Humble Teitzel the perfect face for boom women’s era
“I really can’t believe it. It is a huge honour. There is so much talent in the game and so many good performers across the competition. This year was a big breakthrough for women in league across Queensland.
“It is just the start for women’s rugby league in Queensland and especially in North Queensland. There is so much young talent still coming through into the game. I hope I am not the face of Queensland Rugby League, there are so many more amazing women deserving of that honour.
“It makes it pretty exciting going into next year. The award gives me a fair bit of confidence especially after missing out on that Queensland team earlier this year. There are still plenty of goals in front of me and with the proposed calendar, next year is going to be pretty big.”
Teitzel was embroiled in the controversy of the postponed NRLW season as part of a North Queensland contingent that spent seven weeks in lockdown in Newcastle before the season was cancelled.
But the natural leader has taken it in her stride and has already begun working towards next year.
Teitzel is expected to return to Newcastle for the rescheduled competition in early 2022, before returning for the Gold Stars in the BHP Premiership.
The fullback has already made her case to coach Gavin Lloyd to retain the captaincy and declared she wanted to help steer the next generation of talent in the region.
“I found it a huge honour to captain those girls, seeing the respect and trust they have in me filled me with a lot of pride,” Teitzel said.
“Our team was probably the team with the most diversity in the competition and had to overcome the most hurdles. We built as a team through the season and there is still so much young talent that no one has been exposed to.
“We have a great talent pool in North Queensland and I really don’t think everyone expected us to do so well in our first year. It was a big learning curve and we will be better for it next season.”