2023 NRLWahine: First Round Teams & Notes
Another season of NRLW footy starts this weekend and every team has an Aotearoa wahine named in their top-17. Here are all the NRLWahine named...
Titans: Niall Williams-Guthrie, Georgia Hale, Hailee-Jay Maunsell
Cowboys: Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly
Knights: Abigail Roache, Laishon Albert-Jones, Nita Maynard
Dragons: Tyla Nathan-Wong, Raecene McGregor, Roxy Murdoch, Alexis Tauaneai
Broncos: Mele Hufanga, Gayle Broughton, Annetta Nu'uausala, Tafito Lafaele
Roosters: Mya Hill-Moana, Amber Hall, Otesa Pule
Eels: Capri Paekau, Shannon Muru
Tigers: Leianne Tufuga
Sharks: Annessa Biddle, Kiana Takairangi, Harata Butler
Raiders: Apii Nicholls, Madison Bartlett, Cheyelle Robins-Reti, Mackenzie Wiki, Kerehitina Matua
The first note is about Anesse Biddle who will start on the wing for Sharks. Biddle was overlooked for the NRLWahine preview yarns whipped up a few months ago and after dabbling in NSW Women's Premiership footy for Sharks, Biddle has quickly progressed into a starting gig. Biddle was Otara's Player of the Year for the 2022 season, along with Mackenzie Wiki (Manurewa/Raiders) and Abigail Roache (Richmond/Knights).
Biddle is straight into a starting spot for her first NRLW campain and the same goes for young forwards Alexis Tauaneai and Laishon Albert-Jones. Tauaneai is named at lock for Dragons after dominanting all levels of footy over the past year, while Albert-Jones is starting lock for Knights having shifted from halves to the middle.
There is likely to be subtle differences in how Tauaneai and Albert-Jones play the same position. Tauaneai is more of a typical middle forward with mobility and power. Albert-Jones has already played in the halves for Kiwi Ferns and she has more distribution skills to help Knights shift the footy.
Gayle Broughton and Tyla Nathan-Wong also share the same position as former Black Ferns Sevens players. Broughton played fullback for Eels in her first season and now shifts to the halves for Broncos where she will play alongside halfback Ali Brigginshaw. Nathan-Wong is named in the halves alongside Raecene McGregor for Dragons, providing Broughton and Nathan-Wong experienced halfbacks to handle the organisation mahi.
Another funky nugget is the outside back group for Raiders. Of the five outside backs named, four are from Aotearoa with Apii Nicholls named at fullback, Madison Bartlett on a wing while Wiki and Cheyelle Robins-Reti are the two centres. Kerehitina Matua has a bench spot for Raiders and with five NRLWahine named, Raiders have the most ladies from Aotearoa this round.
Other players who shifted from rugby union are Niall Williams-Guthrie and Tafito Lafaele. Williams-Guthrie is at centre for Titans and Lafaele will come off the bench for Broncos, who also have Mele Hufanga locked in at centre for her first season of NRLW.
Roosters have named Alexandrea Kiriwi and Teuila Fotu-Moala on their extended bench. Both are likely to get game time this season but miss top-17 selection for the first game. Watch our for Capri Paekau for Eels as she is named on the bench and could offer plenty of x-factor scooting out of dummy half. This will be extra intriguing as the only other NRLWahine dummy half is Nita Maynard who will also pop off the bench for Knights.
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