MONDAY'S EXPERT - 2024 NRLW Round 9

A full wrap-up of Round 9 of the NRLW with reports from our contributors and stats from Rugby League Project.

All listed times are AEST (NSW/QLD/VIC/ACT).

RELATED: See the full list of 2024 NRL Telstra Women's Premiership Draw and Results.

Cellar-dwelling Tigers upset sinking Sharks

with Luke Jobson

Thursday night saw Shark Park lit up as the Wests Tigers claimed their biggest win in their short existence with a 12-10 win against the Cronulla Sharks. 

While the Tigers were able to walk away with their pride intact, a third consecutive loss for the Sharks put their finals hopes in the hands of the Sydney Roosters - the Sharks requiring the Roosters to either win against the Parramatta Eels or to lose by less than 35 points.

The Sharks would be put under the pump early, with Holli Wheeler being sent to the sin bin for a high shot after eight minutes. It wouldn't take long for the Tigers to capitalize on the one player advantage, with Claudia Nielsen scoring her first NRLW try on the left wing to get the scoring underway. A picture perfect Losana Lutu conversion had the Tigers up 6-0 after 12 minutes.

Emma Tonegato looked like she was running away to score on 29 minutes for Cronulla, only for Lutu to knock the ball loose in a try saving tackle. That would only delay the Sharks, with Olivia Dodd spotting a massive gap off the ruck to score just left of the posts. Tayla Preston would convert as the Sharks went into half-time having the better opportunities, yet the scoreboard reflecting a tied game at 6-6.

The second half started much like the first, as Talei Holmes was marched to the sin bin for a hip drop tackle just after half-time. That said, it would be Cronulla who would score despite being down a player through Tiana Penitani. The Sharks best player by far in 2024, the captain beat two with ease to score in the left corner - Tayla Preston missed the conversion to leave it at 10-6.

The Tigers replied with 19 minutes left, as Brooke Talataina dived over from dummy half to tie the game up. A Pauline Pilae-Rasabale conversion would give the Tigers a 12-10 lead with just over 15 minutes left.

Georgia Hannaway would run roughshot over the last stanza for Cronulla, breaking the line to have no support alongside her as one try went begging. Ellie Johnston thought she had the game-winner seven minutes from time, only for the Bunker to intervene and take it away. The Sharks threw everything at a desperate Tigers line, only for the joint venture to end up with a 12-10 win.

The Sharks, results pending, will be heading into the finals series on the back of three consecutive losses. The Tigers, albeit consigned to the wooden spoon, will finish the season on a high and with confidence that 2025 will be much better than what has been a battling 2024.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (W) 10 Wests Tigers (W) 12
Venue: PointsBet Stadium, Woolooware / Dharawal

Date: Thu, 19th September.   Kickoff: 7:45 PM.   Halftime: 6-all.   Penalties: Wests Tigers (W) 8-5.   Referee: Karra-Lee Nolan.   

Cronulla (W): Tonegato, Staples, Penitani (C), Biddle, Ravics; Hannaway, Preston; Johnston, Dodd, Wheeler, Holmes, Byers, Anderson. Int: Hanisi, Takapautolo, Foliaki, Dymock.
Wests Tigers (W): Vette-Welsh (C), Pollard, Tufuga, Horne, Nielsen; McGrath, Lutu; Togatuki, Prior, Pio, Talataina, Clifford, George. Int: Savill, Penitani, Reinke, Piliae-Rasabale, Brown.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (10)
Tries: Quincy Dodd, Tiana Penitani
Goals: Tayla Preston 1/2

Wests Tigers (12)
Tries: Brooke Talataina, Claudia Nielsen
Goals: Pauline Piliae-Rasabale 1/1, Losana Lutu 1/1

Brisbane bury dour Dragons to secure first place

with Beth Nicholls

A second half Bronco blitz sees the Brisbane side score 40+ points for the third time this season. 

The Dragons were on top at the start of the match, but the Broncos came and conquered yet again, now having won seven games in a row.

Kimberley Hunt scored the first try of the match for the Dragons in the third minute with a floating pass to the wing, with the Broncos defenders jamming in to close. It didn't take long for the Red V to score their second just eight minutes later, with Ella Koster grounding the ball from a Kasey Reh grubber kick.

It looked like the Broncos had finally got their first, but Julia Robinson lost the ball over the line and wasn't able to add the points to the board.

After a slow start for the Brisbane side, they finally got into gear and scored four unanswered tries in the remaining 18 minutes.

The first came from Jada Ferguson who pushed over the line from dummy half, fooling all the Dragons defenders around her.

Centre Shenae Ciesiolka then scored back-to-back tries, the first coming off the back of some fancy footwork and the second just minutes later from an Ali Brigginshaw grubber.

To close out the half, winger Julia Robinson got her BLAH for the season, unable to be stopped by the Dragon defenders, taking on the line herself and running over 30 metres from the scrum set play.

The opening ten minutes of the second half saw a slow start with lots of back-and-forth, but then the Dragons got themselves another try on the board, with winger Maatuleio Fotu-Moala juggling a long ball pass, before charging over the line.

Julia Robinson looked to get another double for the season, but Dragon's fullback Teagan Berry, became a thorn in the winger's side yet again, with Robinson denied. Though, the combination between Gayle Broughton and Mele Hufanga saw the Brisbane side cross over for the first try of the second half in the 53nd minute.

Powerful prop, Chelsea Lenarduzzi, got her second try for the season, taking an inside ball from Ali Brigginshaw combined with a dummy run. A successful conversion from Mariah Denman saw the gap between the two sides push out to 18.

Finally, Julia Robinson got the double she had seen searching for, with no one able to stop her from scoring down the edge off the back of an over-the-top pass from fullback Hayley Maddick.

The Broncos weren't done yet, with Jada Ferguson taking on the line herself and getting her first NRLW career double.

Mele Hufanga looked like she had scored another in the final minute and would see the Broncos maybe see a half century with a successful conversion, however she fumbled the ball when attempting to ground it, so the Brisbane side finished with a 44-14 win.

After the Roosters beat the Eels with an 18-point scoreline, the Brisbane Broncos have secured the 2024 Minor Premiership, for the fifth time in seven seasons. They now look to the first week of finals where they play the Sharks, for the chance to play in their first Grand Final since 2020.

The Dragons season is now over, finishing in ninth place, having only won twice this season.

St George Illawarra Dragons (W) 14 Brisbane Broncos (W) 44
Venue: Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville / Wulgurukaba

Date: Sat, 21st September.   Kickoff: 1:30 PM.   Halftime: Brisbane (W) 20-10.   Penalties: Brisbane (W) 5-2.   Referee: Daniel Schwass.   Crowd: 1,224.

St Geo Illa (W): Berry, Hunt, Browne, Law, Fotu-Moala; Nathan-Wong, McGregor (C); Teakaraanga-Katoa, Reh, Bright, Lendill, Koster, Tauaneai. Int: Clancy, Hopkins, Mulhall, Hancock.
Brisbane (W): Maddick, Robinson, Hufanga, Ciesiolka, Dam; Broughton, Brigginshaw (C); Clark, Ferguson, Nu'uausala, Denman, Teitzel, Joseph. Int: Brill, Lenarduzzi, Gould, Lafaele.

St George-Illawarra Dragons (14)
Tries: Kimberley Hunt, Maatuleio Fotu-Moala, Ella Koster
Goals: Raecene Mcgregor 1/3

Brisbane Broncos (44)
Tries: Julia Robinson 2, Shenae Ciesiolka 2, Jada Ferguson 2, Chelsea Lenarduzzi, Mele Hufanga
Goals: Mariah Denman 5/5, Romy Teitzel 1/3

Newcastle sound warning after emphatic fortnight

with AJ Lucantonio

The Newcastle Knights have sounded a warning that they will be keen to three-peat in this NRLW campaign after a ruthless 38-6 win over North Queensland in the final round of the season.

Newcastle set the early standard inside the first five minutes when Yasmin Clydesdale continued her strong run of form. A short pass from Georgia Roche found her edge back-rower and the Knights set an early standard on how they'd play this afternoon. Six minutes later, rampaging forward Tayla Predebon charged across as the Cowboys goal-line defence was placed under assault in the opening fifteen minutes of the game.

Despite their best efforts, the Cowboys just could not wrestle back the momentum in this fixture. Tenika Wilson crossed for the Knights' third of the first 35 after 17 minutes and it was looking rather sketchy for the home side. Tamika Upton split her way through the edge defence before finding Wilson to score and it was 18-0. North Queensland rallied well to reduce the bleeding at half-time to just 18-0.

Despite this, Newcastle re-opened the wound straight out of the gates as Abigail Roache crossed out-wide which made it 22-0. North Queensland crossed for their lone try after 43 minutes when Bree Chester charged across to score to keep the home side in touch. Unfortunately, their game didn't improve when Lavinia Tauhalaliku was taken off with a failed HIA, the high tackle was deemed on-report and Roche was let off with an official warning.

With the further back-line changes, the Knights ran in a further three second half tries to assume a finals spot in 2024. The visitors chose to keep the ball alive, which saw Upton loft it up, over the top to Wilson to cross for a second. Sheridan Gallagher also added in a double, this one was in the space of three minutes and both stroll-over efforts for the winger.

North Queensland will accept that 2024 was a marked improvement on their inaugural season in the NRLW and Ricky Henry has some work to do to continue improvement. A permanent base in Cairns will give the side some strength in pathways, which is important as further expansion threatens rosters.

North Queensland Cowboys (W) 6 Newcastle Knights (W) 38
Venue: Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville / Wulgurukaba

Date: Sat, 21st September.   Kickoff: 3:15 PM.   Halftime: Newcastle (W) 18-0.   Penalties: Newcastle (W) 7-4.   Referee: Belinda Sharpe.   

North QLD (W): Goldthorp, Blackwell, Whitfeld, Peters, Tauhalaliku; Tillett, Dibb (C); Peacock, Manzelmann, Banu, Power, Long, Chester. Int: Harden, Faifua, Mooka.
Newcastle (W): Upton, Gallagher, Parker, Roache, Willison; Roche, Southwell; Predebon, Higgins, Karpani, Albert-Jones, Clydsdale, Southwell (C). Int: Jones, Romaniuk, Tinao, McEwen.

North Queensland Cowboys (6)
Tries: Bree Chester
Goals: Kirra Dibb 1/1

Newcastle Knights (38)
Tries: Sheridan Gallagher 2, Tenika Willison 2, Tayla Predebon, Yasmin Clydsdale, Abigail Roache
Goals: Jesse Southwell 5/7

Raiders pip Titans in dead rubber

with Tim Costello

Canberra have finished the season with a win on Sunday, downing the Gold Coast 16-12 in the first match of a double header at Parramatta.

The Raiders started hot with experienced forward Monalisa Soliola opening the scoring in the first minute, and by the 15 minute mark, fullback Apii Nicholls extended the lead, Zehara Temara's conversion giving Canberra a 10-0 start.

In the shadows of halftime the Titans clawed back briefly, with Sarina Masaga on the board at 33 minutes. Unconverted - as all three of her side's tries would be for the day, the halftime margin was 10-4 to the Raiders.

Seven minutes after the break, Ash Quinlan pushed the lead out to 16-4 with a try, and Zehara Tamara's conversion - bringing up her 200 points in the NRLW, the first player to do so - meant the "home" team for the day was well poised to collect the two points.

With 18 minutes remaining Taliah Fuimaono got the Titans' second - Lailani Montgomery missing this conversion. A late surge from the "away" side saw Sienna Lofipo score a late try, closing the margin to 16-12 inside the final five minutes, but her own missed conversion and the subsequent four minutes seeing no more points scored.

The result means Canberra finish 7th, leapfrogging the Titans on for-and-against.

Canberra Raiders (W) 16 Gold Coast Titans (W) 12
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Parramatta / Burramattagal

Date: Sun, 22nd September.   Kickoff: 1:30 PM.   Halftime: Canberra (W) 10-4.   Penalties: Gold Coast (W) 6-4.   Referee: Luke Saldern.   

Canberra (W): Nicholls-Pualau, Bartlett, Robins-Reti, Wuruki-Hosea, Tungai; Temara (C), Quinlan; Kemp, Temara, Holyman, Soliola, Dodd, Taufa. Int: Barnes, Faleono, Pasikala, Quinlan.
Gold Coast (W): Pelite, Grey, Chapman, Masaga, Brown; Fuimaono, Montgomery; Lofipo, Breayley-Nati, Elliston, Canfield, Bent, Hale (C). Int: Mato, Kolc, Clarke, Perese.

Canberra Raiders (16)
Tries: Apii Nicholls, Ashleigh Quinlan, Monalisa Soliola
Goals: Zahara Temara 2/3

Gold Coast Titans (12)
Tries: Taliah Fuimaono, Sienna Lofipo, Sarina Masaga

Roosters minor premiership tilt falls short, Eels out

with Josh Robertson

The Sydney Roosters have seen the opportunity for a second NRLW Minor Premiership slip through their fingers as they could only manage a 32-18 victory over the Parramatta Eels.

Needing a 20 point win, the Roosters couldn't have asked for a better start when Sam Bremner opened the scoring in the first minute. The Roosters looked on song early as they were racing the clock opening a 12-0 lead after as many minutes when Mia Wood got over.

The Eels found their grit they've shown all season to bring the margin back to six points when Mahalia Murphy scored and it was converted. The Tricolours quickly extended the lead back to 12 when Olivia Kernick scored.

Knowing they needed to win by at least 20, the Roosters wanted to but couldn't shake the Blue and Gold in the second half as Zali Fay scored early in the second half to get the Eels back into the contest and close the gap after the conversion.

The Roosters scored three tries in quick succession when they were able to score through Sam Bremner, Amber Hall and Jayme Fressard scoring which helped the Roosters to the magical 20 point margin they needed. Unfortunately, wayward goal kicking saw Jocelyn Kelleher only kick one of the three.

Inside the final ten minutes, the Eels popped the Roosters hope balloon when Rosemarie Beckett scored and Rachael Pearson converted to get the scores back to 32-18. The Roosters couldn't push the margin back to the needed twenty.

The Roosters go into the finals series with a big cloud over them though with Isabelle Kelly suffering what looked to be a serious arm injury early in the second half.

Parramatta Eels (W) 18 Sydney Roosters (W) 32
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Parramatta / Burramattagal

Date: Sun, 22nd September.   Kickoff: 3:15 PM.   Halftime: Sydney (W) 18-6.   Penalties: 4-all.   Referee: Zbignew Przeklasa-Adamski.   Crowd: 1,425.

Parramatta (W): Church, Fay, Owen, Kelly, Donovan; Tohi-Hiku, Pearson; Albert, Todhunter, Jones, Jackson, Murphy (C), Eales. Int: Beckett, Amiatu, Fonua, Tui.
Sydney (W): Bremner, Fressard, Strange, Kelly (C), Wood; Parker, Kelleher; Elliott, Davis, Pule, Hall, Kernick, Davison. Int: Papalii, Hopoate, Naividi, Hill-Moana.

Parramatta Eels (18)
Tries: Mahalia Murphy, Zali Fay, Rosemarie Beckett
Goals: Rachael Pearson 3/3

Sydney Roosters (32)
Tries: Samantha Bremner 2, Olivia Kernick, Jayme Fressard, Amber Hall, Mia Wood
Goals: Jocelyn Kelleher 4/6

Final 2024 ladder

RELATED: Click here to view the current NRL Telstra Women's Premiership ladder.

RLP stats leaders

TOP TRYSCORERS

TOP GOALKICKERS

TOP POINTSCORERS

Player of the year update

16 points - Tamika Upton (Knights)
10 points - Tiana Penitani (Sharks)
9 points - Kennedy Cherrington (Eels)
8 points - Teagan Berry (Dragons)
7 points - Isabelle Kelly (Roosters), Olivia Kernick (Roosters), Julia Robinson (Broncos), Elsie Albert (Eels), Evania Pelite (Titans), Simaima Taufa (Raiders), Hayley Maddick (Broncos), Rachael Pearson (Eels)
6 points - Alexis Tauaneai (Dragons), Tarryn Aiken (Roosters), Jocelyn Kelleher (Roosters), Zahara Temara (Raiders), Kirra Dibb (Cowboys)
5 points - Jakiya Whitfeld (Cowboys), Jessica Sergis (Roosters), Georgia Hale (Titans), Lauren Brown (Titans), Sheridan Gallagher (Knights), Chelsea Lenarduzzi (Broncos), Quincy Dodd (Sharks)
4 points - Annessa Biddle (Sharks), Ellie Johnston (Sharks), Stacey Waaka (Broncos)
3 points - Romy Teitzel (Broncos), Tiana Raftstrand-Smith (Cowboys), Talei Holmes (Sharks), Emma Tonegato (Sharks), Hannah Southwell (Knights), Grace Kemp (Raiders), Tahlulah Tillett (Cowboys), Sam Bremner (Roosters), Lilly-Ann White (Knights), Rebecca Pollard (Wests Tigers), Jada Ferguson (Broncos), Shenae Ciesiolka (Broncos), Ali Brigginshaw (Broncos), Brooke Talataina (Wests Tigers), Mele Hufanga (Broncos)
2 points - Christian Pio (Wests Tigers), Lavinia Tauhalaliku (Cowboys), Brooke Anderson (Sharks), Tafito Lafaele (Broncos), Otesa Pule (Roosters), Keilee Joseph (Broncos), Madison Bartlett (Raiders), Rory Owen (Eels), Abigail Roache (Knights), Angelina Teakaraanga Katoa (Dragons), Amber Hall (Roosters), Yasmin Clydsdale (Knights), Abbi Church (Eels)
1 point - Apii Nicholls (Raiders), Tayla Predebon (Knights), Sarina Masaga (Titans), Sarah Togatuki (Wests Tigers), Mahalia Murphy (Eels), Olivia Higgins (Knights), Shanice Parker (Knights), Kezie Apps (Wests Tigers), Shannon Mato (Titans), Laishon Albert-Jones (Knights), Jesse Southwell (Knights), Rosemarie Beckett (Eels), Mackenzie Wiki (Raiders), Millie Elliott (Roosters), Tess Staines (Wests Tigers), Jasmine Peters (Cowboys), Sophie Holyman (Raiders), Rikeya Horne (Wests Tigers), Lily Peacock (Cowboys), Raecene Mcgregor (Dragons), Emily Bass (Titans), Tazmin Rapana (Broncos), Ash Quinlan (Raiders)