Shipton shape: Tori ready for next step

Young, eager and bloody talented is a quick way to sum up Tori Shipton.

The pint-sized hooker held her own – and then some – as the Westpac NSW Under 19s beat Queensland 26-10 at Sunshine Coast Stadium.

NSW coach Courtney Crawford said she was impressed with 18-year-old Shipton’s involvement in the game and commitment to stepping up on the big stage.

“She played really well,” Crawford said. “She's a very good running dummy half, and we knew every time we found our front she'd get out off the back of it.

"For being a year younger and playing on this stage, it’s very pleasing how she played tonight.

“She has another year at this level, which is scary. It's exciting for her.”

Shipton, who turned 18 in April, laid on a first half try for Bronte Wilson with a deftly timed pass near the Queensland line and set the platform for captain Kasey Reh to score after a darting run out of dummy half.

Playing in front of her mum, dad, sister and a cousin from England, a visibly chuffed Shipton said the experience was "unreal".

“Oh, my days, I’m blown away,” Shipton said of the fierce clash.

“It was crazy. Both teams wanted it just as bad, but I'm so proud of my team and my teammates, we just pulled through.”

The Illawarra Steelers talent made the leap from the Westpac Lisa Fiaola Cup (Under 17s) last year to playing in the club's grand final-winning Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership team.

Shipton said it was “so special” to get to don the blue jersey of NSW.

“I'm so privileged to be able to wear my last name on the back and represent my state... it's such an honour,” she said.

“I'm so grateful. This is where I wanted to be this year. This was my goal, and I'm so grateful to be here right now. Like, it's insane. I just want to keep going.”

With eight Steelers players in the squad, including Dragons NRLW star Kasey Reh, Shipton said the tight bond within the NSW team gave them the edge against Queensland.

“The message was to back each other… we're family, we're all sisters, we've got each other's backs," she said.

"We just had to back each other, trust our system. And that was that was it and that's what got us a win. Everyone did so good. I'm so proud of everyone.”

Shipton is now preparing for the upcoming Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership season with the Steelers and said she was “super excited” for it.

“Just going step by step,” she said.