Georgia Hale (born 9 August 1995) is a New Zealand

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays for the Gold Coast Titans in the

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 ...

. Primarily a , she is vice-captain of the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Test team.

Background

A Richmond Roses junior, Hale represented New Zealand in touch and tag football before switching to

Playing career

In 2014, she was a member of the

squad for their three-game series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the

2014 NRL Auckland Nines The 2014 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the first NRL Auckland Nines tournament, contested between all sixteen teams of the National Rugby League. The draw was released on 30 October 2014. ...

. On 3 May 2015, she made her Test debut for New Zealand, coming off the bench in a 14–22 loss to Australia at Suncorp Stadium. On 6 May 2016, she was named Player of the Match in New Zealand's 26–16 ANZAC Test win over Australia. On 16 September 2016, she was named New Zealand Player of the Year at the

RLPA The Rugby League Players Association is a representative organisation based in Australia. The RLPA, as it is more commonly referred to, is the representative body of elite rugby league players, protecting and promoting the welfare and interests ...

Players' Champion awards in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. In 2017, she was named vice-captain of New Zealand for the

2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the fifth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup and was held in Australia between 16 November and 2 December 2017. Pool and semi-final matches was held at Southern Cross Group Stadium in Sydney ...

. She played three games in the tournament but was omitted from the team that lost to Australia in the final.

2018

In 2018, Hale joined the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

for the inaugural season of 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 ...

. In Round 1 of the

2018 NRL Women's season The 2018 NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) was the first season of professional women's rugby league in Australia. Teams Pre-season Only two of the four sides, the Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors, took part in pre-season trial games. T ...

, she made her debut for the Warriors, starting at in a 10–4 win over the Sydney Roosters.

2019

On 21 August, she was named captain of the Warriors and moved to the position. On 19 October, she started for New Zealand in their 17–15

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member ...

final win over

2020

On 20 February, Hale was named the Young New Zealander of the Year. In September, Hale was one of five New Zealand-based Warriors' players to travel to Australia to play in the 2020 NRL Women's premiership. Due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

restrictions, the players had to quarantine for 14 days on entering Australia and 14 days on return to New Zealand when the season was completed. On 27 October, Hale won the Veronica White Medal for her off-field work in her local community.

2021

In 2021, Hale relocated to

, joining the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the

QRL Women's Premiership The QRL Women's Premiership, known as the BMD Premiership due to sponsorship from BMD Group, is the top level of women's rugby league football in Queensland, Australia. Run by the Queensland Rugby League, the competition is Queensland's first s ...

2022

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

On 12 May 2023 she announced her intention to leave

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

to return to Australia and re-join Gold Coast Titans She was appointed as the Captain of the Gold Coast titans for the 2023 NRLW Season .

Achievements and accolades

Individual

New Zealand Women's Player of the Year: 2016 *Veronica White Medal: 2020 * Golden Boot Winner: 2023

Team

: New Zealand – Winners

References

External links

New Zealand Warriors profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Georgia 1995 births Living people Expatriate sportspeople in England Gold Coast Titans (NRLW) captains Gold Coast Titans (NRLW) players Leeds Rhinos Women players New Zealand female rugby league players New Zealand Warriors (NRLW) players New Zealand women's national rugby league team players Rugby league locks Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league five-eighths