BY DAN

17 women etched their names in rugby league history in the Canberra Raiders upset 24-14 victory of the Sydney Roosters for their first win of the NRLW. It was a brutal performance in which the Raiders physically dominated one of the biggest teams in the competition, and outsmarted and outplayed the overwhelming competition favourites. In doing so they showed that this won’t be the last bit of history they make this season.

Last week the Raiders had shown plenty of potential but little to show for it and they came into this week against the competition favourites and the hazard of an 0 and 2 hole. It wasn’t a season-ender if they lost, but in front of a home crowd for the first time, against the team most expect to be holding the silverware come October, it was crucial to take last weeks possibility and turn it into something more concrete. That it ended with a victory isn’t a bonus. It’s a goddamn inspiration.

This victory was built with two main factors. Firstly their goal line defence was astounding. For the opening ten minutes the Raiders repelled wave after sometimes self-inflicted wave of Roosters attack. Try savers came from Shak Tungai, who was borderline barbaric in some of the hits she put on edge runners, jamming into turn overlaps into dominant tackles. Zahara Temara, Apii Nicholls, and Ash Quinlan all had critical moments in defence. Mackenzie Wiki turned Isabel Kelly – one of the biggest names in rugby league – into a little box that presumably she’ll keep on her knick-knack table at home.

This goal line defence allowed the Raiders to sustain periods of Roosters dominance, and it seemed to fluster the opposition. There was simply no way through. They tried to crash and the Milk’s middles were there. They tried to hit edges and they got handled. They went wider, trying to target an edge defence remixed by head injury assessments, and the defence kept turning up and kept making plays. They found their way to 14 points, but it was an opportune effort, a dummy-half run and one movement that actually exploited the Raiders defence (noticeably prior to the edge returning to its original formation).

Once they stopped walking the opposition up the field, either through penalty or their own errors, that defence was able to use its physicality to reinforce field position built off the Raiders cohesive and intelligent attacking work. Zahara Temara was the guiding force here, moving and kicking the Green Machine around the field with aplomb – she created four repeat sets in the first half alone, and her long kicks found grass more readily than Cheech and or Chong (hey kids they’re like Harold and Kumar but for old people. Do people do stoner movies anymore?). Simaima Taufa played a supporting role, critically linking the middle to the edges, while Ash Quinlan mostly hung on the left, connecting with Temara, impressive in how well she seemed to match her approach to fit around Temara and Taufa.

That smart kicking and well-directed attack allowed the middle to really wind up. Taufa (10 for 99m, 43 post contact) was impressive, though she’s so intent on involving everyone else that sometimes running becomes her last option. Grace Kemp (11 for 121, 40 post contact) again impressed off the bench, tearing into the defence with that high-running style and dropping offloads off the back like another red-headed fan-favourite. She’s such a gift in turning the Raiders rotation forwards into a weapon. They were well supported in the middle by Sophie Holyman and Tommaya Kelly-Simes. Cheyelle Robins-Reti got through plenty of work for 186 metres on the ground.

But more exciting was the way the Raiders used their edge forwards. If the middle created a bit of ruck motion, their edges were given early and immediate opportunities to break down a scrambling defence. Monlisa Soliola (12 for 103m) and Hollie-Mae Dodd (10 for 112m) were both exceptional. And Kerehitina Matua (5 for 81m) proved again that she’s almost impossible to bring down if you let her get to top speed.

This performance was personally great for Dodd, who had a less-than-stellar first outing last week. This week she was a terror for the Roosters, constantly burying deep into the defensive line. She had no line-breaks, but the work she did constantly opened up the openside left for the Raiders to attack with numbers and space. No better was this demonstrated than in the game-sealing try when Dodd hit a ball into the line and dragged defenders towards her, allowing a shift back to the other edge to see Soliola isolated on small defenders to score.

It was precise and it was targeted and the Raiders executed the game plan perfectly. It was good to see them playing with such cohesion, hitting the width in order to take advantage in the middle. Similarly on the Raiders first try Kemp rolled over single coverage at the goal line because a leftward shift had spread the defence on a shift to the left. Taufa scored after a similar movement. A further try came when the defence couldn’t shut down the first movement, with Apii Nicholls scything through a gap at pace, and setting up Robins-Reti.

It was promising stuff. This was standing up to the best the competition has to offer. If there were questions after last week as to whether the Raiders had the ability to match it with the best this was a resounding retort. This was pride standing tall, staring the bully in the face and asserting they were a bad ass mutha that don’t take no crap from no one. It was impressive. It was inspiring. It was proof.

That it was the club’s first victory in the NRLW is all the more wonderful. You only get to win for the first time once, and that they did it against this team in this way makes it the best story to tell. These 17 women will be forever marked in history as the people that delivered Canberra its first victory in the NRLW. This should be remembered alongside ‘Raiders 12 Newtown 11′ as a seminal moment in the Raiders’ rugby league history. In a just world they’d never have to buy a drink in god’s country ever again.

For now they’ll have to settle for authentication of a football side and proof positive they deserve and have earned the right to be a force in this competition.

I can’t wait to see what’s next.

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