Nakia Davis-Welsh (born 22 May 1996) is an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

player. Primarily a , she is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

international and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

representative, and currently plays for

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

in the

NRLW The NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) also known as the Telstra NRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship is a rugby league competition in Australasia for female players. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is contested by ...

Background

Born in

Kempsey, New South Wales Kempsey is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia and is the council seat for Kempsey Shire. It is located roughly 16.5 kilometres inland from the coast of the Pacific Ocean, on the Macleay Valley Way near where the P ...

, Davis-Welsh is the daughter of former

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...

five-eighth Paul Davis and the cousin of

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

representative Greg Inglis. She attended Hunter Sports High and only began playing organised

in 2012.

Playing career

In 2013, Davis-Welsh, aged 16 at the time, represented the Indigenous All Stars in the annual women's All Stars match. In 2016, she made her debut for

in the annual Women's Interstate Challenge against

. In 2017, she played at fullback in the Redfern All Blacks' NSW Women's Premiership Grand Final win over North Newcastle. She finished as the top try scorer in the competition. In October 2017, she was named in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup squad. She made her international debut in Australia's opening round win over the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

. On 2 December, she started at fullback in the Jillaroos 23-16

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

win over the

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 ...

. She played four games in the tournament, scoring three tries. In June 2018, Davis-Welsh was announced as one of fifteen marquee signings by the Sydney Roosters women's team which participated in the inaugural NRL Women's Premiership in September 2018. She did not play a match during the season, as it was revealed in October 2018 that she had fallen pregnant.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis-Welsh, Nakia 1996 births Living people 21st-century Australian sportswomen Australia women's national rugby league team players Australian female rugby league players Indigenous All Stars women players Indigenous Australian women rugby league players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin Women players Parramatta Eels (NRLW) players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Kempsey, New South Wales Sportswomen from New South Wales