Tough weekend: First loss for inaugural women’s side as Illawarra Steelers fail to pick up win across four games
It will be back to the drawing board for the inaugural Illawarra Steelers Women’s Premiership side, as well as the junior rep sides, who all came up short this week in their matches.
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THE Illawarra Steelers succumbed to their first loss in their inaugural NSW Women’s Premiership campaign last night against the Wentworthville Magpies.
The Steelers were downed 22-4 at the NSWRL Centre of Excellence in Sydney, leaving them with one win and one loss for the season so far.
Coach Alicia-Kate Hawke said unfortunately her side just wasn’t able to stick to the game plan against a tough Magpies opposition.
“We went with the intention of trying to starve them of possession,” Hawke said.
“Unfortunately we did the opposite.
“We were turning the ball over too much and our completion rates weren’t great.
“We know we can’t be doing that against tough oppositions.”
This was the first time the Steelers had taken the field since their round one 30-16 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Captain Keele Browne scored the lone try for the Steelers, finishing in the corner after some nice right to left movement and some great running from centre Lily Rogan.
The Magpies would cross twice in each half however, with tries from hooker Sonia Mose, interchange forward Shilea-T Schaaf, as well as a double from winger Katalina Vave.
Despite the loss, coach Hawke found a number of positives going forward for her Steelers women, who are still looking to establish their most deadly line-up among the very talented roster they have.
Hawke highlighted the efforts of Kaarla Cowen as a positive from the loss, working tirelessly through the middle of the park, both with the ball and without.
Hawke also commended the debut performance of Taliah Fuimaono, who lined up in five-eighth for the first time.
“I thought she did really well,” Hawke said.
“Obviously she was beating herself up a bit with the result.
“We’re still finding combinations in the halves, we have a lot of quality players.
“She showed what she can bring to the side though … her talk was so important and she put in a massive defensive effort.”
Across the grounds, it was a tough weekend for the Illawarra Steelers in the junior reps against the Parramatta Eels.
The Tarsha Gale Cup side suffered heartbreak in the final minute of their game, conceding a late try and sideline conversion from the Eels to tie their game at 10-10.
In the Harold Matthews Cup, the Steelers were no match for their Eels opposition who defeated them 22-10.
In the SG Ball Cup, windy conditions coupled with a first half nightmare kicking performance from the Steelers put the game out of reach at 36-20, despite a second half hat-trick from winger Ethan Cliff.
For the NSW Women’s Premiership side, it is now a short turnaround before they travel up the coast on Saturday for an away clash with the Central Coast Roosters, who have started the season with two wins and one loss.
All three junior reps side also travel to the Central Coast for their matches, meaning it will be a quadruple header at Morry Breen Oval between the Central Coast Roosters and the Illawarra Steelers.
“There’s a lot of positives we can take from our defensive performance,” coach Hawke said.
“We’ll be working on our refinement in attack now for sure.
“Looking to keep it nice and simple, work on our completions.”
The Steelers still have the exciting arrivals of signings Kezie Apps and Emma Tonegato to look forward to in the future, both of whom are still working to be match ready after returning from World Cup duties.
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