Maya Stewart (born 14 March 2000) is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. She plays for the Wallaroos internationally and for the

NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play ...

in the

Super W Super Rugby Women's is an annual professional sports, professional women's rugby union club competition organised by Rugby Australia. It is contested by four clubs from Australia and one club from Fiji, who play a single series of Round-robin t ...

competition. She represented Australia at the delayed

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the Rugby World Cup (women), women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally sche ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Early career

Stewart played several sports as a teen, including

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

and

touch The somatosensory system, or somatic sensory system is a subset of the sensory nervous system. The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of bo ...

. She began her rugby career with the Nelson Bay Gropers, before moving to the Hunter Wildfires and then eventually making her way to the Waratahs in the

competition.

Rugby career

2021–22

In 2021, Stewart scored four tries against the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team based in Brisbane for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union ...

in the opening game of the Super W season. Her year was shortened after she sustained an ACL injury for the second time. Stewart suffered another ACL injury in a pre-season training ahead of the 2022 Super W campaign and was ruled out for the season. After her recovery, she was named in the Wallaroos squad to face the

Black Ferns The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns (), represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tour ...

for the

2022 Laurie O'Reilly Cup The 2022 Laurie O'Reilly Cup was the 13th edition of the competition. The matches were played on 20 and 27 August, with both Australia and New Zealand hosting one match each. After a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was confirme ...

, although she did not get to play in any matches. Despite her setbacks, Stewart was impressive during the Wallaroos camp and made the squad for the

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

2023–24

Stewart started 2023 with a brace of tries, she helped her side win against Fiji on 20 May at the Allianz Stadium. In 2024, She scored in her sixth straight

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

, and broke

Tricia Brown Tricia Brown (born 14 March 1979) is an Australian female rugby union player. She has also represented Australia in sevens rugby and cricket. She represented the Wallaroos at three Rugby World Cup's. Brown was a member of the Australian squ ...

’s all-time record of 13 career tries. She was crowned Wallaroos Player of the Year at the

Rugby Australia Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It is a ...

Awards in October 2024.

References

External links

Wallaroos Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Maya 2000 births Living people Australia women's international rugby union players Australian female rugby union players Rugby union players from Newcastle, New South Wales Sportswomen from New South Wales