NRLWahine Spotlight: Round One Basic Breakdown
NRLW footy starts tonight with Knights hosting Roosters and there is a steady flow of NRLWahine from Aotearoa named across the teams for the opening round. The NRLWahine Spotlight will highlight players each week in similar fashion to the Kiwi-NRL Spotlight but this yarn is here to roll through the basics of Aotearoa's growing presence in NRLW.
Tyla King and Stacey Waaka aren't named for Dragons and Broncos respectively as they are busy at the Paris Olympics with Black Ferns Sevens. Former Black Fern Pia Tapsell is on the extended bench for Sharks so she is unlikely to play against Cowboys, although Tapsell is starting at prop for Sharks in the New South Wales Women's Premiership.
We are also tracking NSW Women's Premiership footy as there are plenty of young wahine from Aotearoa growing in what is essentially a reserve grade system in NSW. The quantity and quality of NRLWahine named for the opening round is bolstered by a plethora of young talent who are shining in the NSWWP, so stay tuned for more clips like these...
Knights have one of the biggest NRLWahine crews with Isabella Waterman and Grace Kukutai named in their first NRLW campaign. Waterman is on the wing and Kukutai is on the bench, joining a hearty bunch of ladies from Aotearoa who have NRLW championship pedigree.
Dragons still have five wahine without King, boosted by the selection of Maateleio Fotu-Moala who is named on the wing. If the stars align this season, Dragons could roll out six NRLWahine with the addition of King and this could be the same for Broncos who have five NRLWahine without Waaka, Tafito Lafaele and Gayle Broughton.
Lafaele didn't crack the top-17 for Broncos to start this season and the former Black Fern could command selection moving forward. Broughton must still be battling injury as she isn't named in the Broncos squad and depending on her availability, Broncos could roll out eight NRLWahine in their team - a smidge less than half of the team.
The funkiest team is Raiders who have NRLWahine in four of their five outside back slots. This is similar to last year with Cheyelle Robins-Reti and Mackenzie Wiki dominating in their first NRLW seasons, along with veterans Apii Nicholls and Madison Bartlett. Ash Quinlan is in the halves for Raiders and Kerehitina Matua will add plenty of impact coming off the bench.
Tatiana Finau is part of the extended bench for Raiders and she is likely to make her NRLW debut this season. Along with Finau and Tapsell, Tiana Davison will be hunting game time after being named on the extended bench for Roosters and Titans have youngsters Hailee-Jay Ormond-Maunsell and Matekino Kahukoti-Gray on their extended bench.
Titans only have two NRLWahine in their team to play Dragons with Niall Williams-Guthrie in the centres and Georgia Hale in her usual spot at lock. Remember that Hale made 501 tackles @ 98.8 percent last season and also averaged 106m/game after sitting below 70m/game for her first five seasons.
The most notable selection in the rest of the NRLWahine landscape is former Black Fern Rosie Kelly at centre for Eels. Kelly may line up against Mele Hufanga in the Eels vs Broncos match up which would be a tricky battle for Kelly in her first game of NRLW footy. Hufanga was second for tries, first for linebreaks and second for tackle breaks in her first NRLW campaign last year, so Kelly's defence will be challenged if they line up against each other.
Otherwise Kelly's speed and skill could stand out for Eels. Noaria 'Boss' Kapua is the other NRLWahine named for Eels and she is named to start at edge forward where her powerful mahi caught the eye last season.
Knights: Shanice Parker, Abigail Roache, Isabella Waterman, Laishon Albert-Jones, Nita Maynard, Grace Kukutai
Roosters: Otesa Pule, Mya Hill-Moana - Tiana Davison
Sharks: Annessa Biddle, Broke Anderson - Pia Tapsell
Cowboys: Harata Butler
Broncos: Mele Hufanga, Annetta Nu'uausala, Brianna Clark, Lavinia Gould, Jasmine Fogavini - Tafito Lafaele
Eels: Rosie Kelly, Boss Kapua
Dragons: Maateleio Fotu-Moala, Raecene McGregor, Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa, Alexis Tauaneai
Titans: Niall Williams-Guthrie, Georgia Hale - Ngatokotoru Arakua, Hailee-Jay Maunsell, Matekino Kahukoti-Gray
Tigers: Leianne Tufuga, Najvada George
Raiders: Apii Nicholls, Madison Bartlett, Cheyelle Robins-Reti, Mackenzie Wiki, Ash Quinlan, Kerehitina Matua - Felice Quinlan, Tatiana Finau
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