Kiwi-NRLWahine Round Rua Preview
Round rua of NRLW is locked in for another Sunday triple-header and another dose of Aotearoa's flourishing Kiwi-NRLWahine crew. Broncos, Dragons and Eels enjoyed wins last round and while each of those teams had a Kiwi-NRLWahine in their line up, the three losing teams feature the heartiest Kiwi-NRLW presence.
Knights vs Broncos
With six Kiwi-NRLWahine named in their team and three more in the extended squad, the Knights are still the team for Aotearoa folk to track closely. No changes to the Knights Kiwi-NRLWahine crew for this weekend's clash against Amber Hall's Broncos, while veteran Lavinia Gould has been added to the Broncos bench. I'm including stat-lines for all Kiwi-NRLWahine from the previous game and although I don't include touches or kicks in these stat-lines, through this exploration there is clarity in some Kiwi-NRLWahine mahi.
Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly is a youngster in her first NRLW campaign who was generally solid in the first up loss to Eels. Stephens-Daly had no kicks as a half and had her 14 touches were well below fellow half Tahlulah Tillett's 37 touches, as well as Charntay Poko's 23 touches (playing lock). Poko also had 4 kicks which shows her skillset as a middle forward, while also providing an easy route for Stephens-Daly to level up with confidence at this level.
Also tap into Krystal Rota's mahi at dummy half. Her stats below feature general runs and when zoning in on dummy half runs, Rota had 4 runs @ 12m/DHR. That means Rota averaged 12m when scooting out of dummy half and that's fantastic, hopefully leading to more activity if the Knights forwards can roll down field.
Knights
Katelyn Vaha'akolo: 70mins, 12 runs - 112m @ 9.33m/run, 2 tb, 7 tackles @ 100%.
Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly: 70mins, 6 runs - 30m @ 5m/run, 3 tb, 1 offload, 20 tackles @ 90%.
Krystal Rota: 37mins, 5 runs - 49m @ 9.8m/run, 1 lb, 22 tackles @ 88%.
Annetta Nu'uausala: 36min, 10 runs - 91m @ 9.1m/run, 1 tb, 15 tackles @ 88%.
Charntay Poko: 42mins, 11 runs - 66m @ 6m/run, 13 tackles @ 81%.
Charlotte Scanlan: 34mins, 10 runs - 70m @ 7m/run, 1 tb, 19 tackles @ 90%.
(Maitua Feterika, Ngatokotoru Arakua, Kararaina Wira-Kohu)
Broncos
Amber Hall: 44mins, 11 runs - 101m @ 9.18m/run, 4 tb, 4 offload, 24 tackles @ 96%.
(Lavinia Gould)
Roosters vs Titans
Raecene McGregor is now a Kiwi Ferns veteran and top-tier halves option, yet she was struggling to pick up an NRLW gig. McGregor then popped up in the Roosters squad but only named on the extended bench for round tahi. McGregor then got a late promotion to the bench and enjoyed 45 minutes of footy. Now McGregor is named as a starting half and replaces Zahara Temara who started round tahi, now named on the bench. Clear rise through the Roosters ranks so far for McGregor.
Roosters
Raecene McGregor: 45mins, 5 runs - 56m @ 11.2m/run, 18 tackles @ 85%.
(Mya Hill-Moana)
Titans
The spotlight this week is on Tiana Raftstrand-Smith as I overlooked her presence in the Kiwi-NRLWahine mixer for round tahi. Raftstrand-Smith is from Auckland via Richmond Roses and was a standout junior in league and union before moving to Keebra Park High School on the Gold Coast. Rafstrand-Smith has since played for Queensland in State of Origin and this now presents an intriguing representative eligibility battle as Tiana is destined for international footy.
Botille Vette-Welsh was born and raised in Northland, before moving to Australia. Now Vette-Welsh represents Australia and with far more resources/opportunities for wahine in Australia, there is a vibe of wanting to repay that for some Kiwi-NRLWahie. Aotearoa Maori All Stars also provides an opportunity for these players to connect to Aotearoa while representing Australia; Raftstrand-Smith has followed Vette-Welsh's path thus far.
Raftstrand-Smith's vibe might be different though. This yarn highlights how Raftstrand-Smith attended Te Kura Kaupapa O Nga Maungrarongo in Auckland and she was dominating all footy in Auckland, while fluent in Te Reo. That yarn also states that Raftstrand-Smith met the Kiwi Ferns when she was 7-years-old and "resolved to make the national team". Not surprising given that Tiana's aunty is Portia Woodman and there are numerous Aotearoa sporting reps in their lineage.
With younger twin sisters (Ebony and Skye) also in Queensland, this is a fascinating eligibility saga. Nita Maynard had a similar journey to Vette-Welsh with one representing Aotearoa and the other Australia. Others like Kiana Takairangi and McGregor have spent their whole lives in Australia, then opt to represent Aotearoa. Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns should building this connection with eligible players and creating an environment that players want to be a part of as there is a World Cup looming later this year.
I'm intrigued to see Kimiora Breayley-Nati grow into her halves role with Titans. Breayley-Nati had 14 touches while halves partner Grace Griffin had 22 touches, with just 2 runs from Breayley-Nati. Breayley-Nati did do most of the kicking though and was dynamic in her few runs, providing scope to impact the game further as she settles into her mahi.
Kimiora Breayley-Nati: 70mins, 2 runs - 12m @ 6m/run, 1 ta, 8 tackles @ 57%.
Georgia Hale: 34mins, 5 runs - 48m @ 9.6m/run, 22 tackles @ 95%.
Tiana Raftstrand-Smith: 70mins, 1 try, 9 runs - 64m @ 7.11m/run, 1 lb, 2 tb, 1 offload, 9 tackles @ 69%.
(Karli Hansen)
Dragons vs Eels
Dragons
Easy mahi start for winger Madison Bartlett who keeps her spot for round rua.
Madison Bartlett: 70mins, 1 try, 10 runs - 66m @ 6.6m/run, 1 lb, 1 tb, 11 tackles @ 84%.
Eels
Same thing for Nita Maynard who will be eager to form a nifty Kiwi Ferns combo with Rota.
Nita Maynard: 49mins, 8 runs - 49m @ 6.12m/run, 23 tackles @ 85%.
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Peace and love.