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2023 NRLWahine: Round Five Preview

Four NRLW teams have three wins and all four teams feature hearty wahine from Aotearoa as round five gets underway on Saturday. Not only do Roosters, Knights, Raiders and Titans feature NRLWahine, they have at least two players from Aotearoa in their teams named this week and there is a funky Titans vs Roosters leading this weekend's action.

Titans lost to Knights last week while Roosters cruised to a hefty win over Sharks. Titans have Niall Williams-Guthrie at centre and Georgia Hale in the middle, with Hailee-Jay Maunsell named on the bench. Roosters have named Teuila Fotu-Moala at prop once again and Otesa Pule's powerful mahi off the bench may be boosted by Mya Hill-Moana who is named on the extended bench.

The other encounter of note is Knights vs Broncos on Sunday. Knights have their NRLWahine centre pair Shanice Parker and Abigail Roache named, plus Nita Maynard and Laishon Albert-Jones on the bench. Broncos have Mele Hufanga at centre, also boosted by Gayle Broughton and Annetta Nu'uausala returning to action. Broughton missed last round's win over Eels and Nu'uausala has been out for a few weeks.

Cowboys vs Sharks on Saturday has Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly on the wing for Cowboys, lining up against the regular Sharks duo of Annessa Biddle and Harata Butler. Cowboys have two wins from their four games and Sharks have just one win, despite having two of the most impressive NRLWahine of the season so far.

Biddle appears to have made a full-time shift from wing to centre and the breakdown of NRLWahine centres below highlights her exceptional mahi this season. Taniwharau junior Butler has been fantastic through the middle for Sharks, running over 100m with at least five tackle breaks in her first two games. Butler missed round three and then played just 19 minutes in the loss to Roosters, serving up efficient oomph with 7 runs - 10.1m/run and 11 tackles @ 85%.

Expect Biddle and Butler to shine against Cowboys, which could deliver a much-needed win for Sharks. The other Saturday game is Tigers vs Dragons and while Leianne Tufuga's Tigers aren't desperate for a win, sitting with Broncos and Cowboys on two wins, Dragons are chasing their second win of the season.

Dragons have Tyla Nathan-Wong and Raecene McGregor in the halves, along with the most impressive youngster in NRLW Alexis Tauaneai. Dragons had a golden point loss to Raiders last round and the 18-year-old Wainuiomata junior Tauaneai played every minute with a whopping 18 runs - 175m @ 9.7m/run, 2 offloads and 43 tackles @ 95.5%. This puts Tauaneaui third for total tackles in NRLW (138 @ 96.5%) while also averaging 151m/game.

Raiders host Eels and Eels are yet to win a game. Mackenzie Wiki is still out for Raiders, but they have namead Apii Nicholls, Madison Bartlett, Cheyelle Robins-Reti and Kerehitina Matua who was promoted to starting edge forward last round. These NRLWahine were excellent for Raiders in their win over Dragons...

  • Apii Nicholls: 19 runs - 205m @ 10.7m/run, 5 tb, 2 offloads, 3 tackles @ 60%

  • Madison Bartlett: 13 runs - 99m @ 7.6m/run, 3 tb, 1 offload, 2 tackles @ 40%

  • Cheyelle Robins-Reti: 15 runs - 123m @ 8.2m/run, 1 try assist, 4 tb, 2 offloads, 12 tackles @ 92%

  • Kerehitina Matua: 13 runs - 128m @ 9.8m/run, 1 linebreak, 10 tb, 1 offload, 16 tackles @ 89%

Below is a breakdown of the NRLWahine centres and their mahi this season...

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Annessa Biddle (Sharks - Auckland

180m/game, 92% tackling, 14 tb, 2 linebreaks

Leianne Tufuga (Tigers - Auckland)

153m/game, 86.5% takling, 17 tb, 8 linebreaks, 5 tries

Niall Williams-Guthrie (Titans - Auckland)

94m/game, 84.8% tackling, 7 tb, 1 linebreak, 2 try assists

Mackenzie Wiki (Raiders - Auckland)

82m/game, 88.9% tackling, 9 tb

Cheyelle Robins-Reti (Raiders - Taranaki)

140m/game, 85.7% tackling, 25 tb, 3 linebreaks, 2 try assists, 2 tries

Abigail Roache (Knights - Auckland)

83m/game, 91.9% tackling, 1 tb, 2 linebreaks, 4 tries

Shanice Parker (Knights - Australia)

108m/game, 79.3% tackling, 10 tb, 1 linebreak, 2 try assists, 1 try

Mele Hufagana (Broncos - Auckland)

137m/game, 85.7% tackling, 35 tb, 6 linebreaks, 5 tries

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