Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly (born 6 August 1996) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays for the North Queensland Cowboys in the

NRL Women's Premiership The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for women's rugby league in Australia, female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the ...

. A and , she previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the NRLW and for Hurricanes Poua in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition.

Background

Born in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, New Zealand, Stephens-Daly is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent.

Playing career

Early years

Stephens-Daly started her career playing rugby sevens and rugby union. In 2014, she played for the Waikite rugby union team. She represented the Bay of Plenty Volcanix side from 2015 to 2019, only missing 2018. In November 2018, she was named in the New Zealand Maori Ferns train-on squad. In 2019, she played for the

Whakarewarewa Whakarewarewa (reduced version of Te Whakarewarewatanga O Te Ope Taua A Wahiao, meaning ''The gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao'', often abbreviated to Whaka by locals) is a Rotorua semi-rural geothermal area in the Taupo Volcanic ...

rugby union side. In 2020, she played for the Upper Central Stallions in the inaugural NZRL National Women's Championship. In November 2020, she represented the

Kiwi Ferns The New Zealand women's national rugby league team, also known as the Kiwi Ferns or New Zealand Kiwi Ferns, represents New Zealand in Women's rugby league. They are administered by the New Zealand Rugby League. New Zealand won the Women's Ru ...

against the Fetū Samoa invitational side, scoring two tries in the Kiwi Fern's 28-8 victory. In December 2020, she won the Kiwi Ferns Rookie of the Year award. In December 2021, she signed with the Newcastle Knights to be a part of their inaugural NRLW squad.

2022

In February, Stephens-Daly played for the

Māori All Stars Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

against the Indigenous All Stars, scoring the team's only points with two tries in their 8-18 loss. In round 1 of the delayed

2021 NRL Women's season The 2021 NRLW premiership was the fourth professional season of Women's rugby league in Australia. The season was planned to start in August 2021, postponed to October 2021 and further postponed to 2022 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Th ...

, she made her

NRLW The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is ...

debut for the Knights against the Parramatta Eels. In October, she was selected for the New Zealand squad at the delayed

2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the sixth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup, and was be one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 1 November to 19 Novem ...

in England.

2023

In March, Stephens-Daly signed played for the Hurricanes Poua in the Super Rugby Aupiki. She was one of three final signings confirmed for the side in December 2022. On 17 May, Stephens-Daly returned to rugby league, signing a two-year contract with the North Queensland Cowboys. In Round 3 of the

2023 NRL Women's season The 2023 NRLW Premiership was the sixth professional season of Women's rugby league in Australia. As announced in March 2022 by the governing body, the National Rugby League, the number of teams increased from six to ten. The duration of the se ...

, she made her debut for the Cowboys in their 40–12 loss to the Brisbane Broncos. In Round 5, she tore her ACL in a loss to the Cronulla Sharks, ruling her out for the season.

References

External links

North Queensland Cowboys profileNZRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens-Daly, Autumn-Rain 1996 births Living people New Zealand female rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand women's national rugby league team players Newcastle Knights (NRLW) players North Queensland Cowboys (NRLW) players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Rotorua Rugby league wingers