Lofipo ready for showdown: 'Their name can’t change the way you play'

Sienna Lofipo knows she cannot fear anyone on the rugby league field.

The 18-year-old playmaker has enjoyed a breakout season for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the BMD Premiership, starring alongside fellow teenage up-and-comers, Destiny Mino-Sinapati, Jayde Herdegen and Emma Barnes.

The talented young spine last week helped to spearhead a stunning semi-final victory over competition leaders Souths Logan Magpies - who had gone through the regular season undefeated – to qualify for the club’s first BMD Premiership grand final, against Burleigh Bears on Saturday.

Now with just that last hurdle remaining in their quest to claim the club’s first women’s title, Lofipo knows her and her teammates need to maintain the mindset they took into the semi-final - that no opponent is too big to overcome.

“A lot of people from the outside pictured us as the underdogs last week, but we didn’t focus on that,” Lofipo said.

“To us, we’re just a team that can take them on and we’re as good as any team out there. We didn’t want to settle for the underdog description.

“It’s been like that the whole season for me. You can have players like (Norths duo) Shenae Ciesiolka and Ali Brigginshaw in the other sides, but you have to treat them like any other player.

“The title of their name can’t change the way you play. Because you’re so young you can feel that extra pressure and overwhelming sense but we have to try to not think about it and play how we usually do.

“We’re all super hungry to get this win on Saturday.”

Lofipo, Mino-Sinapati, Herdegen and Barnes all started the season together playing in Wynnum Manly’s Harvey Norman Under 19s team.

Lofipo then made her BMD Premiership debut in Round 2 at five-eighth. Mino-Sinapati followed in Round 3, as did Barnes, who made her BMD Premiership debut last season. Herdegen then joined the line-up in Round 5.

The four young guns have plenty of experience together thanks to the Harvey Norman Under 19s competition, as well as various representative teams.

And Lofipo, who has been playing rugby league since she was 12, said she was grateful to go through these experiences with people of a similar age and level as her, with that connection adding to the mindset of the team.

“I’ve obviously played with them for two years in the 19s comp, so it’s been quite easy gelling with them,” Lofipo said.

“I’ve played alongside Destiny for the longest because we both went to Marsden High and we had a year together there before club land.

“(Coming into BMD Premiership) it was more a matter of gelling with the rest of the women’s side.

“Having those other girls alongside me, it’s been cruisier getting into the hang of things and then those with more experience have also made us feel comfortable.

“We’re all feeling the same… we all have those nervous feelings but we’re super excited at the same time.

“It’s good to have people sharing the same feelings and you’ve been around them for a while. You can rely on them.”