Live stream replay: Tarsha Gale Cup, Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs
Canberra have notched their first win of the Tarsha Gale Cup and they did it in the most thrilling of fashion. WATCH the replay of their epic encounter with the Bunnies.
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Canberra have pulled off a miraculous comeback to beat the Rabbitohs 16-14 and win their first game of the Tarsha Gale Cup campaign.
The Green Machine rolled the dice, opting to run the ball when they trailed by two points with 20 seconds to go, but fortune favoured the brave with Tikirah-Ann Douglas flying over as the full-time hooter sounded.
WATCH THE REPLAY IN THE PLAYER ABOVE
The Rabbitohs were on course for their first win of the season when Lillah Hoffman took an intercept barely a minute into the second half before sprinting 60 metres to put the Redfern side up 14-0.
From that point it was all the Raiders with Alanna Dummett, Hunter Ings and April Downey crossing over.
Makayla Morris was given three tough conversion attempts, however, with the Raiders halfback unable to guide the ball between the sticks leaving her side down 14-12 with three minutes remaining.
The Bunnies tried to slow the match down, but the Raiders kept coming and earnt a penalty 10 metres out with 20 seconds left until full time.
Canberra took the tap and spun the ball to the left where Douglas sprinted on to a pass to score the match winner – the Raiders winning 16-14.
The @RaidersCanberra have come from 14-0 down to win their first game of the Tarsha Gale Cup season right on the full-time hooter, beating South Sydney 16-14.
— Dylan Arvela (@dylanarvela) March 12, 2022
Three, two, one… #UpTheMilk! pic.twitter.com/RHTIoqfxUd
Raiders coach Josh Hardy said he wanted his side to go for the four-pointer in the dying stages, adding the side “didn’t come all the way from Canberra for a draw”.
“I had no doubt that we could come away with the points if we really wanted to move on,” Hardy told The Daily Telegraph.
“It’s been the story of our season, we can score points at will, but we keep having errors so when we hold onto the ball we can compete with anyone.
“We talked all week about minimizing our errors and in the first half we just weren’t up to scratch.
“We had two opportunities at their line and that was it, they had the ball in our red zone for the rest of the first half so to be down by eight [at half time] wasn’t too bad considering the amount of ball they had.”
The Raiders play Wests Tigers in Camden next weekend, while the Bunnies will meet the Panthers in Windsor.
MATCH PREVIEW: Raiders timely fight for NRLW recognition
The drive of the Canberra Raiders in the Tarsha Gale Cup has only intensified calls for an NRLW expansion in the nation’s capital.
For the girls in green, the under-19 competition feels like an “end point” with players having to pick up their lives and move if they want to fulfil their rugby league dream.
The outlook for the local Canberra and country athletes who aren’t in a position to commute or move to Sydney is to join a Harvey Norman Premiership side, but the Raiders are hopeful their bid to field a NRLW team will be granted license provision from the NRL.
The green machine will meet Cup newcomers South Sydney this weekend as both sides chase their first win of the season in a match exclusively live streamed by News Corp.
Travelling seven hours from Albury to Canberra three times a week shows how determined Tarsha Gale powerhouse-lock Jaxan Blackhall is to play rugby league.
But the 19-year-old said the Tarsha Gale feels like the end of the road without a local pathway to the NRLW.
“Tarsha Gale is an amazing opportunity and very professional but sometimes it does feel like an end point because afterwards the highest rep side in the area is the Monaro competition which only plays two games,” Blackhall told The Daily Telegraph.
“Not just for me but for all the girls, the possibility of an NRLW team is really exciting. It opens up a lot of opportunities for girls coming through.”
“It makes Tarsha Gale a pathway, not an end game for us Raider’s girls and will give us something to strive towards.”
The sports management student and NRL Development Officer said she dreams of donning a green NRLW jersey and it would make her commitment “really worthwhile.”
“Playing for the raiders is an opportunity to show other country kids that you can have a crack in the higher competitions,” Blackhall said.
“It’s a lot of travel and a huge commitment but we make it possible. And having an NRLW side would make it all really worthwhile.”
“I have my sights on the NRLW and pulling on the Raider’s jersey mean a lot. The club has been so amazing to me and I know all of us girls have a great appreciation for the Raiders.”
Raider’s Tarsha Gale Coach Josh Hardy said he hopes his Tarsha Gale girls in their final year of the competition won’t have to take the jersey off.
“We’ve got a good junior base down here, we’ve had Tarsha gale for a good five years and we’re progressing every year so it would be very important to keep these girl progressing through the raiders system and wearing green in the future,” Hardy told The Daily Telegraph.
“I think there’s a lot of girls that are hoping they can be the first group of girls to wear green for the Canberra raiders if the NRLW team’s bid was successful next year.”
“The girls understand the importance of the jersey and are very proud to run it out in green as a raiders and I hope they can keep wearing it.”
Hardy said he is prepared for “a good match up” against South Sydney as the green machine girls chase their first win for the season.
“I think the Rabbitohs are pretty similar to us, they’ve been playing really well in patches and a few errors have cost them in the game but we’re in the same boat,” he said.
“We’ve put some good performances on the board but just in small patches so we now we need to put the pressure on for the full 60 minutes.”
Originally published as Live stream replay: Tarsha Gale Cup, Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs
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