Illawarra Steelers women on verge of historic double grand final qualification
Never before have the same club competed in grand finals in the same year in the NSW Women’s Premiership and Tarsha Gale Cup. Here’s how the Illawarra Steelers can be the first to do it.
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The women of the Illawarra Steelers are looking to make history by securing a double qualification to next week’s grand finals.
Both the Steelers’ Tarsha Gale Cup and NSW Women’s Premiership teams are gearing up for semi-final battles this weekend, looking to create history by becoming the first club to have teams qualify for grand finals in both competitions in the same year.
The NSW Women’s Premiership side have been creating history all year in their inaugural season in the competition, so to cap off this historic run with a maiden grand final berth would be something special.
For the Tarsha Gale Cup side, they’ll be looking to qualify for their first grand final since 2019, in which they were ultimately triumphant against the Newcastle Knights.
So what will it take for the sides to make the historic double qualification?
NSW Women’s Premiership
It’s been quite the journey for the inaugural NSW Women’s Premiership Steelers this year, picking up wins in seven out of their ten games prior to finals this season.
Coach Alicia Kate-Hawke has been spoiled for choice when it comes to team selection with the sea of talented players at her disposal, leading to a heavy rotation of players week to week.
One of the mere three players to have played in every game this season is prop forward Viena ‘V’ Tinao.
Tinao joined the Steelers after playing for the Mounties in the 2022 season and has grown massively as a player in the scarlet and white.
“I feel like I’m improving in some way every week,” Tinao said.
“Hopefully I can take that approach going forward and keep getting better.”
Tinao was Player of the Match in the Steelers’ 28-8 win over the Wests Tigers last weekend that crucially secured them a spot in the finals.
The 21-year-old proved too tough to handle, busting her way over the line for her first try of the season in her side’s victory.
Looking ahead to this weekend, the Steelers come up against the Bulldogs in their semi-final, having defeated them 22-10 in their first meeting earlier in the season.
“We’re all at the stage now where we know our own job individually and that’ll make the team work together,” Tinao said.
“I feel our strength is coming through the middle.
“We get to our points and that makes it easier for our outside backs to do their jobs.”
One such outside back who has been crucial to the Steelers’ point scoring this season is Lily Rogan, a centre who has shown versatility throughout this campaign, jumping into the fullback role when needed.
“I think we’re trying to cut out small errors in our game that aren’t being forced,” Rogan said.
“We’re doing a lot of things well, but I feel like we’re constantly thinking about the things we haven’t done well and trying to improve them.
“Once we play our game though, we’ll be unstoppable.”
The Steelers semi-final clash with the Bulldogs is set to take place at Leichhardt Oval at 12:45pm Sunday.
Tarsha Gale Cup
Four wins and a draw from eight games was enough for the Steelers to qualify for finals on a congested Tarsha Gale Cup ladder.
Now the Steelers face a mighty test in their semi-final as they too face the undefeated Bulldogs, where unlike their NSW Women’s Premiership counterparts, they were on the wrong side of the 34-0 scoreline in their meeting earlier in the year.
Despite this, morale around Steelers camp is high coming into the game, with second-rower Chelsea Ahio believing her side can make a statement victory against the Canterbury heavyweights on the weekend.
“I think we’ll put a big focus on sticking to our game plan,” Ahio said.
“It’s not about scoring on every play.
“It’s more about being patient and doing what we’ve been told, and eventually we’ll work our way through the pack.
Ahio has been a massive contributor to the success of the Steelers this season, scoring an impressive six tries which is second only to Mia-Rose Walsh.
Even more impressive is her position transition from centre to second-row where she has been finding her groove in recent weeks.
“It’s a huge change, I thought I was going to be terrible, but it’s fun to learn something different.
“I’ve definitely had to step up my game this year, especially being one of the eldest in the team.
The Steelers have already proved they can improve on early season performance, defeating the Parramatta Eels 20-4 in the first week of finals, having tied 10-10 with them earlier in the year.
“We played our game really well on the weekend, especially after a really tough first half, Ahio said.
“It felt like we were running uphill, but everything gelled in the second half.
“We’re confident we can keep that second half form going into this weekend.”
The Steelers go up against the undefeated Bulldogs at Leichhardt Oval at 10am Saturday.
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