How Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns Defeated Australia And Continue The Resurgence Of Wahine Rugby League
After snaring a win and rolling out two hearty performances against Australia, Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns are officially in a resurgence. Resurgence is the key word here because Kiwi Ferns once dominated Australia, rarely losing to the Aussies between 1995-2009 and then trading wins with the Jillaroos from 2010-2017. 2016 was the last time Aotearoa defeated Australia in women's rugby league which is part of seven losses in a row as Australia ate up all the benefits of NRLW’s growth.
The 12-6 win in Melbourne was a showcase of Aotearoa wahine rugby league and further NRLW expansion is now working in favour of the Kiwi Ferns. While results are crucial in assessing any team, this win is even more notable when packaged with the 6-16 loss to Australia in Townsville a few weeks ago. Kiwi Ferns didn't concede a try in the second half of their loss and Mele Hufanga's try gave Kiwi Ferns a 6-0 advantage in the second stanza. That was followed with another dominant second half in Melbourne where Kiwi Ferns again held Australia scoreless and again won the second half 6-0.
These games offer an easy example of assessing the mana in performances and not clinging to stats. Kiwi Ferns tackled at 90.8% in the loss to Australia with 279 tackles made and 21 missed. In the win over Australia, Kiwi Ferns tackled at 79% with 268 tackles made and 47 missed. Both games featured immense defensive mana and grit to compete with Australia on every play, yet the win was headlined by defence in a game where Kiwi Ferns almost had five times as many missed tackles as Australia. The stats suggest which defensive performance was better, yet the result and eye-test tell a different story.
Both games also saw Kiwi Ferns roll through niggly adversity and this was highlighted in debriefing the loss a few weeks ago, then repeated in the win. Raecene McGregor had to take an HIA and spent 15 minutes off the field in the second half. She is the halfback for Aotearoa, perhaps the best halfback in the world, missing a hefty portion of a crucial phase. Mele Hufanga is the most exciting women's rugby player in either code and as Kiwi Ferns chased points to seal the win, Hufanga left the field for an HIA for the last 15mins of the game.
Coach Ricky Henry, his staff and the leaders conjured up sharp, creative plays to trouble Australia. This was evident in Hufanga's two tries against Australia as everyone knows that Hufanga is excessively dynamic cutting back in field from her left centre position, yet Australia couldn't stop Hufanga. Hufanga's talent is responsible for that, along with slight variations of how Hufanga received the footy from Tyla Nathan-Wong...
Kiwi Ferns had a try ruled out before the winning try from Leianne Tufuga. Both had the same general shape. First Nathan-Wong faked the short-ball to Najvaga George, passing to Apii Nicholls who slid through a gap for a no try. The winning try came from Nathan-Wong faking to Otesa Pule with Nicholls sweeping around the back and then firing a pass out to Tufuga to score.
All of which happened on the left edge. In absorbing adversity, Kiwi Ferns were able to execute their attacking shapes with different players in these positions. Pule started at left edge forward before George had a stint there. Pule finished alongside Shanice Parker, who went from right wing to left centre with Hufanga off the field.
Kiwi Ferns had Ash Quinlan on the bench and she covered dummy half, while playing in the halves with McGregor off the field. In the loss to Australia, Nathan-Wong came off the bench to dabble in dummy half and she also covered the halves. This was amplified by Brooke Anderson starting at dummy half and then playing as a middle forward with Quinlan slotting in as dummy half. Anderson is a sneaky figure in Kiwi Ferns winning against Australia as she is a rugged defender and with Georgia Hale playing the whole game as a middle forward, Kiwi Ferns benefitted from having two smaller but ruthless defenders who could chase the footy from sideline to sideline.
While not clinging to stats, Hale's stats tell the story of her mahi. Hale played all 70mins in both games against Australia. Including her 61mins vs Tonga, Hale made 130 tackles with just five missed tackles. This comes after Hale was the best tackler in NRLW by a significant margin and Hale is also the best passing middle forward in the women's game, which when packaged with Anderson gave Kiwi Ferns crisp distribution to their edges.
The talent of these wahine sparkled under the weight of adversity. George started at prop before covering edge forward, Jasmine Fogavini appeared to spend time in the middle, as well as on the right wing when Parker shifted to left centre while Tiana Davison covered middle and edge. These three were all playing in their first series for Kiwi Ferns and they offered value in multiple positions against Australia. That's bonkers, but aligned with the talent of this squad.
Annessa Biddle started the NRLW season on the wing for Sharks, before commanding a spot at centre. Biddle played on the wing in the loss to Australia before moving to edge forward against Tonga and then starting as edge forward against Australia. Biddle was joined by Tufuga, Hufanga, Parker and Abigail Roache in playing centre during NRLW and then playing in the same Kiwi Ferns team to defeat Australia.
The injection of Roache at right centre elevated Kiwi Ferns beyond Australia. Coach Henry had to shuffle his players around to fit Roache in and this unfortunately bumped Laishon Albert-Jones out of the top-17, while Parker did whatever the team required in covering every backline position. Like many of these Kiwi Ferns, Roache is as good as any Australian player and while her smooth running gets headlines for tries etc, Roache is a brutal defender.
Defeating Australia requires clinical attack and gritty defence, as well as physical domination. Whether it was a middle forward or Australia's big winger Jamie Chapman, any time they ran into Roache they were smashed. Kiwi Ferns scored most of their points across both games vs Australia down their left edge and yet Roache was brilliant at right centre.
The best thing about this win for Kiwi Ferns is that it came after Aotearoa had a strong presence in NRLW. In every pocket of this group, wahine from Aotearoa were among the best players in NRLW. Hale, McGregor, Parker and Nicholls are NRLW veterans who drive the Kiwi Ferns culture and considering the palpable mana of this group; Kiwi Ferns culture is fantastic.
Players like Anderson, George, Pule, Quinlan, Fogavini and Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa have played a few seasons of NRLW footy now. These players entered NRLW through Australian pipelines before opting to represent Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns and this is another impressive sign of Kiwi Ferns culture. Kiwi Ferns consistently attract players from Australia and welcome them into the whanau.
The most impressive thing about Aotearoa wahine rugby league is how influential players have been in NRLW after leaving local footy in Aotearoa. Hufanga and Roache made the Kiwi Ferns World Cup squad last year from their mahi in Aotearoa, before dominating NRLW in their debut seasons this year. Tufuga was played rugby union in Auckland before she entered NRLW a few years ago and Mya Hill-Moana has multiple NRLW seasons with Roosters since leaving Waikato.
Nathan-Wong offers fabulous value to Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns after switching from rugby sevens to NRLW with Dragons. Hopefully Nathan-Wong can find balance between Olympic dreams and more Kiwi Ferns footy next year as her winning experience was sprinkled all over this Kiwi Ferns squad.
Davison left rugby union in Taranaki to join Knights in NRLW, where she has back to back championships with Parker. Biddle was playing local rugby league for Otara and Counties Manukau last year, then she finished second for post contact metres in NRLW with Sharks and averaged the most post contact metres per game. Let's not forget Amelia Pasikala who suffered an unfortunate injury against Tonga and her talent is undeniable after switching from Hawke's Bay rugby to NRLW with Roosters. Let alone other youngsters from Aotearoa like Alexis Tauaneai who was the Dragons best player this season after leaving Wellington rugby.
Kiwi Ferns success stems from the sneaky Aotearoa take over of NRLW. From the elite veterans to players like Hufanga, Roache and Biddle who dominated in their first seasons, Aotearoa wahine rugby league is only heading in a positive direction. Kiwi Ferns have established a culture that attracts players from Australia with Aotearoa heritage and this culture also saw Kiwi Ferns consistently shut down Aussie attacks, while covering every position without fuss. This year feels like a celebration of Aotearoa wahine rugby league with NRLWahine growing considerably and the resurgent Kiwi Ferns showcasing their mana.
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