Sport
22 June, 2026
Life after the Broncos: Shenae in Wollongong
Oakey-raised footballer Shenae Ciesiolka is adjusting to life in a new city as she gears up for her first NRLW season outside of Queensland with St George Illawarra.
“I’d been at the Broncos for 6 years.
This was a fresh start and a new opportunity to grow and develop as a player.
With such a young team here at the Dragons, it’s a chance to pass on my knowledge, and experience at another club.
Nathan Cross, the Queensland coach, is the coach down here.
I love his coaching style and he’s one of the reasons I moved down here.
He’s very calm, very positive and easy to approach.
Playing for a new team is exciting, there’s a new mix of us who have signed here.
At the same time, it’s challenging to move away from family and friends at Queensland.
Some things which have taken time to adjust have been getting to know the club and know your teammates.
People in your home community know you but down here, I’m a new face.
There’s a lot more extra effort to get to know people at a new club.
So far, I’ve been out and about trying to network with some of the local schools and clubs to be able to be able to give back (to the community).
Wollongong has a great lifestyle and the girls here have been very welcoming.
My cousin Pypah (Ferguson) is down here, too.
Our training nights have been clashing, but I have caught up with her a couple of times.
It’s good to have someone down here that I know.
The main difference between the Broncos and the Dragons is the age of the squad. I’m one of the more experienced players here.
So far in preseason, I’ve been helping the girls doing video and extras (targeted, optional exercises) at training.
I’m trying to be very open and just let the girls know that I’m always here to help.
I’m also trying to encourage them to ask questions of their coaches and receive feedback.
Losing Origin was really disappointing.
We have such pride playing in the Queensland jersey and the Maroons colours, but we let ourselves down with crucial errors at times in the games and didn’t execute our opportunities.
Overall as a team, New South Wales executed their opportunities a lot better than we did.
Despite the loss, it’s pretty exciting to know that Queensland is in good hands.
We had a new look Queensland team this year.
Some of our younger players will still be playing for the Maroons in 10 years or so.
The schedule is definitely something we’re working on as a game.
To play Origin without any lead-in games means the quality isn’t quite there.
With the timing of Origin in the footy calendar, it’s challenging not having played since October to then playing three games in May at the highest level.
That end of the season slot is not an option either as that is when we have the Pacific Championships.
Previously, we had the BMD (Queensland) Premiership before State of Origin, which gave us the opportunity to catch up on our match fitness, going back to that could be an option."
- Shenae Ciesiolka speaking on the phone last week from Wollongong
