It’s always important to celebrate the little wins and I did just that when I connected with former Jillaroos halfback and NRLW pioneer Tarsha Gale last week.
Tarsha is one of the most decorated names in the women’s game and currently works at Fox as a caller for the 2023 NRLW season. She’s got a wonderful insight of the game and speaks with great credability and care when it comes to the growing NRLW competition.
I was lucky enough to talk some footy with Tarsha this week with an eye towards the 2023 NRLW Finals Series kicking off this weekend. We also touched on the development of the women’s game overall which I will revisit for some content over the off-season. For now though, we’ve picked out a deciding factor for each team in this Sunday’s preliminary finals…
I certainly enjoyed this one and I hope you readers do, too!
Deciding Factors
Sunday (2:05pm) – Newcastle Knights v Brisbane Broncos
The Newcastle Knights have done all the hard work to claim the 2023 NRLW minor premiership at the finish line. A big win over the Sydney Roosters in Round 8 ended up the difference and it sees the Knights host the resurgent Broncos in the first preliminary final on Sunday afternoon.
Slow to start the year, this Knights squad has developed combinations across the park as the season’s gone on. UK-import Georgia Roche has found her feet nicely and is complementing a spine that scores the third-most points per game in the NRLW on average. She’s not a highlight reel player like Jesse Southwell but has struck up a likely partnership with backrower Yasmin Clydesdale in good-ball.
I’m looking at Roche for a different reason in this one, though.
Her ability to engage a specific defender in the line and straighten the attack is key to unlocking Tamika Upton down that left edge. This action from earlier in the season is a good example.
Brisbane’s right edge unit is positioned well here but they’re stripped by the involvement of Roche. With the ball out in front and a subtle change in tempo, Roche gets at the inside shoulder of the three-in defender to create the overlap. She makes it look simple but these actions are the signs of a quality playmaker. A clean pass completes Roche’s work to get Upton into the backfield.
On the other side of the field, Upton’s combination with Southwell has been a feature of the Knights 2023 NRLW season.
Upton spends most of her time down that edge and can pull apart the defence in a variety of ways. With Brisbane’s Mele Hufanga still learning her trade in defence on that side of the field, both Tarsha and I think it’s an area the Knights will target on Sunday; “Mele (Hufanga) is still learning in defence and I think Upton can make a target of her in this one”
I’m tipping Upton can stress Hufanga without even touching the ball. Her gravity as a ball carrier demands attention from the defence and Southwell has used her as a decoy on that right edge this year to good effect.
This would be very, very difficult to defend. You can’t leave Upton with too much space but you can’t overcommit on her, either. Forcing Hufanga to make these decisions under pressure and fatigue on Sunday can be a feature of the Knights attack.
Overall, the beauty of Newcastle’s gameplan for this one is in it’s simplicity. The Knights have learned that if they stay in the grind and complete their sets, Upton can turn their field position into points from there.
The involvements of their back five are key to this. As Tarsha pointed out, “the Knights have been great at using their back five in yardage and then it’s play time for Upton to pick her moments.” With momentum generated on the kick returns early in a set, Roche and Southwell are earning multiple opportunities to combine with their star fullback down the other end of the field.
For the Broncos, they’re “stinging because they didn’t play finals last year and have hit form at the right time of the season.” They follow a similar theme to the Knights in attack, in the sense that they also know what works for them this season.
We’re going all the way back to NRLW Round 3 for this one, when Mele Hufanga scored four tries and catapulted the Broncos into premiership contention.
A few of those tries came on the back of some ruck speed or second-phase play – whenever Brisbane had North Queensland on the ropes, they’d swing it to Hufanga to throw the final punch.
Her fourth try in that game was the most promising, though.
I wrote back in Round 3 that we should be seeing Hufanga in this shape almost every week, and for the most part we have. As Tarsha said, “she’s impossible to stop from 10 metres out” and has scored another three or four with this shape in games since.
As the season’s gone on, the Broncos have also learned to use their strike weapon as a decoy. Tarsha pointed out that Hufanga is an imposing figure close to the line and can put the defence under pressure without even touching the ball.
“I’m loving the variety (down the Broncos left edge). They’re using Hufanga a bit better in the back end of the season; she compresses the defence and the spaces are opening up for Julia Robinson.”
This pass option from Hayley Maddick highlights exactly that:
While the Knights spread their points evenly across the park, the Broncos clearly favour their left edge. They’ve scored 24 tries down that side of the field with the other 23 coming between the left upright and the right corner post.
If Newcastle can contain Hufanga and Gayle Broughton on that left edge, the Broncos will be forced to look elsewhere for points. Destiny Brill can ask some questions around the ruck and Shenae Ciesiolka is an appealing option on the far side of the field, but it will mean the Knights have forced Brisbane into their Plan B.
For me, that’s the biggest advantage Newcastle have in this one.
They’re happy to score from anywhere on the field and can win this game by a try or two with their defence. If Brisbane take an early lead though, Ali Brigginshaw has the composure and the kicking game to defend that lead to the fulltime siren: “if the Knights are too complacent or are slow to start, the Broncos can take an early lead and keep the foot on the throat.”
This is going to be a cracker.
Sunday (4:15pm) – Sydney Roosters v Gold Coast Titans
I’ve mentioned a few times throughout the 2023 NRLW season that the Sydney Roosters are their own biggest opposition in this premiership race.
A stacked squad and some brilliant coaching from John Strange has the Roosters in prime position to claim the silverwear in two weeks time, but first they’ll need to get past the Gold Coast Titans on Sunday.
As Tarsha noted, there is “strike power everywhere” in this Roosters lineup.
I could’ve covered the involvements of Tarryn Aiken every single week throughout the regular season given the form she’s displayed in a Roosters jumper this year. With five tries and 10 assists from nine games this year, Aiken has comfortably been the most productive playmaker in the NRLW.
She can’t do it all on her own, though. The involvements of hooker Keeley Davis are key to getting the most out of Aiken in attack.
“She’s an X-factor,” as pointed out by Tarsha, “with a good little kicking game and some nice deception from behind the ruck who reads the game smartly.” Her ability to identify ruck speed and get the ball to where it needs to go has helped Aiken light up the stats sheet all season.
It’s Shawden Burton in for Davis at dummy-half here but the principle is the same; generate a quick play-the-ball and get Aiken over the advantage line at a static defence:
Thanks to the ruck speed created by Mille Boyle, Aiken has an acre of space to work with here. She takes a few steps straight towards the defence before bouncing out and throwing long to Isabelle Kelly, who’s too strong for Destiny Mino-Sinapati to bring down. A smart pass back inside to Brydie Parker does the rest.
It’s as simple as that for the Roosters in this one; get the Titans rolling backwards and play from behind the ruck. If Davis “gets a quick play-the-ball, she can scoot out and allow Aiken to get over the advantage line.”
From there, that left edge is key. Kelly (five tries, six assists), backrower Otesa Pule (five tries, two assists) and winger Mia Wood (four tries from four games) have all proven capable of cashing in thanks to the work of Aiken on their inside.
There are threats across the park for the Roosters (backrower Olivia Kernick has one try and six assists on the right edge) but they can win this one down their left hand side.
While it’s by no means a simple task, the Gold Coast Titans will know where the traffic is coming from on Sunday and can prepare accordingly. It’s difficult to contain Aiken when she’s running downhill, but if the Titans can consistently win the ruck it will limit Aiken’s time on the ball.
As Tarsha observed, the best way to contain a playmaker like Aiken is “to win the tackle one before she gets the ball. Slow down the ruck so you can get up off your line quickly, work hard from the inside and cut down her time and space.”
Thankfully for the Titans, they have the forwards to do just that.
In Shannon Mato, Jessika Elliston and Georgia Hale, the Gold Coast Titans employ the best starting middle trio in the NRLW.
All three have played big minutes in every game so far this year and have been putting up tremendous numbers throughout the regular season. Elliston (133 average run metres), Mato (185m) and Hale (101m to go with 402 tackles for just three misses) are all leading players in their respective positions.
This passage from NRLW Round 2 highlights the influence of the Titans middle forwards in attack:
Hale provides the tip option to get Elliston wide of the ruck here. She pumps her legs through the tackle to chew up the post-contact metres before winning a quick play-the-ball here. With two players on the ground as she gets to her feet, Elliston gives Sienna Lofipo an age to play with on the following tackle. We shouldn’t judge this action by the poor kick on the end of it – this is a blueprint for how the Titans can play on Sunday.
In good-ball, this try from the same game highlights the gravity that Mato and Elliston have with the ball in hand:
The Broncos defenders sit on their heels when Mato takes possession. They can’t slide off her until she passes and Ali Brigginshaw is punished for her indecision here.
The Roosters are unlikely to give the Titans opportunities like this through their middle in good-ball. They work hard from the inside and defend well as a unit on their line. They’re not going to win all their tackles though, and it’s when Elliston or Mato win a quick play-the-ball that Lauren Brown can come into the attack.
She’s a natural dummy-half but has kicked the Titans scoring average up from 12.3 points per game to 25 in the last four weeks since shifting to halfback. She knows what shapes work for her and, more importantly, what shapes work for left centre Jaime Chapman.
Just as with Mele Hufanga at the Brisbane Broncos, this shape is perfectly designed for a player of Chapman’s qualities. Big, fast and mobile, she’s not going down one-on-one in areas like this. If the Titans are to threaten the scoreboard, I’m tipping the points to come through Brown and Chapman on the back of an Elliston or Mato play-the-ball.
All the form points towards a comfortable win for the Roosters but finals footy is a different beast. Defence wins premierships and the Titans have been one of the best defensive sides in the NRLW this season. They don’t have the attack to go with Sydney but if they can limit them to 12 or 18 points, they can keep this one interesting.