Round 3: Broncos v Dragons NRLW preview
The NRLW heads to Commbank Stadium on Sunday as the competition front runners battle it out to see who can remain undefeated as the St George Illawarra Dragons take on the Brisbane Broncos in the first of Sunday's double header.
A week of drying out, was probably what was required for the St George Illawarra Dragons following their 10-0 victory over the Parramatta Eels in conditions where torrential doesn't describe the force and amount of velocity of the rain that came down.
It's not fair to judge the Dragons on their performance last week given the atrocious conditions in the second half, although there is some concern around their attack given the Red ‘V's dominance of possession and territory early on in the contest. The concern for coach Jamie Soward will be the fact that the Dragons only managed one try during that dominance (in much much better conditions to the second half) and that came off a Parramatta error.
The Dragons have been forced into two changes with suspensions to Kody House for a shoulder charge and winger Madison Bartlett for biting, with both players missing this contest. Though those losses are counter-balanced by the returns of Kezie Apps and Jaime Chapman for injury which forces a rejig to the side with Apps returning to the second row and Chapman into the centres. A replacement for Bartlett will be known later in the week.
Dominance was order of the day for Brisbane yet again as they scored a comfortable 28-10 victory over the Knights who challenged the Broncos from start to finish in dryish conditions compared to the rest of the day at WIN Stadium.
The Broncos were given a fight early on by the Knights who managed to break the Brisbane goalline defence first only to have it denied by the bunker. The Broncos managed to show their class and experience from that point on as they grew a healthy but not fully comfortable lead as the Knights looked to come back late in the contest as the Brisbane started to get fatigued. Thankfully for the Broncos they saw off the Knights to score another big win.
Star back Julia Robinson could make her return from injury having been named in the extended squad whilst the only definite change made by coach Kelvin Wright at this stage is veteran Lavinia Gould has lost her spot on the bench, with Toni Hunt likely to debut as a replacement. Some questions remain over Kaitlyn Phillips who left the field injured last week but is named in the 17.
Last meeting: Round 2 2020 - Dragons 4 Broncos 18
Who to watch: Dragons halfback Rachael Pearson starred last week for the Red ‘V' after a very solid and controlled game in tough conditions last week. Scoring all 10 of the Dragons points, the number 7's control of the game will be important coming up against the number one team of the competition.
Broncos centre Shenae Ciesiolka has been a star for Brisbane this season with her combination play with both winger Emily Bass and fullback Tamika Upton causing issues for her opponents. A former Australian Rugby 7s player, Ciesiolka has the ability to cause her own issues and the Dragons will need to keep an eye on her to shut down what could be some very dangerous combination play.
The favourite: As with any NRLW game they're in, Brisbane are better backed.
My tip: The Broncos will be hard to beat as per normal and think that they have enough class to beat the Dragons. The Red ‘V can match it with the Broncos for the most part and if they hold their ground early then it could be a very tight contest. Broncos by 8.
