Harvey Norman Jillaroos coach Jess Skinner has backed rising playmaker Jesse Southwell to thrive in the international arena after naming the youngster in her squad for the upcoming Pacific Championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Southwell is one of five potential debutants named on Monday and figures as the leading contender for the No.7 jersey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The halfback shot to fame after leading Newcastle to NRLW premierships in 2022 and 2023, and starred in NSW’s State of Origin series victory earlier this season.<\/p>\n
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Southwell shines on home soil<\/p>\n
Southwell has been steadily integrated into the Australian set up over the past couple of years, representing the Prime Minister’s XIII in 2024 before being added to the Jillaroos squad as injury cover for the final week of their Pacific Championships campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was that time in the national camp that gave Skinner the confidence to select the 20-year-old for this year’s tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“She’s a really smart footballer,” Skinner said. “I met her when she was 17 years of age and she knows football but she is also a sponge and loves to learn. She has a really good growth mindset.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“To see her from the early days when she was in development and then progressing through her NRLW journey, but for me it was seeing her in the PM’s team last year and having the work with her as her head coach and how much she bought into what we were about in the green and gold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Then to chuck her in for that week [with the Jillaroos], she stood up against these girls at training physically and socially as well. She’s the future of our game and deserves to be in this team.”<\/p>\n
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Jesse Southwell floats the pass for Owen<\/p>\n
Kezie Apps and Ali Brigginshaw will lead an Australian team that features a mix of youth and experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sharks star Emma Verran is back in the team after missing last year’s campaign, while Yasmin Clydsdale and Isabelle Kelly headline a crop of senior players.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Southwell leads a group of five rookies, with Rima Butler, Ellie Johnston, Jocelyn Kelleher and Sienna Lofipo also in line for their Jillaroos debut.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Newcastle halfback’s opportunity comes after Golden Boot winner Tarryn Aiken tore her ACL late in the NRLW season and she now has a chance to solidify her place in the side leading into next year’s World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’m really excited for Jesse,” Apps said. “She’s had a few ups and downs over the last couple of years but this year she’s taken her game to another level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“She’s matured a lot and I love playing alongside her. I’m super proud of her for how she’s performed this year and she deserves this opportunity.”<\/p>\n
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Roosters v Broncos – Grand Final, 2025<\/p>\n
Skinner watched Sunday’s NRLW grand final through gritted teeth, as the Broncos and Roosters went toe to toe in a physical encounter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brisbane ultimately prevailed, but multiple players from both sides were left battered and bruised.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Butler, Kelly, Keeley Davis and Brigginshaw all copped knocks late in the contest, but look to have avoided serious injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Jillaroos have the bye in the opening week of the Pacific Championships before they open their campaign against Samoa at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n
The additional time before the first match has Skinner confident her full squad will be available for the clash on October 26.<\/p>\n
“Our performance staff have been in contact with the Roosters,” Skinner said. “I also spoke to [Roosters coach] John Strange this morning and he didn’t have any major concerns but a couple of them are getting a check over today.”\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harvey Norman Jillaroos coach Jess Skinner has backed rising playmaker Jesse Southwell to thrive in the international arena…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-192442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}