Illawarra Steelers in the hunt for finals footy across all grades as season intensifies
All Illawarra Steelers are in the hunt for finals footy across all their teams: NSW Women’s Premiership, SG Ball Cup, Harold Matthews Cup and Tarsha Gale Cup. Hear from the coaches ahead of the run home.
Illawarra Star
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IT’S been an encouraging season for the Illawarra Steelers across all competitions, from the history making inaugural NSW Women’s Premiership side to the junior rep sides.
With finals on the horizon, all four Illawarra Steelers side are in the mix to play finals footy.
Some need to hold on to their spots on the table, while others are fighting to find a pocket of space and surge up the ladder.
Check out the run home for all teams across NSW junior reps.
NSW Women’s Premiership – 1st
At the start of the season, coach Alicia-Kate Hawke said “No matter what happens, these girls are a part of history.”
Now six rounds into the season, the inaugural Illawarra Steelers NSW Women’s Premiership side sit in first place on the ladder with four wins from five games.
While recognising the terrific achievement of her girls, coach Hawke is wary of not getting complacent, knowing her team has gone from the hunters to the hunted.
“It’s a really nice feeling to have but we know that there’s five teams breathing down our neck” Hawke said.
“We’re very aware that everyone has well and truly noticed us and are coming for us.
“It’s now a matter of looking at every single game and realising how tight this competition is and that we can’t switch off for a second.”
The Steelers triumphed over the Bulldogs 22-10 over the weekend to move into first place, thanks to tries from Zali Yeo, Rose Tafengatoto, Jade Etherton, as well as Player of the Match Emma Tonegato, who was lining up in Steelers colours for the first time.
When asked about her goals for the year at the start of the season, coach Hawke said finals footy was the goal and that hasn’t changed.
“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves, we know there’s only two points between first and sixth place,” Hawke said.
“We’re very much focused on finals football, but we’ve still got a lot to improve on if we’re going to be consistent and stay up there.”
The Steelers face the Bears this weekend who sit in fourth place.
Run home: Bears (H), Mounties (H), Knights (H), Wests Tigers (a)
SG Ball Cup – 10th
The Steelers SG Ball side currently sit in 10th place with two wins, one draw and three losses to their name.
While on paper it might not sound too appetising, a whopping 54-4 win over the Balmain Tigers on the weekend could be the spark the side need to make a late surge towards the finals.
Coach Russell Aitken was pleased with the “ruthless” nature of his side’s performance on the weekend and hopes his side can carry that momentum forward.
“We respected the footy, which we hadn’t done the week before, so that really made a difference,” Aitken said.
“We probably didn’t start as fast as we wanted to, so that’s still something for us to work on and really nail in the run home.”
Aitken identified the role of second rower captain Dylan Egan, as well as some rising stars such as centre Te Umuariki Heremia-Tukere and fullback Wesley Pring as key figures within their camp due to their influence on and off the field.
“Dylan, along with a lot of the other boys, just their effort, attention to detail and willingness to learn has really impressed me.
“They’ve been a pleasure to work with.”
The SG Ball Steelers face the 12th placed Bears in a must win match this weekend.
“The key is going to be us,” Aitken said.
“When we play our brand of footy, like we did against Balmain, we can be a real force.”
Run home: Bears (H), Raiders (H), Sharks (a)
Harold Matthews Cup – 8th
It was heartbreak for the Steelers in the Harold Matthews Cup on the weekend, conceding two late tries to fall short against the Balmain Tigers 30-28.
Despite this, the Steelers are still right up in the mix for finals footy, sitting in eighth place with three wins and two losses
“Obviously not the result we wanted, a few shattered boys and a few disappointed coaches after that one,” coach Aaron McDonald said.
“Our completion rate in the second half was 51%, you can’t win a game of footy without holding the ball.
“We had probably three or four sets where we could have taken control in the second half but we let those slip with silly errors.
“They’ll learn from that though and hopefully they can learn quickly so we can ice those moments before the last few rounds.”
Before the season, McDonald identified top six as the target, with the coach believing this target is very much still attainable.
“We’ll be disappointed if we don’t get there,” McDonald said.
“We obviously hurt our chances a bit on the weekend, it’s a very tight top 10.
“We just know there’s no slipping up now, we need to perform each week.”
Run home: Bears (H), Raiders (H), Sharks (a)
Tarsha Gale Cup – 4th
The Steelers Tarsha Gale squad has been arguably the most consistent of the junior reps but suffered a nasty blow to confidence in the form of a 34-0 thrashing to the Bulldogs on the weekend.
Despite this, the Steelers sit in fourth place with two wins and a draw and two losses, with coach Courtney Crawford saying morale is high within the camp.
“Last week is obviously not how we wanted to play footy,” Crawford said.
“They’re a confident young group of girls though and I’m sure they can bounce back.”
Crawford identified centre Mia-Rose Walsh as one of her surprise packets from the season, impressed by the work ethic at training and on the field from the young gun.
“She’s pretty aggressive out on the field and her work ethic is second to none,” Crawford said.
“You can see that in her development this year and she’s finally getting the rewards out on the field.
“She’s one to watch over the coming weeks and coming years.”
The Steelers face the 11th placed Bears this week with the table hotly contested for the top four spot they currently hold, with the four teams below the Steelers on the same points.
“We’re focusing on us and making sure we’re in a positive mindset,” Crawford said.
“I think this week you’ll see the girls come out and put in a really strong defensive performance, the girls pride themselves on their defence.
“Hopefully we’ll re-find that sense of self to score some points as well.”
Run home: Bears (H), Raiders (H), Sharks (a)
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