The Lauitiiti Legacy Continues: Meet 17-Year-Old Alaina Lauitiiti

The girl to watch: 17-year-old Alaina Lauitiiti is a force in women’s rugby league

“My parents and their hard work to provide for our family. Look up to my mum's work ethic and dad's generosity.”

For 17-year-old Alaina Lauitiiti, her biggest inspirations are the people who raised her.

But on the rugby league field, the Papatoetoe teenager is quickly becoming an inspiration in her own right.

At an age when most players are still finding their feet in the sport, Alaina has already stepped into women’s rugby league and won the Steele-Shanks Premiereship cup!

She was the youngest player in her Otahuhu women’s side this season, going up against experienced players years older than her while consistently finding the try line and becoming a standout defender and ball carrier.

And according to her teammates, her age is one of the most surprising things about her game.

“I loved playing alongside Alaina. She is such a strong defender and carrier of the ball,” fellow Otahuhu player Georgia Wharton-Benedict says.

“So many times our halves will get the second row to lay it and she’ll just score a try instead.”

Georgia says Alaina did far more than simply hold her own in the women’s competition.

“She might not have much to say, because she says it in the way she plays. It really is surprising how young she is because she absolutely dominated the women’s competition this year.”

“She was one of the best, if not the best, second rowers in the comp.”

That breakout season has already opened the door to a growing list of representative opportunities.

Alaina was selected for the Counties Women’s Representative team, which went undefeated across five games in Hastings. The side is now preparing for its grand final against the Wellington Orcas at Bruce Pulman Park on September 27.

She has also received a last-minute selection for the Fetu Samoa U19 girls, who will face the Warriors U19s on October 10.

Then comes another opportunity to test herself against some of the best young players in the country, after being selected as part of the National Secondary Schools U18s tournament team, which will play the National Clubs U18s team on October 26.

All of this at just 17.

Alaina's rise is even more impressive considering she only started playing rugby league four years ago.

At 14, she was signed up after one of Ivana’s former coaches needed numbers for an Otahuhu Leopards U16 team.

“I think I wanted to play just because Ivana at that time had just started league (coming from union) and I wanted to do the same”

Four years later, she is playing against women and taking on a completely different level of competition.

At the start of this season, Alaina had a choice to make. She could play alongside her friends in the Magpies U18s or challenge herself in the Otahuhu women’s grade.

She chose the challenge.

That decision gave her the opportunity to play alongside her cousin Onjeurlina Leiataua, who Alaina and her older sister Ivana had looked up to growing up.

“It was exciting,” her parents Janina and Ali Lauitiiti say.

“Alaina and her sister Ivana have always looked up to their cousin Onjee. Then to reach a stage in their lives to play alongside her was a dream come true for both our girls.”

She also had the chance to learn under longtime family friend and coach George Carmont, who Alaina has known all her life as Uncle George.

Her parents say she loved learning under his guidance and wealth of experience.

For Alaina, being thrown into the women’s competition meant learning quickly how to handle players who were bigger, older and more experienced.

Her approach?

“Fake it till you make,” she laughs.

“Just trying not to act or think scared because I would run away from them rather than to them.” she jokes

It is an attitude that seems to have translated directly onto the field.

And while she comes from what can fairly be described as rugby league royalty, Alaina is not simply riding on the Lauitiiti name.

Her father Ali is a former professional rugby league player, while her sister Ivana is already making her own mark in the NRLW, having been named Rookie of the Year last season and taking out the Dally M Tackle of the Year.

Growing up surrounded by high-level players has undoubtedly shaped Alaina.

“I think their success has definitely inspired me and helped me to better myself because of their high standards and accolades,” she says.

It also means there is no shortage of rugby league advice at home.

Her dad, she says, can deliver it at any time.

“All the time especially from the old fulla about little things at the most random times.”

Even doing the dishes isn't safe from a rugby league lesson.

“I'll be doing the dishes and I would drop cutlery into the sink, then out of nowhere the man says ‘that's why you always drop the ball’.”

Sometimes the advice comes in the form of a random shoulder bump.

“Pretty much treats us like we're his sons and his only son like his daughter” ever the joker.

And the coaching does not stop after the final whistle.

“His advice isn't just on the way back from the game but throughout the whole week, sometimes month or whenever he remembers.”

For all the rugby league pedigree around her, Alaina says her parents remain her biggest inspiration.

Her mum's work ethic and her dad's generosity are qualities she carries with her, both on and off the field.

Her parents, meanwhile, are simply proud to watch their daughter chase a dream.

“We are extremely proud of her, she works hard and tries her best,” they say.

Their message to Alaina and her siblings has always been to pursue whatever they dream of, while remaining grateful for the opportunities that come their way.

“If playing professional rugby league is a dream of yours, go for it,” they say.

“Just know God will call you to be in different spheres in different seasons. Just give Him the glory wherever you serve - if it be on the field / off the field / in community / amongst family.”

For now, Alaina is firmly making her mark on the field.

And with representative honours already coming her way, more opportunities on the horizon and a reputation that is growing well