Commentator Sean Maloney has urged Rugby Australia to move quickly and secure the services of 16-year-old Waratahs star Caitlyn Halse on a long-term deal.
Halse backed up her eye-catching Super W debut with another superb game against the Brumbies in round two, scoring a brilliant individual try to go with a try assist and solid work under the high ball.
“Another screamer of a day… Timmy Horan comes down at fulltime and goes: ‘I know you said she was good but she’s really, really good’,” Maloney said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.
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“Straight in the Wallaroos surely… she could do whatever she wanted. I’d like to see her name signed. I’d like to see her picked up now to avoid NRLW and other codes coming to grab her.”
Former Wallaby Stephen Hoiles agreed and said Halse would have multiple options within rugby.
“She might get taken by the sevens program she’s that good. She’s fast,” Hoiles said.
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Waratahs chasing Super W revenge
“She’s 16, she’ll probably go to two or three Olympics, two or three World Cups.”
“You can do both, they’ll do both more and more now.”
After a 2-0 start to the season, the degree of difficulty will go up for Halse and the Waratahs when they meet the also 2-0 Fijiana Drua in round three on Saturday (3.05pm AEST).
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The Concord Oval clash is a rematch of last year’s grand final, won by the Drua in their first Super W campaign.
The Drua are undefeated since entering the competition.
“We are extremely excited, the kind of energy that Drua bring to the field and the way they perform is something that we are looking forward to,” Waratahs captain Piper Duck said.
“They are such a tough side and last year not getting the result that we wanted and now having the opportunity to make it right on Saturday is really exciting.”
Meanwhile, the top-of-the-table Reds are likely to face their stiffest test of the season so far when they host the Brumbies on Friday.
The Brumbies are 0-2 but they have been competitive against the pacesetting Drua and Waratahs.
Reds captain Shannon Parry was influential in the round two win over the Force while coach Simon Craig has named a new halves pairing as two of three changes to the starting XV.
Coming in are New Zealand duo Diane Hiini and Carys Dallinger who starred in Super Rugby Aupiki before signing with the Reds.
The Brumbies have their own Kiwi star in Black Fern Amy Rule while outside centre Siokapesi Palu will be looking to display the pace and power she has showcased in the first two rounds.
In the final game of the round, the Force and Rebels will square off in a bid for their first points of the season.
The Force were competitive in the first half against the Reds last weekend and winger Rachel Laqeretabua will be looking to repeat her try-scoring heroics.
And former Wallaroo Ariana Hira-Herangi, named at outside centre, is an exciting change to Force coach Matt Hodgson’s side.
The Rebels, meanwhile, outscored the Drua in the second half of their loss to the Drua last weekend and will look to carry that momentum over.
Winger Mia-Rae Clifford – who also captains the Essendon VFLW team – is an interesting player to watch.
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