A Western Sydney derby is set for Sunday night at Campbelltown Stadium, where the Wests Tigers will face the Eels to close out Round 4.
Despite their relentless efforts, the Wests Tigers are still chasing their first win of the season. Last week, they suffered a 20-4 loss to the Roosters under challenging circumstances, with co-captain Kezie Apps and promising winger Harmony Crichton unable to finish the match due to knee injuries.
This week, they take on an Eels side riding high on confidence after a convincing 20-6 victory over the Cowboys, highlighted by Rosemarie Beckett’s two-try performance at hooker.
Victory for the Eels will take them to uncharted territory as it will be the first time they have achieved three wins in a season.
Game Info
Date: Sunday, August 18, 2024
Kick-off: 6:10 PM AEST
Venue: Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Leumeah
Referee: Damian Brady
Broadcast: Foxtel and Nine Gem
Live Stream: Kayo & Nine Now
Team Lists
Parramatta Eels
1. Abbi Church, 2. Zali Fay, 3. Rory Owen, 4. Rosie Kelly, 5. Monique Donovan, 6. Cassey Tohi-Hiku, 7. Rachael Pearson, 8. Elsie Albert, 9. Taneka Todhunter, 10. Madeline Jones, 11. Chloe Jackson, 12. Mahalia Murphy, 13. Kennedy Cherrington, 14. Rosemarie Beckett, 18. Tafao Asaua 16. Jade Fonua, 19. Breanna Eales
17. Ruby-Jean Kennard-Ellis, 20. Chelsea Makira, 21. Kate Fallon, 22. Pihuka Berryman-Duff
Tyla Amiatu and Ruby-Jean Kennard-Ellis who were originally named on the bench, have been ruled out. The 18-year-old Tafao Asaua will make her NRLW debut and the newest signing Breanna Eales will make her club debut.
Asaua is a 6-foot-two forward who can put on big hits and dominate with her running game and power in the middle. Expect her to bring genuine impact off the bench against the Tigers middle-forward rotation. A recent addition to the squad to cover for season ending injuries, Eales gets an early opportunity to stake her claim for a regular spot in a talented pack.
The winning feeling
Wests Tigers
1. Botille Vette-Welsh, 2. Rebecca Pollard, 3. Leianne Tufuga, 4. Rikeya Horne, 5. Tess Staines, 6. Pauline Piliae, 7. Losana Lutu, 8. Sarah Togatuki, 9. Salma Nour, 10. Christian Pio, 11. Brooke Talataina, 12. Shaianne McGlone, 13. Najvada George, 14. Sophie Curtain, 15. Natasha Penitani, 16. Tara Reinke, 17. Jessica Kennedy
18. Tiana-Lee Thorne, 19. Imogen Gobran, 20. Claudia Nielsen, 21. Ebony Prior
Injuries to co-captain Kezie Apps and winger Harmony Crichton have forced Brett Kimmorley to make his first lineup changes of the season. Rebecca Pollard steps in on the wing for Crichton, while Brooke Talataina moves from the bench to the second row. Jessica Kennedy has been elevated to the bench, with Tiana-Lee Thorne as the new replacement player.
The Game
Fresh off scoring her first try for the Tigers, expect former Eel Tess Staines to pose a threat to the right edge. The Eels right side has been their most vulnerable, conceding most of their points there. Additionally, with a 0-12 win/loss record in her career, Staines will be highly motivated to address the imbalance in her stats.
Abbi Church arguably had her breakout performance of 2024 last week, scoring a try, making two linebreaks, and racking up 190 running metres. Church, who is currently tied as the most-capped Eel with 20 appearances (alongside Kennedy Cherrington), has begun to hit her stride behind a pack achieving a better platform than any previous season. With her average metres per game this season surpassing her career stats, Church will aim to use her pace and footwork to break through some fatigued Tigers defenders late in each half.
Todhunter
Church is part of an exciting Parramatta spine has developed into a cohesive force. Rachael Pearson has excelled alongside Cassey Tohi-Hiku, and the newly established dummy half rotation of Taneka Todhunter and Rosemarie Beckett provides an unexpected threat. This is now an Eels team that can strike from anywhere on the field.
If the Tigers want to secure their first win of the season, they’ll need to replicate their strong first-half performance from last week for the full 70 minutes. But this Parramatta team has a range of attacking weapons in their arsenal, be it through short range grubber kicks, power plays through the forwards, sweeping shifts, or launching the unexpected from deep within their own half. Can the Tigers stop the Eels’ momentum early, score some quick points, and force some catch up footy? I don’t think so.
Prediction: Eels by 10
Best on Field: Abbi Church
Kye Ferreira
It’s incredible to think that getting win three in a season would be a first for Parra. A measure of the growth in NRLW and the change in this team.
Well done to the girls!
Excellent win against a very good opponent.
Special shout out to Kennedy Cherrington.
If any of you have a second check out her emotional media receiving her 25th NRL jersey.
Great video and here is a lady that loves her Club giving thanks to the club for standing by her and her sister.
( Stark contrast to a certain male player and his family ).
It is a wonderful moment. But Spark we don’t need to fire shots at someone else to acknowledge Kennedy or her family. They definitely earn it in their own right.
I know mate – just couldn’t help the dig….
Understood.
You Buettner
Nice pun Luke!
Tough game.
The girls looked flat in every facet…maybe it’s the night time slot who know’s.
I was expecting much better with a faster n crisp showing.
The team is really missing Ruben cherrington. Toldhunter is ok but she’s Ruben.
Can some tell Zali to run down the wing instead of into opposition forwards.
I understand she’s taking the Hit up to give the forwards a rest. But running n scoring will also give them a rest.
Rev, sometimes a team doesn’t quite click in attack. But good teams still win those games and defence is a measure of that. The girls scramble and desperation on their line was quality yesterday. By the way, full marks to the Tigers. They stopped what I thought were certain tries numerous times yesterday.
agree Jackson should of scored but didn’t n also big T n Elsie also.
That’s 3 tries saved by the tiger’s.
on the tiger’s the way they plaid you think a win is only around the corner.
They played fast n looked sharp.
Their poor kick chase let them down.
our cover defence was outstanding last night in the closing minutes 👏
Rev, I’m sorta with you on this one, my yardstick was the yardage the Tigers were making after about the 20 minute mark. They seemed to also have faster line speed. Credit to them, they were playing with high energy. Our team looked to be playing safe, composed football and did get rewarded for that in our second try where a Tigers error gave us great field position and 6 points. Nonetheless I was still impressed by our tenacity and competitive instincts. 2 simple errors in the last 5 minutes almost undid the platform we worked hard to establish. Fortunately the Tigers matched those errors.
They are playing unreal. Very good defensive efforts. Lot of pride in the jersey for this team. Means a lot of us fans to see this. New coach is working wonders. It just shows a new coach can sometimes help a team improve. We look vastly improved, they have obviously worked very hard to better their defence, they are scrambling and working as a team. Very impressive to see. Hope it inspires our men a little, we will need everything we can get. I like the fact they won on strong defence and not needing the attack to be perfect to win. This is a sign of good coaching and a team of players who are working together as a solid team.