Joint Dally M medal-winners Millie Boyle and Emma Tonegato will headline the NSW State of Origin squad set to take on Queensland next month, with the bulk of the 22-player Sky Blues team coming from NRLW premiers Sydney Roosters and grand finalists St George Illawarra.
Seven players from the Roosters and eight from the Dragons have been chosen by head coach Kylie Hilder to represent NSW, with Illawarra second-rower Kezie Apps captaining the side for a fourth consecutive year.
Hilder said there was little doubt that the NRLW's two best players would be selected for the side.
"They won those awards for reasons," she said on Friday.
"Emma had an outstanding year coming back to rugby league and she is an x-factor player at full-back there.
"Millie just did what Millie does every year, to be honest. She's been really good since she's changed over from rugby union.
"I'm really excited for both those players to be part of this moving forward."
The squad will get together for their first training session on Tuesday as they aim to win back the shield from Queensland after their narrow 8-6 loss in last year's decider, which was held on the Sunshine Coast.
One of the unexpected inclusions is Sam Bremner, who missed the NRLW season to give birth to her second child, but who has since impressed for Cronulla in the NSW Women's Premiership.
"We put her into the City-Country game a couple of weeks ago and she was outstanding," Hilder said of Bremner.
"It's not just what she brings on the field, it's what she brings off it.
"She brings the team really close and, as you can imagine in Origin, you get limited time to bring a group of players together to go and play a game."
Hilder will whittle-down the team to 18 players after the camp before the crunch-match at GIO Stadium in Canberra on June 24.
NSW squad (in alphabetical order):
Kezie Apps (c) (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Corban Baxter (Sydney Roosters)
Shaylee Bent (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Teagan Berry (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Millie Boyle (Brisbane Broncos)
Sam Bremner (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks)
Keeley Davis (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Kirra Dibb (Newcastle Knights)
Quincy Dodd (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Filomina Hanisi (Parramatta Eels)
Talei Holmes (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Caitlan Johnston (Newcastle Knights)
Isabelle Kelly (Sydney Roosters)
Olivia Kernick (Sydney Roosters)
Yasmin Meakes (Sydney Roosters)
Rachael Pearson (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Tiana Penitani (Parramatta Eels)
Jessica Sergis (Sydney Roosters)
Hannah Southwell (Sydney Roosters)
Simaima Taufa (Parramatta Eels)
Sarah Togatuki (Sydney Roosters)
Emma Tonegato (St George Illawarra Dragons)
