Well, a wet and wild weekend of NRLW 2022 took us down the NSW south coast to WIN Stadium in Wollongong with three games back-to-back-to-back. Round Two of the NRLW showed yet again the toughness of all teams, braving the conditions to bring us some great footy.
Game One of the triple-header for Round Two of the 2022 NRLW season saw the Brisbane Broncos take on the Newcastle Knights. The game started with the Broncos as heavy favourites and yet again and they showed why they are the team to beat.
The girls from Brisbane scored first in the fourth minute through star prop Millie Boyle, who crashed in right under the crossbar and the points started pouring on for the Broncos from there.
The Broncos looked slick in attack and quickly scored again through Tamika Upton after some great backline ball movement. It was always going to be a tough game for the Knights but the Broncos mix of experience and youthful exuberance yet again flourished as they looked in control the entire first half.
In the second half of the game, the Broncos quickly came out firing with a great line break from Upton who gave it back on the inside to her center Shenae Ciesiokla, who scored and continued to wreak havock on the right side of the field. This was followed up by a great spread to the wing were Hagiga Mosby scored a try on debut.
Newcastle however, in the second half, did manage to put together some great attacking formations, leading to their first try in which forward Maitua Feterika muscled her way to the try line to put her team on the scoreboard.
The Knights, with momentum behind them then broke the line in their own 20 in the 62ndminute through Jayme Fressard who showed her speed and ability to break the line with some fast footwork and fantastic dummy to score a 75-metre try.
Unfortunately for the Knights, the in-form Broncos quickly answered back with a try in the 66thminute in which Amy Turner showed her fancy footwork to break the line and score under the sticks.
Yet again the Broncos showed in the opening game of the round why they are the team to beat. So, the question on everyone’s mind after another Broncos win is, will any team be able to stop the dominance of the girls from Brisbane?
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The second game of the round saw the Sydney Roosters take on the Gold Coast Titans. The scoring kicked off in the fourth minute for the Titans when Jasmine Peters, with her second touch of the ball in NRLW, shook off a few defenders to give the Titans an early lead.
The Titans looked in control throughout the first half largely through the attacking brilliance of their five-eight Grace Griffin who, in the 10thminute, kicked a beautiful grubber into the in-goal and was put down perfectly by their winger Karina Brown.
The Roosters however did show some fight when Leianne Tufunga went over on the right wing in the 19thminute after some great ball movement from the Roosters. Unfortunately for the Roosters their moment failed to last and Tazmin Grey barged her way over to score from first receiver proving yet again that she is one of the premier front rowers in the competition.
In the second half, the Titans again came out firing again with a sneaky scoot and go from dummy half and captain Brittany Breayley-Nati. The try was exactly what the Titans needed but in what can only be described as a beautiful rugby league moment her try was then converted by her wife Kimiora Breayley-Nati.
The Roosters did remain strong in attack and their forwards looked hard to stop when, in the 50thminute, number eight Sarah Togatuki crashed over to score. From there the Roosters looked back in the game after some great goal line defence and expansive attacking plays which saw Olivia Kernick score for the roosters in the 65thminute.
However, quickly after, in 69thminute Brittany Breayley-Nati, again with some fantastic footwork and a little bit of speed, scooted over the secure the Titans' first-ever NRLW win.
The third and final game of the triple header saw the St George-Illawarra Dragons take on the Parramatta Eels in what can only be described as biblical conditions.
The game started with light rain fall, however the weather took a turn for the worst early in the second half with damaging winds and a huge amount of rain destroying the pitch. This game proved yet again just how tough these girls are who all played their absolute hearts out as they were belted by the rain.
The only try of the game came early in the 10thminute through Rachel Pearson with some hard running, going on to then convert her own try. As the weather conditions worsened the only option for the either team was to kick penalty goals and the Dragons did so twice, again through Rachel Pearson, giving them a 10-0 victory.
Whilst this game was low in points and quality of play, both teams can take a lot out of that game knowing they absolutely braved the elements to continue to fight right until the final whistle. By the end of the game the pitch looked absolutely flooded and both teams just looked happy to get back to change rooms have a warm shower and get dry.
Round Two of the NRLW was yet again an absolute success with some great storylines and a great atmosphere with fans braving the conditions to show their support for their respective teams.
Round Three of the NRLW will be set up slightly different with the Roosters taking on the Knights in the opening game of the round at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday March 12 at 12.50pm. The round will then continue on Sunday March 13 at Commbank Stadium with a double-header which will see the Dragons take on the Broncos at 12pm, followed by the Eels taking on the Titans at 1.45pm.