NRL All Stars 2024, NRLW 2024, Māori women’s All Stars, Raecene McGregor, team news, Corban Baxter, Zahara Temara

A couple of big-name NRLW playmakers face missing out on a spot in the Māori women’s team for next month’s Harvey Norman NRL All Stars, as coach Keith Hanley grapples with several tough decisions at the selection table.

The veteran mentor says the expansion of the NRL Telstra Women’s Premiership from six to 10 teams last season, along with the continued growth of Māori age-group tournaments in New Zealand, have been big factors in his overall player pool growing from around 60 to 150 during his four-year stint in charge of the side. 

Ahead of this year’s event in Townsville on February 16, the Māori are also boosted by the availability of frontline stars Raecene McGregor, Corban Baxter, Botille Vette-Welsh and Kennedy Cherrington, who all missed the 2023 game.

That creates a logjam in the halves, with McGregor now competing for a spot against incumbents Zahara Temara and Ashleigh Quinlan.