Todhunter was a part of the NSW Country under 19s women's team who played at the Womens National Championship in Redcliffe last weekend.

For Todhunter bonding with teammates most of who she didn't know was the best part.

"I'm actually really pleased with how we went, a bunch of girls that have only played against each other and not with each other we gelled pretty well and went really well considering most of us have never played together," she said.

The NSW Country side won their opening two games comfortably before falling 12-10 eventual runners-up the Queensland Ruby's but Todhunter knows just how good some of the players at the carnival were.

"It was good, it was a great learning experience and playing against the best girls in Australia was really good," she said.

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On the field Todhunter has enjoyed a strong 2021 and is continuing to work on her craft training with the Central Coast Roosters Harvey Norman Women's Premiership squad.

First Nation's Gems coach Jess Skinner knows how important events like the National Championships are as a pathway for Indigenous players.

"Absolutely, for us just coming short in overtime is still a huge achievement, growing our pathways for Indigenous players and for the All-stars so developing those Indigenous girls who may not have got the opportunity in City-Country selections in QLD and NSW," she said.

"We are able to provide a pathway for those girls and I think that we have done that and hopefully we might see some of those names pop up over the next 12 months in either an NRLW or State of Origin jersey,"

Skinner's side were brilliant throughout the tournament but fell just short in the final against Western Australia going down 10-6 in overtime but the coach still enjoyed her time in the competition against states who are still relatively new at the sport.

"The National Champs were amazing, it was a great week of football and I think the quality of football was there as well especially from those other affiliated states who don't have rugby league as their first sport of choice," she said.

Skinner admitted her side were exposed to some of the professional aspects of rugby league to prepare the players for a future in the sport.

"It was great competition up there but for ourselves the pathways for the Indigenous All-Stars team haven't been quite clear so this was just one of the processes that the All-Stars previously and this year want to look at clarifiying our own pathway in the Indigenous space," she said.

"So along with that we also wanted to give a professional outlook so that our Indigenous girls feel supported if they do make it to the next level and giving them a taste of that professionalism."

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