BY VIV

A year after the Raiders received their licence for an NRLW team their first game is finally here! The new season of NRLW and the new team presents nothing but promises of a bright future unencumbered by the crushing reality of results, negative for/against and injury. I will be joining Dan, Rob and The Sportress gang writing about the progress of the Raiders women as they chase victory in 2023.

Round one sees the Raiders come up against the Sharks who are also making their NRLW debut in 2023. It’s an away game for our girls travelling to The Shire on Sunday afternoon coming up against a Sharks team that will be emboldened by their 22-0 trial win against Wests.

Thoughts

The Raiders have put together a promising but young squad for their debut season. The NRLW experience of players like Simaima Taufa, Apii Nicholls, Shakiah Tungai and Zahara Temara will be essential to guide around the seven players making their NRLW debut this weekend.

It will be great to see Monalisa Soliola and Mackenzie Wiki make their debuts this weekend. There have been limited opportunities in the NRLW to show their links to the past and its great to see the Green Machine embrace this.

Personally, I’ve been a huge fan of Grace Kemp in the Super W and playing for the Wallaroos and looking forward to seeing her get on the field this weekend. If her first carry for the Raiders is anything like her Wallaroos debut we are in for a treat.

I know trial games don’t mean anything but it would have been nice to see the girls have a hit out before the season started to see how possible combinations would look on the field. Having Ash Quinlan, Sophie Holyman and the Temara sisters bringing their onfield combinations from Burleigh will be handy this weekend. Likewise, Taufa, Tommaya Kelly-Sines and Kerehitina Matua have played together for Mounties in the Harvey Norman NSW Premiership 

Match Ups

Temara vs Tonegato

Zahara Temara lines up at 5/8th for the Raiders after successful campaigns at the Roosters, Burleigh and the Maori all stars. Emma Tonegato is making the switch to 5/8th this season after previously playing fullback for St George, on the wing in her first rugby league world cup in 2013 and as a back in rugby 7s. It will be interesting to see how Tonegato goes playing in her new position

Nicholls vs Taylor

The young gun vs the veteran! Jada Taylor announced her arrival in last year’s under 19s State of Origin with a length of the field try to help secure a NSW win. She then went on to play for the Roosters in the NRLW in 2022. While she didn’t get much game time she would have had the opportunity to learn from Sam Bremner and it will be exciting to see what she can do as starting fullback. On the other hand Apii Nicholls has done it all; NRLW for the Warriors and Titans, representative honours for the kiwi ferns as well as stints in rugby 7s and XVs for New Zealand. Here’s hoping she has a few more chip and chases in her this weekend.

Predictions

We know the Raiders are a Sharks bogey team for the men, lets hope it continue for the girls, Raiders by 10!

Please welcome Viv to the Sportress team by following her on Twitter here. To get more of Viv’s takes like our page on Facebook, follow Dan on Twitter (or Threads!). Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.