NRLW Tackle: Newcastle Knights double-header exposes damning disparity in women’s game
Newcastle gave a brilliant glimpse into why double-headers with NRL games work for the women’s game. But for most NRLW clubs, playing double-headers isn’t a reality.
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Pamela Whaley reveals her likes and dislikes from round 6 of the NRLW season in The Tackle.
ROUND 6 LIKES
BRONCOS CHASING
Brisbane are now on the hunt for a top four finish after their massive 40-8 win over Canberra on Sunday afternoon.
It was essentially a four-point win for the Broncos who now sit outside the top four by just one win with three rounds to go.
Skipper Ali Brigginshaw and halves partner Gayle Broughton were on fire, between them setting up and scoring four tries, but their fingerprints were all over the dominant win.
Brigginshaw was taken off late with a broken nose, but passed her head injury assessment, which means she’ll be free to play Cronulla next week.
They’ll then take on Wests Tigers and Dragons to finish the season and hoping for either Canberra or Gold Coast to drop another over the coming weeks to sneak into the top four.
HOT CHOOKS
They were favourites at the start of the season but the Roosters are now virtually untouchable.
They lost one game to Canberra in round two, but since then they’ve obliterated every other competition. They’ve had just 30 points scored on them in the past four rounds, but have piled on 144 and sit proud at the top of the ladder on 10 points.
They’re well-coached, have a quality squad and obviously love playing together.
And they’ll take some beating for their second title.
A NEW SUPERSTAR
Before the start of the season, this masthead compiled a list of the 30 best NRLW players. Six rounds in and it needs some revision. It was wrong.
Because Teagan Berry wasn’t included.
The 21-year-old St George Illawarra gun has been one of the highlights of the NRLW season so far and Saturday’s four-try haul against Gold Coast was just another example.
It wasn’t enough to get the Dragons the win in a 23-22 loss to the Titans, but it was spectacular to watch.
Two were tearaway tries she created out of nothing, one was gathering a grubber from halfback Raecene McGregor and another was just pure grit to crash through three defenders close to the line to score.
It all caught the eye of rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns in Channel Nine commentary.
“Have a look at that, that’s silk. Effortless. What an athlete,” he said.
Saturday marked her 20th NRLW game. She’s the highest try-scorer in NRLW history so far, with 19 tries in total and nine from this season alone.
There’s no doubt she’s being looked at for end of season representative honours too.
“She’s a little gun. There aren’t too many fullbacks in the NRLW who can do what she can do,” Dragons skipper McGregor said.
“I’m super proud of her, I feel like we let her down out there today. She kept us in that game.”
The Dragons have now won just two games and face an uphill battle to make the final four with games against Cowboys, Sharks and Broncos to finish the season.
ON THE BOARD
There were absolute scenes in the Parramatta sheds on Saturday afternoon after breaking a five-game losing streak for their first win of the NRLW season.
They held on to beat the Cowboys 16-12 at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
It’s been just six weeks but it’s been a long season for the Eels who have been thrashed on the field and off the field with injuries and suspensions, so to see them finally celebrate was heartwarming.
Coach Dean Widders has a young group of players he’s developing, but with halfback Rachael Pearson steering the side around they’ve improved greatly.
They can’t make the finals, but they can grow again over the next three games against the Roosters, Titans and Sharks.
ROUND 6 DISLIKES
FACILITIES FALL BEHIND
Once again Newcastle gave a brilliant glimpse into why double-headers with NRL games work for the women’s game.
For the second week in a row the Knights played in front of a sold out home crowd at McDonald Jones Stadium and more than 19,000 fans rode them home to a 22-14 win against Cronulla.
It’s an experience not every club can have based on the discrepancies in facilities.
The Tigers have previously attempted it for instance, but women’s players were forced to change in a marquee out the back and the rain soaked through all their belongings.
Until grounds are upgraded to meet basic standards and give equal access to sport for women, only a few NRLW teams will get the chance to feel as special as the Knights did on Sunday.
MORE HIP DROP DRAMA
Hip drops are leaking into the women’s game and it has to stop.
Tigers forward Sarah Togatuki was sin-binned for a horrible tackle on Roosters fullback Corban McGregor on Saturday afternoon. She’ll miss a week for it, but Togatuki is desperately lucky she didn’t break Baxter’s leg.
Sharks centre Annessa Biddle was also put on report for a similar tackle on Knights fullback Tamika Upton on Sunday.
She’ll likely have a case to answer with the Match Review Committee on Monday morning, but it’s a growing trend in the women’s game that quickly needs to come to an end.
Before someone gets seriously hurt.
COWBOYS FALL AWAY
The Cowboys have been rocked by injuries with Shaniah Power (foot) and winger Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly (knee) both out for the season, but they’ve fallen way off the pace as the competition wears on.
Their defensive issues were exposed in a 16-12 loss to the Eels on Saturday, which was a far cry from their 31-20 win over Newcastle back in round two.
Like the Eels and the Dragons, they also have a young side that’s developing, so the lessons are brutal but necessary as the game grows.
They now have just two wins for the season and need a miracle to make the top four, along with the Tigers, Dragons and Sharks.
BIG BLOWS FOR TIGERS
Not only is Togatuki set to miss at least a game for that horrid hip drop tackle, Kezie Apps and Rikeya Horne both failed head injury assessments in their big loss to the Roosters.
It means they’ll be sidelined for next week’s clash with Gold Coast – a game the Tigers need to win to remain a chance to play finals football in their inaugural season.
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Originally published as NRLW Tackle: Newcastle Knights double-header exposes damning disparity in women’s game
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