Young stars rewarded as Jillaroos team unveiled for New Zealand Test
A MIX of old and new will don the green and gold for the Jillaroos when they take on New Zealand on October 13.
Women's sport
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THERE’S a slight changing of the guard for the Jillaroos as six new faces were named in the squad to take on New Zealand yesterday.
The new NRLW competition allowed young talent, untested at international level, to put their hand up for selection and their consistency has been rewarded.
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Julia Robinson (Broncos), Jessica Sergis (Dragons), Holli Wheeler (Dragons), Keely Davis (Dragons), Tazmin Gray (Roosters) and Hannah Southwell (Dragons) are all slated for a possible debut in the green and gold on October 13.
They are named alongside 12 other players who all played in last year’s World Cup-winning team.
The new competition was the perfect platform for players like second-rower Gray to work on their game and improve their performances to impress Jillaroos coach Brad Donald.
“Like our first few games, I struggled a lot with, I think I was out of my comfort zone and kind of let the pressure get to me,” Gray said.
“But for myself, I wasn’t very happy with my first game and tried to grow each game and tried to take each game as it game.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen out of the field so you have to be prepared in the best way possible.”
Gray, who is the sister of New Zealand Test winger Jordan Rapana, had to make a call last week as to whether she would play for the Kiwis or Australia.
Her decision was instantly rewarded on the back of good NRLW form. The Test match in two weeks’ time is the final event on the 2018 calendar for the women’s players who have had a long and testing season with their busiest schedule ever.
Coach Donald expects to see a marked improvement in the players he hasn’t had access to since the start of the year, but knows them shifting to his style may be a slight hurdle.
“A lot of those players have been coached by four or five different coaches throughout the year,” Donald said.
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“They’ve played local clubs, they’ve played regionally, they’ve played for their state and now they’ve played NRLW.
“To come into the Jillaroos team and have another lot of coaching staff tell them what to do, it’s going to be difficult for them.
“But overall the standard of the game is going to be much higher.”
Sam Bremner will captain the team from fullback after an impressive return to the field midway through this year.
She was named player of the tournament at the National Championship and won Country Women’s Player of the Year, as well as holding the Dragons’ captaincy.
Other experienced players like Kezie Apps, Steph Hancock and Heather Ballinger earned a call up, but there were noticeable omissions such as Queensland and NSW captains Karina Brown and Ruan Sims.
Donald said injury had impacted their form and the best 18 available players were selected for the squad.
He expected the likes of Sims to bounce back.
“We did have a good chat. I think Ru worked really, really hard to make it back for the NRLW, so she worked really hard on a couple of injuries, she couldn’t play from May,” Donald said.
“Sometimes the 60 minutes has made the game a little bit quicker for those ladies and because of the 10 interchange but I think you’ll see a bigger and better, and fitter, Ru next year.
“She’s really confident she can lift her game next year.”
JILLAROOS TEAM: Sam Bremner (C), Julia Robinson, Jessica Sergis, Isabelle Kelly, Chelsea Baker, Ali Brigginshaw, Zahara Temara, Heather Balling, Brittany Breayley, Elianna Walton, Kezie Apps, Holli Wheeler, Simaima Taufa. Keely Davis, Steph Hancock, Tazmin Gray, Annette Brander, Hannah Southwell.