The tournament brings together both Australian and Indigenous teams to take on sides from Lebanon and combined Pacific Nations, the latter two having earned their spot with performances at last year’s Emerging Nations World Cup.

In the under 16s division, Illawarra will provide 10 of the 18 players in the Indigenous team that will be co-captained by Shellharbour’s Rhiannan Tungai and coached by Graham Seery.

“They weren’t going to field an under 16s team in this tournament but I spoke to [Indigenous OzTag coordinator] Jeff Hardy and said I could probably fill a team with players from the Illawarra, there’s that many talented girls who play down here,” Seery said.

“There’s 10 girls from the Illawarra in the team and we’ve got six girls from Sydney and a couple from Newcastle and the Central Coast.

“They’re a really talented bunch. Rhiannon Tungai from Shellharbut will co-captain the team and she is a future star. I’m convinced she’ll be a star of women’s rugby league in the next couple of years and she’s very, very good at this game as well.”

The Tag World Cup will be held in November next year and, with an open women’s indigenous side to feature, Seery believes the tournament is a chance for the talented youngsters to press their claims for inclusion in that marquee tournament.

“I’ve deliberately put together a young team because they will get the chance to go to an open trial next year for the World Cup of Tag late next year,” Seery said.

“It’s a bit of a stepping stone for some of them and, out of the 10, I think we can get six or seven into that World Cup team so it’s pretty exciting for them.

"They’ll have to come back and earn their spots but it’s a great opportunity at this tournament to show what they can do.”