Rhinos Women sign Australian front rower Georgia Elliston

Leeds Rhinos Women have signed former Tweed Seagulls and Queensland Sapphires player Georgia Elliston.

Elliston, 26, plays in the front row, and switched from playing football in Australia to Rugby League four years ago. 

She was named Rookie of the Year for the Tweed Seaguls in their 2023 Queensland Premiership season and in 2024 played for the Queensland Sapphires in the National Championship.

Speaking about joining the club Ellison said: “I am excited to be here.  I arrived on Monday and have had chance to look around the stadium and the training ground and it’s been a positive experience so far, so I can’t wait to get stuck in. When I spoke to Lois about the ambitions of the club it was something I knew I wanted to be involved with

“I also spoke with my friend Georgia Hale, who played for Leeds, about my desire to come play in Super League and she highly advocated for Leeds and said they were a great club to be part of.

“I grew up playing soccer until I was 19 and then got involved in CrossFit and really enjoyed getting stronger testing myself physically and thought the next step would be trying out rugby.  I joined a club where my sister was playing and I loved the culture and environment of Rugby League and putting your body on the line for your team mates and it’s that bond that you don’t get in other sports.”

Leeds Rhinos Sporting Director Ian Blease said: “I would like to welcome Georgia to the club and thank our board for their support in making the deal possible.  Lois Forsell has done a great job in spotting Georgia’s talent and making the move possible, which underlines our vision to bring talent to the women’s squad from all over the world.”

Leeds Rhinos Women’s head coach Lois Forsell said: “We are really pleased to have been able to recruit Georgia to our squad.  She is a very skilful player and will be a great addition to our pack. She’s excited to get going and we are all looking forward to working with her.”

Elliston is the third signing for the club following the recruitment of Lois Naidole from Huddersfield and Nicole Kennedy on dual registration from London Broncos.