Aotearoa's Kiwi Ferns were down 4-16 at half-time against Australia on Saturday night and the dark tinge of last year's World Cup final drubbing started to emerge. Kiwi Ferns scored a try early with Raecene McGregor offering a lovely chip for Annessa Biddle to score on debut, but that was the lone highlight in an otherwise disjointed first half performance.

Kiwi Ferns had laid down their baseline of physicality by driving the Aussies back throughout the first half although they were also being rattled with the footy. Big boppers like Mya Hill-Moana struggled to dent the line, even the likes of Biddle and Leianne Tufuga were struggling to generate momentum. Passes were flying above and behind their intended receivers, let alone the injuries and head knock assessments that shuffled players around.

With a bench full of debutants and a core of classy wahine, Kiwi Ferns showcased their mana by bouncing back in the second half. Mele Hufanga scored a typically excellent try to bring Kiwi Ferns back into the contest and while valiantly stopping Australia from scoring a point in the second stanza. Despite not scoring any more points themselves and losing 10-16, Kiwi Ferns rolled out a gritty performance that now serves as building blocks for the future.

In the short-term, they take on Tonga in Auckland on Saturday before another encounter against the Aussies the following weekend. Kiwi Ferns will announce their team to play Tonga on Tuesday evening and any further nuggets from the team announcement will be highlighted through various Niche Cache channels. Biddle was in danger of missing this game after getting sin-binned late in the loss to Australia but she will pay a fine to avoid suspension.

Biddle's sin-bin was part of the almighty niggle Kiwi Ferns endured which allows for a positive twist on the loss. Kiwi Ferns had three players leave the field for HIA protocols, Laishon Albert-Jones only played 27 minutes before leaving the game and there were plenty of niggly injuries led by Raecene McGregor battling a hand/wrist issue. Having as many debutants as Kiwi Ferns had makes it difficult to win Tests against Australia but the manner in which the debutants covered different positions was nothing but admirable.

Tyla Nathan-Wong made her debut and is now a certified legend of Aotearoa footy having represented Aotearoa in five different codes. Nathan-Wong is different to the other debutants though as she has plenty of experience in big moments and coming off the bench she covered dummy half as well as stepping in for Ashleigh Quinlan as the left edge play-maker. Nathan-Wong played in the halves for Dragons alongside McGregor in NRLW and her mahi at dummy half was class, sharing those duties with fellow debutant Brooke Anderson.

Nathan-Wong played 45mins and Anderson played 48mins, highlighting their roles. Anderson offered a few dummy half runs which is always important but her tackling is the notable wrinkle here, making 29 tackles @ 100%. With Anderson and the best tackler in NRLW Georgia Hale (46 tackles @ 94% while playing all 70mins) defending in the middle, Kiwi Ferns have tough defenders who can control the middle.

The Kiwi Ferns bench also featured Najvada George, Jasmine Fogavini and Amelia Pasikala. All four bench players got 30+ minutes of footy with George (47mins) and Fogavini (44mins) joining Nathan-Wong in the 40+ minute group, while Pasikala played 33mins. George offered plenty of starch in the middle. Fogavini had to cover backline positions when Apii Nicholls left the field and along with Pasikala, they plugged holes at edge forward.

Fogavini played 77mins as a winger for Broncos in round two of NRLW before sliding back to the bench to play 30mins in one game and less than 25mins in her four other appearances. In her Test debut, Fogavini elevated that to 44mins and against the best team in the world she held things down across multiple positions.

These wrinkles stack on top of each other to build out the positive tone from a loss. As the emerging Kiwi Ferns gather Test experience, they will add to a classy core of Kiwi Ferns who will be fizzing to get a win over Australia. Nicholls and Shanice Parker are slick outside backs with Parker filling it at fullback when Nicolls was off the field. Add in Hufanga who is the hardest player to tackle in women's rugby league and McGregor's guidance at halfback for the cornerstones of the backline.

Hale continues to double-down as one of the best middle forwards in women's rugby league. Hale is joined by Hill-Moana, Albert-Jones and Otesa Pule in the forward pack as Kiwi Ferns who are quietly gaining experience at this level. Along with debutants Biddle and Tufuga, Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa looked comfortable at this level at prop. Teakaraanga-Katoa was the most powerful Kiwi Ferns forward and along with prop Hill-Moana, these two will build an enticing combo with the powerful backs as Kiwi Ferns cart the footy downfield.

Kiwi Ferns finished with 21 missed tackles to Australia's 37 and made less errors. Both tries came from nifty play as McGregor saw Australia's condensed defensive line and chipped for Biddle, while Hufanga's try came from set-play to amplify her running threat. Add in all the niggly adversity during this loss and Kiwi Ferns laid down important building blocks upon the backdrop of Aotearoa's growing presence in NRLW.

Join the Niche Cache Patreon whanau to support our kiwi sports content straight up, get a karma boost and find extra podcasts.

Every Monday and Friday we fire off an email newsletter with bonus content. Sign up here!

Peace and love.