Elabbasi a star in making
BURLEIGH coach Spencer Taplin has backed Yasmin Elabbasi for a senior women’s debut this year, but that is set to just be the beginning for the young lock.
Hailing from Yamba where she had limited opportunities to play rugby league growing up, Elabbasi has overcome a three-year hiatus from the game to emerge as a future Gold Coast Titan.
The teenage phenom was forced to quit the code when she was 13, no longer able to play alongside the boys, before returning as a 16-year-old to earn Northern Rivers selection in 2021.
Elabbasi looms as an integral part of the Bears U19 Harvey Norman premiership this season, and her side received an early season boost by overcoming Brisbane Tigers
24-10 in their final pre-season trial on
Sunday.
It followed their
28-16 defeat to Tweed the week prior in a stark sign of improvement under Taplin’s tutelage barely two weeks into the top job.
The coach said Elabassi, a Titans Academy member, had displayed a level of tenacity and grind that would make her a perfect fit for the rigours of elite football.
“What I liked about her was she didn’t mind the nitty gritty stuff, rolling up her sleeves getting us forward. That says a lot about a player, it’s not all the flashy stuff,” Taplin said.
Taplin also backed halfback Mattisse Bettridge to command his side, identifying the traits which have thrust her into the Titans Academy.
“I just have to help make her grow in that half role and get her to understand a few elements of it she needs to keep fine tuning,” Taplin said.
Burleigh face the Wynnum Manly Seagulls on Saturday to kickstart their campaign.