China Polata said she was “still pinching herself” after being named in this year’s Harvey Norman Queensland Maroons extended squad, after producing in-season form too good for coach Tahnee Norris to ignore.
Playing fullback for the Cutters in Queensland’s BMD Premiership campaign, the recent Tongan Test player was a key reason for Mackay’s appearance in the finals in their inaugural season.
“She absolutely caught my eye, she was starting off at fullback with Mackay Cutters and was seriously making 200 plus metres a game and was aggressive in defence and just doing some really good things,” Norris told NRL.com when asked about Polata’s somewhat surprise inclusion in the squad, given she hadn’t previously featured in prior emerging camps.
“She really stood out and we (selectors) really looked at her and went ‘yeah, she is Origin ready’.”
Media conference: Norris discusses Origin side
Polata’s naming in the squad is all the more remarkable given the long road back she has had to travel to return to the top. In her younger days, Polata was on a rapid trajectory in the game before injury struck. A member of the inaugural Queensland Under 18 squad who played in 2019, an ACL injury had her out of the game for 19 months.
While she worked her way back to fitness last year, evening making her NRLW debut with the Broncos – her move to North Queensland to play rugby league with the Cutters paid off in spades, culminating in an NRLW contract with new club the Cowboys and place in the women’s squad.
“I did my ACL, I had a bit of a Grade 2 MCL sprain, I tore my lateral meniscus … kind of blew my whole knee,” Polata said of her injury.
“I rehabbed for about maybe 14 months before I got picked up by Broncos. I would be in the gym everyday pretty much if I could for eight months straight.
“I had a bit of a turning point early on in my injury where I just kind of turned around and was like ‘you know what? I need to get back out there; this is what I'm doing’.
“I had a really great support system, I had really great physios around me to help lift me up and then as I've come back gradually and now maintaining it, I've just been getting on top of it, recovering properly, stretching, warming up, warming down.
“Sometimes when I have that fear and doubt, I go and seek advice from certain people, like my coaches or just home life support system and just get them to help me remember I've come such a long way, I've worked really, really hard and I need to continue to push hard because I can do this.
“That's where the biggest thing came from was self-belief and self-faith in myself that I could actually get back out on the field and I proved that to myself this year, and I'm only going to continue to prove that I can only get up from here.”
Currently named as Queensland’s 18th player, Polata was excited to be learning from some the game’s greats, with the squad taking part in a ‘pre-camp’ last weekend to get a head start on their preparations.
“It was a real big eye opener,” Polata said. “I kept saying to the girls throughout the camp I just couldn't believe that I was in the women’s squad.
“Coming through the 19 ranks and being with that under 18 side in 2019 to then remembering we did an opposed session against them … to now being a part of that women's squad, I just had to pinch myself the entire camp.
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“During the camp they feel so comfortable … I was actually there! I was still up in the air with it and I was still ‘I just can't believe it’, but Tahnee and the older girls have been really great to help reassure me that I've earnt my place.”
The Queensland Maroons enter the Game One camp on the Gold Coast today.
Main image: China Polata in training with Queensland. Photo: Erick Lucero / QRL