Jesse Southwell to the Broncos for next season.
It was the talk of the weekend behind the scenes and has now been reported as a genuine possibility.
My thoughts on it?
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Firstly, it’s great news for the Broncos if it happens. The Queenslander in me wants the Broncos and our other sides to dominate!
Secondly, every player deserves the chance to take the best opportunity in front of them. That’s professional sport and Jesse is entitled to do what is best for her career.
She absolutely should not be made to feel guilty. It’s great to play for your hometown and be a local hero, but if Jesse wants to expand her horizons she has every right. It’s a job, and you’re allowed to change where you work if a better deal is offered.
Thirdly, rather than fret about what it might do to Newcastle and the NRLW, let’s worry about getting more Jesse Southwells coming into the competition. Let’s ensure that we’re doing everything possible to get more exciting halves rising through the ranks.
That must be the focus if Jesse ends up moving, not ‘what about the Knights?’ We need to be bigger than that as a game.
Find more talent. Develop it. Watch it spread throughout the competition and make the product stronger every year.
That’s what stories like this shine a light on. What is the depth of our junior talent? Where are our next elite playmakers coming from? How are we developing them, along with the players already in the NRLW system? What are we doing to ensure that not only Newcastle but the teams down the bottom of the ladder have more gun players reliably coming through?
These are really big questions for the game, which go far beyond piling on Jesse Southwell and the Broncos with fears that the current competition is becoming lopsided.
BRIGGINSHAW’S BRILLIANT MILESTONE AS BRONCOS BOOM
That was a dominant Brisbane performance, beating Parramatta 38-4 at Suncorp Stadium and claiming revenge for a Round 1 loss to the Eels at home last season. It’s as well as we’ve seen the Broncos play this year, highlighted by four tries from five sets of attack at one point.
Eight tries to one all up, with the Broncos finding a gear Parra just couldn’t match. When they’re on, they’re on.
It was a worthy performance to mark a historic milestone for captain Ali Brigginshaw: 50 NRLW games. It felt fitting that she hit the mark first on a weekend where three players reached their 50th, given that she is one of just two players remaining in the game from the Jillaroos’ first World Cup win back in 2013 (along with Emma Verran).
The Broncos are outright second heading into this weekend’s clash with third-placed Newcastle and will be intent on nailing a top-two spot, while the Eels remain in touch with the top six thanks to the Warriors’ unexpected loss to Canberra.
JOHNSON-GREEN’S AMAZING RETURN IN SHARKS THRILLER
Caitlan Johnston-Green gave birth just three months ago, yet there she was on Saturday making a comeback that was full of her trademark power and passion, in both attack and defence.
For her to be back in a gym and playing any kind of sport would be an achievement in itself. To be playing NRLW and holding her own was just inspirational from the Sharks prop.
It was such a tight game, with Cronulla beating the Titans 12-8. The Sharks are now outright fifth, while the Titans were another beneficiary of New Zealand’s surprise loss and still have a crack at making the finals; though this game was two points they really wanted.
Phoenix-Raine Hippi again showed promise in just her second game and is one to watch. Chantay Kiria-Ratu faced her old club and ultimately kicked the winning goal, while Tiana Penitani Gray was back and firing in a Sharks backline that was particularly sharp to the left.
Lailani Montgomery embraced the fullback role for Gold Coast after coach Karyn Murphy had to once again shuffle her starting line-up, with major changes to the spine positions after the loss of Jaime Chapman and Pauline Pilia-Rasabale to injury.
BIZARRE RAIDERS VICTORY LEAVES BIG QUESTIONS
Two points is two points, and there’s plenty to celebrate for the Raiders having scored a first win after such a tough couple of months. But what a crazy game against the Warriors, with a 16-4 half-time lead almost disappearing before Canberra won 20-16 – against 11 players!
I’ve never seen a game of rugby league with two players gone for so long. The Warriors played 56 minutes with only 11, after second-rower Matekino Gray was rightfully sent off for a spear tackle on Sophie Holyman in the 21st minute (at least showing sportsmanship by acknowledging her error with an apology and handshake), before centre Tysha Ikenasio was sent for a hip-drop tackle three minutes later.
Unheard of! Could you imagine saying to a team beforehand, yeah, we’ll be playing the entire second half with 11? You just don’t train for something like that.
The Warriors showed real nerve to come out and launch a comeback, which was even more impressive given that they started the game without representative fullback Apii Nichols and outstanding five-eighth Patricia Maliepo. Captain Harata Butler continues to be inspirational, producing 146 run metres despite starting on the bench in this game, while winger Payton Takimoana ended with a hat-trick in which every try was scored after the send-offs.
They’re still well and truly in the running for a finals spot, the Warriors, if they can regroup. Brisbane is their only remaining game that look unwinnable and it would be a massive effort for them to make the top six in their first season back in the NRLW.
As for the Raiders, they simply must be better in their second half. The reality is that they nearly got rolled despite having two extra players. The positive is that they were already up 10-0 when the send-offs happened and have now given themselves a chance of avoiding the wooden spoon.
Holyman had a big game up front with 138 run metres after that spear tackle scare, captain Zahara Temara added a try and an assist from halfback, while fullback Elise Simpson had two linebreaks, a try assist, 120 run metres and a crucial try in an eye-catching performance.
WONDERFUL WESTS TIGERS WIN FIRST GAME IN 11 MONTHS
Along with the Raiders, Wests Tigers hadn’t won a game since the final round of last season, in late September. It literally went down to the final play against the Dragons – and the Tigers hung on to win 16-12.
It was great to see them rise from the canvas. Those types of pressure situations can really make or break the connection of a team, and emerging victorious should do plenty for the Tigers’ confidence.
What a gutsy effort, which like the Raiders gives them a big crack at avoiding the wooden spoon and walking away with something to build on for next season. The Round 9 game between those two teams shapes as a huge day for both clubs.
The Tigers have shown fight all year and what a performance from their captain Kezie Apps (138 run metres) and gun prop Sarah Togatuki (205m) to lead the way on Sunday. The Dragons lost Hannah Southwell to the sin-bin in just the sixth minute and the Tigers struck twice while she was off the field on their way to a 16-6 half-time lead.
The Tigers’ moving Caitlin Turnbull to fullback and Jetaya Faifua to five-eighth worked well. Turnbull’s outstanding season continued with a game-high 256 run metres against a returning star in Dragons No.1 Teagan Berry (219m) and she managed that potentially-intimidating switch to fullback with calm class, while Faifua scored a first-half double at No.6.
The Dragons also had captain and halfback Raecene McGregor back on deck, and every one of their outside backs ran for well over 100m, so that young Tigers line-up beat a decent side. They can be very proud.
ROOSTERS ROMP SHOWS NO REAL SIGN OF ENDING
This game was a real measure of whether anyone bar the Roosters and Broncos might contend for the premiership this year, and early on I was thinking, the Knights are OK, could just hang in here…
Nup. The Roosters just find another gear. They are on a different level. Full-time, 30-14, too good.
Props to the other two players who reached the 50-game milestone, in Isabelle Kelly and Keeley Davis, both greats of women’s rugby league. The Roosters came up with a performance befitting their achievement and Kelly marked her big day with a game-high 154 run metres.
Meanwhile, Tarryn Aiken scored a second-half double and is looking more dangerous by the week at halfback. Her pass selection is elite. Jocelyn Kelleher ran for nearly 100m alongside her in the halves and recorded a perfect 5/5 goalkicking.
Olivia Kernick was amazing once again in the middle and the Roosters thankfully appear to have avoided a serious knee injury for fullback Corban Baxter. They’re the one team that could comfortably handle losing a star but it appears her season is still alive and kicking, though Brydie Parker returns to fullback for them this weekend against the Eels.
COWBOYS CRUISING TOWARDS HISTORIC FINALS SPOT
Firstly, take a bow, Hollie Wheeler. The Bulldogs prop running down Cowboys winger Francesca Goldthorp to knock the ball free with a tackle over the tryline was one of the plays of the round.
You give Wheeler even more credit given when it happened, late in the second half with the final scoreline of 22-6 already on the board. She’d played the entire game, a tired front-rower chasing down a faster player with the cause all but lost, and comes up with that effort. Amazing.
Jakiya Whitfield topped 200 run metres at fullback and was also terrific in defence, while it was a second win on the trot for the halves pairing of Kirra Dibb and Tahlulah Tillett. It’s been a genuine battle in the North Queensland halves since Tillett entered the picture by starring in an upset of the Sharks in Round 3, when Dibb was dropped despite being co-captain. Rosie Kelly then hasn’t played since a Round 5 loss to the Warriors, with Dibb returning at five-eighth and Tillett holding firm at halfback.
Coach Ricky Henry is simply working with his available options there and each time he’s made a change, they’ve won. Now, the Cowboys are right in the frame for their first finals appearance, with a 5-2 record and just four games remaining.
They’re a potential powerhouse, the Cowboys, with the vast area from which they can draw talent. And with the BMD competition opening up this season, the addition of Northern Pride in Cairns could be huge for them.
It means a far more supported pathway for girls from the north, even if they’re a four-hour drive from the Cowboys in Townsville. The Pride are running seventh from 12 this season and as a new women’s club, will only get better.
