Roosters down Dragons 26-0 to charge into NRLW grand final
SYDNEY Roosters coach Adam Hartigan will demand improvement and a ramp up in aggression from his charges as they chase a historic win over the Broncos in the NRL women’s premiership.
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SYDNEY Roosters coach Adam Hartigan will demand improvement and a ramp up in aggression from his charges as they chase a historic win over the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL women’s premiership.
The Sydney Roosters and four-try sensation Taleena Simon saved their best for last with their thumping of the St George Illawarra Dragons earning them a spot beside the Broncos in the grand final of the NRL women’s premiership.
Hartigan, who told his charges to “beef up” the aggression at half-time, wants it lifted even more for the grand final.
“The idea was to get better each week and we have done that,” he said.
“We just have to improve again on what we did today. It will be a great game.”
It was the first win of the season for the Roosters and set up by a first half trifecta from winger and former rugby sevens star Simon who became the first player in the new competition to score four tries.
“She had a great week in training,” Hartigan said.
“There’s a lot of instinct in that girl.
“It’s our first win. It’s our first win on our home ground, so very special for us to win it to get to the grand final.”
The match between the Roosters and the Dragons on Saturday effectively became a grand final qualifier when the Broncos thrashed the Warriors 32-10 on Friday night.
That result propelled the Broncos into the season decider as the only undefeated team in the new competition played the last three weeks alongside the NRL finals series.
It also meant the Roosters, the pre-competition favourites without a win heading into round three, could turn a disappointing season around by beating the Dragons by just two points to join the Broncos in the decider.
And they were up for the challenge, with the Roosters borrowing from the Dragons playbook from a week earlier to score two quick tries before 25-year-old Blues gun Simon made it a hat trick with just 11 minutes gone on the clock.
The Dragons, thrashed 30-4 by the Broncos in week one of the competition before beating the Warriors 22-10 a week later, paid for a mistake-riddled first half to trail 12-0 at half-time.
Simon, who only returned to rugby league from union last year, scored her fourth three minutes into the second half with NRL women’s debutant Brydie Parker over in the 45th minute and Victoria Latu scoring just before full time.
From the word go things didn’t go out way and we were chasing our tails form the start,” coach Daniel Lacey said.
“They were quality opposition. I think their quality came to the rise.”
The thrashing means the Dragons, minus injured captain Sam Bremner on Saturday, have finished last in the competition.
The season decider will be played on September 30 in the lead-up to the men’s NRL grand final at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
The inaugural women’s premiership has kicked goals with strong crowd figures - including 16,724 fans at last weekend’s Dragons and Warriors match - and drawing average television audiences of 215,000.
At the end of the competition a full review will be undertaken which will look at all aspects of the league, including the potential and risks of expansion in season two.