes.” — Keeley Davis
Who is your all-time favourite Jillaroo?
“I am going to say I am looking forward to playing alongside Izzy (Isabelle Kelly), I reckon it will be pretty cool to play alongside her for the first time.” — Tarryn Aiken
“We have had to do a ‘get to know a Jillaroo’ and present it to the squad, but Danielle Parker, Jillaroo #53, she’s Shanice Parker’s mum, and from Western Australia, so I grew up with them; hails from the West.” — Kennedy Cherrington
“Probably in my era of playing, Ali Brigginshaw, playing club with her, she’s obviously helped me get to where I am today, but also obviously Karyn Murphy as well, having her help us coach in Origin, in Queensland camp, she’s obviously helped us a lot as well so will probably say Ali and Murph." — Shenae Ciesiolka
“I think my favourite is Sam Bremner, she is one of my most favourite people in the world, so I am very excited to play with her again.” — Keeley Davis
