It takes a village: Sauaso repays the faith in whirlwind debut

However Shalom Sauaso pictured her NRLW debut, this was not it.

The promising 18-year-old nearly fell off her chair on the sideline of Totally Workwear Stadium when her name was called to play centre after Julia Robinson left the field for a HIA in the 30-minute mark of the victory over Wests Tigers.

“I was sitting on the bench and they were like, ‘HIA, Lomy, you’re on’, and I was like, ‘Are you serious? Oh my god’. But I was just grateful for the opportunity,” Sauaso said.

“I was sitting on the bench waiting for someone to call my name and my heart was racing. I couldn’t tell you how I was feeling.

“I’ve been doing a lot of different positions (at training). During pre-season I even trained at centre and hooker and then for the (trials) I was playing lock.”

It was only a five-minute first stint before Sauaso moved to her familiar middle role for the second half, where she churned out 93 run metres in nine runs including five tackle breaks to give the Broncos a game-breaking surge in momentum.

It’s something she will endeavour to replicate against Gold Coast Titans for their Round 2 clash on Sunday.

Sauaso has reason to be confident of receiving another opportunity to impress after Broncos coach Scott Prince said post-game the way she went about her business on debut made it appear she’d been playing at the elite level for ‘five to 10 years’.

Those are the wraps that have followed her into the NRLW on the back of a long list of achievements including representing Queensland and Australian Schoolgirls in rugby league and rugby Sevens, and claiming player of the tournament and player of the final at the National Schoolgirls Cup representing Ipswich SHS in 2024.

Sauaso admits at times she has felt the pressure from the lofty external expectations, but it’s in those moments she leans on her family, who offer support in equal doses as they do keep her grounded.

That didn’t stop a village of her biggest supporters bearing shirts emblazoned with her face and name for the debut, following their roles in a moving jersey presentation the previous evening.

“This is just the beginning and it’s going to be hard but I’m willing to do the work to stay in (the team),” Sauaso said.

Also inspiring her to make an impact throughout the NRLW season is repaying the faith placed in her by captain Ali Brigginshaw, who used to pick her up from school to get her to training.

“It’s probably my biggest achievement yet to play alongside Ali. it’s huge. Watching her on TV, she’s one of my idols, so I’m honestly super blessed for that,” Sauaso said.

Her focus going forward is making an impact every time she gets time on field and getting the one-percenters right – something teammate Chelsea Lenarduzzi often takes her to task on.

“‘Duzzi’ has been a big one. It comes from a place of love. She’s always correcting me and telling me what I need to fix and it helps improve my game, so I’m super grateful for her,” Sauaso said.

“It’s all just a mindset thing. Growing up I had a lot of good mindset mentors and it comes back to mindset.

“I’m expecting a lot from Titans, they’ve got pretty strong forwards.”