Congratulations to Manly young guns Ashton and Onitoni Large after being selected to play for New South Wales in the Under 19s State of Origin.
They will both represent the Sea Eagles and the Blues as part of 20-player squad which has been chosen from The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup, Jersey Flegg Cup (Under 21s) and UNE SG Ball Cup (Under 19s).
Both players played a pivotal role in Manly’s SG Ball Cup team this season which finished one win short of a Grand Final appearance.
Ashton, an agile and creative hooker, claimed the prestigious Jake Trbojevic Award for the Junior Male Player of the Year in 2026, and was also named Players’ Player in the SG Ball Cup.
Older brother Onitoni, a five-eighth who is already in Manly’s NRL top 30 squad, was also rewarded for a tremendous season, collecting the Best Back Award for Manly’s Under 19s this season.
He has played a handful of games for Manly in the NSW Cup over the past few weeks, making his reserve grade debut in the Sea Eagles’ narrow loss to the Rabbitohs in Round 11.
The GIO Men’s NSW Under 19s squad will be based at Sydney Olympic Park and will be looking to reclaim the Shield after a narrow 23-22 loss on the Sunshine Coast last year.
Men's Under 19s State of Origin Squad
North Sydney Oval, North Sydney, Thursday 18 June
GIO Men’s NSW Under 19s (in alphabetical order)
Rex Bassingthwaighte (Sydney Roosters)
Toby Batten (Redcliffe Dolphins)
Talmage Brown (Penrith Panthers)
Eddy Cayless (Sydney Roosters)
Thomas Dellow (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks)
James Finegan (Sydney Roosters)
Diesel Hagan (Newcastle Knights)
Marcellus Iakopo (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)
Dayne Jennings (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
Ashton Large (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)
Onitoni Large (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)
Carter Mareko (Sydney Roosters)
Archie Mesritz (North Queensland Cowboys)
Christopher Petrus (Parramatta Eels)
Jope Rauqe (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)
Darcy Smith (Sydney Roosters)
Ryda Talagi (Parramatta Eels)
Roman Tuaimau (Canberra Raiders)
Christian Taupau-Moors (Wests Tigers)
Toby Winter (Newcastle Knights)
Coach: Josh Jackson
