Mia Drescher, Zoe King, Olivia Leach, and Tracy Ojeaburu have joined the Saints Women’s senior squad for pre-season.
These four youngsters follow in the footsteps of England international Katie Mottershead and St.Helens Women’s Young Player of the Season for 2025, Erin McDonald, by progressing from our Academy programme in recent years.
King in the back row, and Leach as an outside back, were ever-present in the Saints Women’s Academy’s 2025 campaign, playing in all 12 matches in the competition, and also featured in the Women’s Nines Festival.
Prop forward Ojeaburu impressed throughout last season, missing just one match in the year due to injury.
Drescher is currently over in Australia as part of the Saints’ Female Player Exchange with the Redcliffe Dolphins, gaining valuable experience by training and making herself available for selection in the Women’s Under-19s Queensland competition. The half-back has already made her official St.Helens debut during the summer and will return to the UK in April.
Head of Women’s Pathways at St.Helens, Jodie Cunningham, said: “Each of the girls was outstanding for our Academy last year and thoroughly deserves their call-up into the First Team squad for 2026.
“Mia was fantastic when she debuted at the back end of last season, and I can’t wait to see what Zoe, Liv, and Tracy do when they get their opportunity to step out on the field as a First Team Saint.
“Our Academy and P2P [Pathway to Performance] programme continues to produce incredible talent for our senior squad. This showcases the fantastic work of our pathway coaches, in particular Graham Cranny, whose hard work in developing these girls over the last 12 months sees them now take this big step up.”