Botille Vette-Welsh

Botille Vette-Welsh

Personal information
Born	(1996-09-13) 13 September 1996 (age 27) Kaitaia, New Zealand
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	66 kg (10 st 6 lb)
Playing information
Position	Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2018 Sydney Roosters 1 0 0 0 0 2019 St George Illawarra Dragons 4 1 0 0 4 2020 Sydney Roosters 2 0 0 0 0 2021 Parramatta Eels 5 1 0 0 4 2023– Wests Tigers 7 1 0 0 4 Total 19 3 0 0 12 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2019–21 Māori All Stars 3 0 0 0 0 2019–20 New South Wales 2 1 0 0 4 2019 Australia 9s 4 0 0 0 0 2019 Australia 1 0 0 0 0
Source: RLP As of 29 November 2020

Botille Vette-Welsh (born 13 September 1996) is a New Zealand-born Australian rugby league player who plays as a fullback for the Wests Tigers Women in the NRLW and Wests Tigers in the NSWRL Women's Premiership.

She previously played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons Women and Sydney Roosters Women and has represented Australia and New South Wales.

Playing career

Before switching to rugby league, Vette-Welsh played rugby sevens for Macquarie University. ^[1] In 2017, Vette-Welsh represented the NSW City side while playing for Cronulla-Caringbah. ^[2]

2018

In 2018, Vette-Welsh played for Cabramatta in the NSWRL Women's Premiership and represented NSW City at the Women's National Championships. ^[3]

In Round 1 of the 2018 NRL Women's Premiership, Vette-Welsh made her debut for the Sydney Roosters, starting at fullback in their 10–4 loss to the New Zealand Warriors. ^[4]

2019

On 15 February, Vette-Welsh started at fullback for the Māori All Stars in their 8–4 win over the Indigenous All Stars. ^[5] On 18 March, she joined the Wests Tigers NSWRL Women's Premiership team. ^[6]

In May, she represented NSW City at the Women's National Championships. ^[7]

On 14 June, she joined the St George Illawarra Dragons NRLW team. ^[8] On 21 June, she made her State of Origin debut for New South Wales. ^[9]

In October, she represented Australia at the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s. ^[10] On 25 October, she made her Test debut for Australia in a 8–28 win over New Zealand. ^[11]

2020

On 22 February, Vette-Welsh started at fullback for the Māori All Stars in their 4–10 loss to the Indigenous All Stars. ^[12]

On 22 September, Vette-Welsh re-joined the Roosters NRLW team. ^[13] On 25 October, she started at fullback in the Roosters' 10–20 Grand Final loss to the Brisbane Broncos. ^[14]

On 13 November, she started at fullback and scored a try for New South Wales in their 18–24 State of Origin loss to Queensland. ^[15]

2021

On 20 February, she represented the Māori All Stars in their 24–0 win over the Indigenous All Stars. ^[16]

2023

As early as 2021, Wests Tigers Board Chairperson, Lee Hagipantelis, stated he was hoping to build the club's WNRL team around Vette-Welsh. He said, "Bo Vette-Welsh is one of those players, whether it be in the men or women's game, that draws you to watch rugby league. The way she leads that team around the park, you want to go and watch her specifically." ^[17] In July 2023, she was named as co-captain, with Kezie Apps, of the Wests Tigers in their inaugural NRLW season. ^[18] She said, "We're not here to be a number, we’re not here to just compete against clubs. We’re here to represent the Wests Tigers and do a good job at it. I think we have got all the capabilities in the world to win a premiership." ^[19]

Vette-Welsh had missed the entirety of the 2022 season with an ACL injury and played limited minutes in the club's only pre-season trial. ^[20] Six minutes into the first game, she scored the inaugural try for the NRLW team, and was said to be "enormous" as she set up another four. ^[21]

References

1. "We're for Sydney". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
2. "UPDATED TEAMS - Women's Country And City Origin". 10 May 2017.
3. "We're for Sydney". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
4. "Roosters v Warriors: NRLW Round 1 preview". 8 September 2018.
5. "Indigenous and Maori women's teams named". Sydney Roosters. 17 January 2019.
6. "Wests Tigers unveil Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership team". Wests Tigers. 18 March 2019.
7. "NSW Country chase back-to-back with teams announced for National Championships - NSWRL". New South Wales Rugby League. 22 May 2019.
8. "Dragons announce first 2019 Women's Premiership signings". St George Illawarra Dragons. 14 June 2019.
9. "Vette-Welsh named for Origin debut". West Tigers. 9 June 2019.
10. "When to watch the Red V at the World Cup Nines". St George Illawarra Dragons. 14 October 2019.
11. "Jillaroos bounce back from Nines defeat to thump Kiwi Ferns". NRL. 25 October 2019.
12. "Bo knows she has the best of both worlds". NRL. 20 February 2020.
13. "Roosters announce 2020 NRLW Squad". Sydney Roosters. 23 September 2020.
14. "Charlotte Caslick's Triumphant Debut". Sydney Roosters. 3 October 2020.
15. "NSW Women's Origin Team Announcement". Sydney Roosters. 10 November 2020.
16. "McGregor, Harden to lead talented teams". NRL. 20 February 2021.
17. Alicia Newton. "The Broader Game: Wests Tigers outline future grand NRLW plans". nrl.com.
18. "Wests Tigers announce NRL co-captains ahead of inaugural season". weststigers.com.au.
19. Billie Eder. "'A lot of mongrel': Wests Tigers NRLW captain fires up squad". The Sydney Morning Herald .(Subscription required.)
20. Jasper Bruce. "The 6am sessions that resurrected NRLW's Vette-Welsh". The West.
21. "Vette-Welsh fires as Wests Tigers create history with first win". nrl.com.