Sydney Roosters await result of Brisbane v Warriors for shot at grand final
THEIR fate rests in the hands of the Brisbane Broncos and Warriors on Friday night, which is the Roosters must prepare this week as if they’re progressing to next week’s NRL women’s grand final.
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THEIR fate rests in the hands of the Brisbane Broncos and Warriors on Friday night, so the Roosters will prepare this week as if they’re progressing to next week’s NRL women’s grand final.
The short nature of the competition has worked in the favour of the Roosters, who appeared to have their hopes extinguished after going down to the Broncos 14-4 last Friday.
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But St George Illawarra’s 22-10 victory over the Warriors the next day reignited those chances and gave the Roosters their motivation for this week.
The two Sydney teams need the Broncos to win on Friday and the more points they put on the Warriors the better. Should they do so, it’s on for the Sydney derby on Saturday as the winner will likely progress to the decider.
As it stands now, the Roosters would need a win of 10 or more, the Dragons a win by at least eight.
If they get that chance, Roosters captain Simaima Taufa is confident everything is ready to click for her side.
“The playing group was pretty devastated with the loss we encountered with the Broncos,” Taufa said.
“We went in with that do-or-die attitude and I thought we matched it defensively really well, we just couldn’t execute a few plays.
“We’ve always had that down but not out attitude and with the Dragons winning it fuelled out fire.
“We know each week we’ve been getting better, because we’ve improved in the areas we needed to and we’ve got a lot more areas to work on.
“I believe this week, with a few games under our belt, we know we can execute those opportunities we haven’t the last couple of weeks.”
Getting past the Dragons won’t be an easy task though.
St George Illawarra were much improved last Saturday and were in full control the whole match as they disposed of the Warriors, even without captain Sam Bremner, who was ruled out with a toe injury.
Roosters players might stick around after their Friday captain’s run to learn of their fate together, then it will be a full shift into getting on top of a Dragons side that will arrive at Allianz Stadium full of confidence.
“They’ve improved and they weren’t a team that we didn’t take lightly,” Taufa said.
“The style of play they’ve been playing, it’s exciting footy.
“They’ve got a lot of star power around those edges and in the middles as well. Kezie (Apps), Talesha Quinn, Raecene McGregor, their team is full of exciting talent and we’ve got to match up for it.”
Taufa is still recovering from a medial ligament problem that has been a week by week case, but she is confident she will be right to take the field on Saturday. Centre Isabelle Kelly is also available to play after the match review committee didn’t charge her for a possible crusher tackle.
There’s more buzz around the club this week too, with it being the first time the women’s team play a double header with the men’s.
“It’s exciting times. We have the whole entire Roosters family there, men’s and women’s and all the staff,” Taufa said.
“It’s just exciting to have that presence of the men’s team there as well. It will add extra excitement to the game.
“The girls are focusing on their job right now and what they can do better to ensure we come up with the result we want.”