NRLW news: Tamika Upton, Tarryn Aiken and Teagan Berry gunning for Dally M Medal
The race is on for the NRLW Dally M Medal and the ‘Three Ts’ will all be up there when the winner is revealed in a little over a week’s time.
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Pamela Whaley reveals her likes and dislikes from the weekend NRLW action.
DISLIKES
It’s been an issue all season but after a few warnings from the NRL, hip drops still haven’t been rubbed out of the women’s game.
On the eve of the NRLW finals it’s been brought into player consciousness as part of a crackdown.
Young Sydney Roosters forward Pani Hopoate has become the latest example, and is facing three weeks on the sidelines for a shocking one on Jasmine Peters on Saturday night.
She was hit with a grade three dangerous contact charge by the Match Review Committee, and will miss two weeks including Sunday’s final against the Titans if she pleads guilty, but she risks three weeks on the sidelines if she fights it and fails.
But she’s just one in a long list of players to face a dangerous contact charge this year as tackle techniques come under scrutiny from headquarters.
Just a few weeks ago Cowboys forward Makenzie Weale was suspended for three weeks for a hip drop on Dragons forward Alexis Tauaneai, who missed the rest of the season with an MCL injury as a result.
From nine games, 20 players have copped a charge from the match review committee, and around 13 weeks of suspensions have been handed out for a dangerous contact charge specifically.
The NRL will keep suspending until it’s out of the game, but until it’s gone players will continue to get hurt in dangerous and avoidable ways.
PLAYERS MAKE CASE FOR EXPANSION PAUSE
Change is scary, but when there’s a chorus of experienced and clever minds in the women’s game saying the same thing, we should listen.
Apprehension is growing among NRLW players and coaches about the possibility of expansion as soon as next year.
It was the same feeling before the Australian Rugby League Commission approved the growth of the game from six teams to 10 midway through 2022.
The fear is particularly strong through the teams who have now bowed out of the competition ahead of the semi-finals next week, with their main concern about the readiness of players coming into the game.
Maintaining the quality of the competition is also front of mind with the gap between the top teams and the bottom teams very obvious.
To be clear, the ARLC has not approved expansion for 2024 as yet, but an email to club CEOs across the last month confirms they are open to considering it.
Dragons skipper and reigning Dally M Medallist Raecene McGregor, as well as North Queensland captain Kirra Dibb both expressed their concerns after the last game of the seasons on Saturday night.
“[The expanded competition] went well at times but sometimes there were a few blowouts, so to say there’ll be another two teams next year is a bit out there, because with all the injuries we’ve had, we’re not the only team in that boat. Where are all these players going to come from? I don’t know,” McGregor said.
As Cowboys captain, Dibb is part of one of three new clubs who struggled as the season continued. The Raiders were the only new club to remain in finals contention down to the last round.
“We should keep it where it is, I think you can see a little bit of a difference between the top two to four compared to some of the new ones or the teams who have a little bit less experience in the team,” she said.
“We need a few more years to develop those teams before we bring in a new one, because we want to keep our quality and make sure we’re putting out a good game for our fans an ourselves and going into a more sports science side of it, there was a lot of injuries this year with the new expansion among rookies and I think we need to refine that before we look at adding more rookies to the game.”
As for the coaches, it’s unanimous.
Their first concern is expanding the squad sizes from 24.
Most clubs have been hit with a huge injury toll this season and those squads were decimated quickly.
RAIDERS RATTLED
Canberra’s worst game of the season came at the most inconvenient time as they were fighting for their NRLW season on Sunday.
They were pumped 30-6 at GIO Stadium by the Titans who booked a semi-finals date with the Roosters at Allianz Stadium next week, while the Knights will face the Broncos at McDonald Jones Stadium. Both games will be on Sunday afternoon.
The lowly Raiders’ performance was a shock considering they were playing for a top four spot in front of a home crowd, and a win by 12 points or more would have booked them a finals debut in their first year.
ROOSTERS GET CREATIVE
Millicent Scutt was the assistant strength and conditioning coach a fortnight ago but on Saturday night she did another job for the Roosters.
Faced with a big injury toll, coach John Strange turned to Scutt, who has a background in rugby union and filled in during training drills over the years, and handed her a contract.
It was her first game of rugby league, ever.
She held her own, making 10 tackles without a miss, good service from dummy half and ended with a stint on the wing in case they need her again in the semi-final.
It’s a quirky story, but if there’s anything that points to the dangers of expanding too quickly without proper depth in pathways, it’s this.
LIKES
THREE Ts
Tamika Upton, Tarryn Aiken and Teagan Berry will all be up there in the Dally M count in a little over a week’s time.
At the end of the long season with just three wins for the Dragons, Berry finished top try-scorer with 11 tries. She would have polled well in every game despite the results.
Regardless, this has been a breakout season for ‘The Flash’ who is now on the cusp of representative honours with the Jillaroos.
Berry and Upton are neck and neck for the most running metres across the nine games, too. The Knights fullback has been one of the stars of the season, proving lethal for the defending champions and helping them to their first minor premiership. Aiken has gone to another level as one of the best players in the game and topped the season with 10 try-assists for the Roosters.
HOT TITANS
Gold Coast are charging towards the finals on four consecutive wins after Sunday’s win over the Raiders.
It caps off a wonderful season for the Titans and coach Karyn Murphy, who have only dropped two games all year to the Knights and Roosters.
In another boost, they named Taliah Fuimaono as 18th player against the Raiders, surely signalling her intent to play finals footy after missing almost the entire season with an ankle injury.
The Jillaroos and NSW star was injured in round 1 and hasn’t been stepped foot on the field since.
WHAT A WEAPON
Who do we have to thank for getting Mele Hufanga into rugby league?
The Broncos centre scored another double in a 46-12 win on Saturday night and for the briefest moment was the top tryscorer of the season.
That was until Dragons fullback Teagan Berry pulled off another trick shot for her 11th try to take back the crown.
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Originally published as NRLW news: Tamika Upton, Tarryn Aiken and Teagan Berry gunning for Dally M Medal
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