Join Oscar Pannifex as he takes RLWriters lens to the 2023 NRLW competition.
Tonegato at five-eighth
Emma Tonegato enjoyed a breakout NRLW season in 2021, establishing herself as one of the premier players in the women’s game. She continued that form into the 2022 season, making her State of Origin debut for the Sky Blues and pushing Tamika Upton for the gong of best fullback in the NRLW.
A move into the halves this year for the Cronulla Sharks brought with it some questions over Tonegato’s ability to transition so quickly into such an important position.
Those questions were answered in NRLW Round 1 however, when Tonegato had a leading role in the Sharks 28-14 win over the Canberra Raiders.
Tonegato’s natural strengths lend itself to the five-eighth position.
She’s quick across the ground, holds the ball out in front and has good timing and spacial awareness. She dominated when sweeping around the second or third layer of a backline shift, but with the No.6 on her back Tonegato is now tasked with creating the space, not running through it.
In her first audition as a five-eighth at NRLW level, it’s fair to say Tonegato excelled.
Her first try involvement came off the scrum in a fullback-like scenario:
With Zahara Temara isolated one-on-one with Tonegato from the scrum here, the Raiders were always in trouble.
Holding the ball in two hands, Tonegato plays nice and direct to engage Temara before bouncing out in sync with centre Tiani Penitani.
With both players cutting overs in unison, Canberra centre Mackenzie Wiki also turns out to check her opposite number. That exposes Temara in the line and Tonegato burns her with ease to open the scoring.
Her next try involvement was more specific to her new position and again targeted Temara defending in the line:
Tonegato’s change in tempo as she takes the ball into the line invites Temara to jam in on the lead runner (11, Talei Holmes). By slowing her feet, Tonegato makes Holmes a genuine option before swivelling and throwing out the back into an overlap situation.
Jada Taylor made the most of her first opportunity at the Sharks here too. Showing her electric speed to burst through the space Tonegato created, Taylor’s subtle swerve to draw the fullback before passing suggests she has a long future in the NRLW.
Cronulla’s joy down their left edge continued when Quincy Dodd scored shortly afterwards.
Like Latrell Mitchell for the South Sydney Rabbitohs or Tom Trbojevic for the Manly Sea Eagles, Tonegato has the ability to influence a defensive line without even touching the ball.
Her presence one-off the ruck here drags the markers sideways and gives Dodd a clear passage to the try line.
Sharks Head Coach Tony Herman has clearly done a good job with this roster over the pre-season. Not content to park herself on the left edge, Tonegato was seen sweeping over to the right hand side of the field a few times in NRLW Round 1.
It’s good coaching from Herman to utilise Tonegato in different on the park and tap into her experience as a fullback.
Vanessa Foliaki doesn’t score this try without Tonegato creating the extra number in the backline:
Another nice involvement from Taylor caps off Tonegato’s work in the lead up. She’s got time with the ball in hand and uses her footwork smartly to send the assist pass through the line to Foliaki here.
A fourth and final try involvement for Tonegato in the dying stages capped off a superb start to her life in the halves.
In a familiar position as the third layer of a block-shift here, Tonegato’s soft hands beats the jamming defence to send Holmes into the backfield. Her trademark support play as a fullback is on show as she pushes up on the inside before handing Ellie Johnston a gift four-pointer.
As far as halves go, this is as good a debut as Tonegato could’ve hoped for.
She’ll receive more defensive attention as the season continued but Tonegato’s shown what she can do in an on-the-ball role.
Her combination with Taylor in particular can become a real highlight of the Sharks 2023 campaign and help them challenge Newcastle and Sydney as premiership contenders.
Head Noise – What’s living rent free in my head this week?
NRLW – Leianne Tufunga
The Wests Tigers centre might’ve landed herself one of the best gigs in the NRLW, playing outside of Losana Lutu and Bo Vette-Welsh on the Tigers left edge.
Formally a winger for the Sydney Roosters, Tufunga looked right at home in the centres last week, capitalising on the lead up work of Lutu and Vette-Welsh to score a double on her club debut.
From what we saw in NRLW Round 1, Tufunga should be some good anytime tryscorer jam this season.
NRLW – Olivia Kernick
Jase and I were both keen on the Roosters left edge this season, where Tarryn Aiken, Amber Hall and Isabelle Kelly profiled as a likely combination in attack.
But with Hall going down in Round 1 and the Roosters scoring three tries on their right edge, I’m changing my tune.
Jocellyn Kelleher, Olivia Kernick and Jess Sergis were a constant threat last weekend and could be some value in the coming weeks.
Kernick in particular looks to have improved on her Dally M winning 2022 campaign in the backrow, combining nicely with Sergis in attack.
The Roosters have strike across the park and I’m interested to see where most of their points come from this NRLW season.
Trell Mitt or Trell Myth?
One win from their last five matches has the Rabbitohs sitting just outside the Top Eight heading into NRL Round 22. They’ve conceded an average 29.4 points per game since Latrell Mitchell was injured in Round 12 and historically concede an additional 6.7 points per game without Mitchell on the field.
It’s difficult to analyse with the TV angles we’re given on the broadcast, but I’ve had a theory for a while about Mitchell’s importance defensively.
Comments from Jason Demetriou last week suggest I might be onto something:
“Our numbers defensively when he plays are a lot better than when he doesn’t play.”
Damien Cook said something similar this week:
“His numbering, his presence on the goal line helps thicken up the front door.”
We know Mitchell is a confident character and we know he reads the game well. His ability to identify a threat in the opposition backline and pull numbers towards that threat makes him an excellent defensive fullback.
The Wests Tigers 17th ranked attack shouldn’t test him too much on Friday night, but it’ll give us some idea of how Mitchell might improve the Rabbitohs defence.
Bellamy Tinkering
Another injury to Reimis Smith had already stripped the Storm of one starting centre and now Craig Bellamy has dropped Justin Olam to reserve grade for the second time this year.
In what’s been an uncharacteristic season for the Melbourne Storm, this is the latest example.
Bellamy knows the importance of combinations and cohesion. It’s uncommon to see him tinkering with his lineup so late in the season, yet here we are.
I’m not convinced Marion Seve is much of an improvement on Olam but I’m watching him with interest this weekend.
RLW Percentage Play – NRL Round 22
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Penrith Panthers v Cronulla Sharks (Saturday)