At just 23 years of age, Shakiah Tungai has an impressive number of representative honours to her name, including NSW Blues, NSW Country, First Nation Gems, Australia Prime Minister's XIII and Indigenous All Stars - all in the past three years.
‘‘Whether she’s about to play for Port Kembla or Australia, her composure and approach to the game is exactly the same,” Dragons talent-spotter Alicia-Kate Hawke said of Tungai.
“She’s super chilled and just does her thing.’’
Tungai made her debut on the wing for NSW last year, where she scored a crucial try in the corner in the 44th minute to put her side in the lead in an epic contest at North Sydney Oval.
The electric outside back was hard to handle in the match as she recorded three tackle breaks and two line breaks in the Blues’ 14-4 victory over Queensland.
The Port Kembla Blacks junior played for the last year’s premiers the Corrimal Cougars in the Illawarra Women’s League premiership this year, who were defeated by the Helensburgh Tigerlilies 40-24 in the Grand Final last month.
She has been part of the St George Illawarra Dragons side since their inception in 2018 and only got to play one game in their 2020 campaign but we will certainly be seeing more of this star in the future.