Harvey Norman Womens Premiership

Steelers Primed For Round One Blockbuster

by
ourfooty
02/02/2023

Steelers Primed For Round One Blockbuster (Photo's Steve Montgomery)

Steelers Primed For Round One Blockbuster

Author : Russ Haylock Illawarra Rugby League

Steelers Primed For Round One Blockbuster

Illawarra Steelers Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership coach Alicia-Kate Hawke says her team is primed and ready to take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs in their inaugural match on Sunday.

The Scarlet and Whites maiden HNWP match headlines a blockbuster day at WIN Stadium, with the Steelers SG Ball, Tarsha Gale, and Harold Matthews teams facing off against the Penrith Panthers.

Despite stars such as Jillaroos Kezie Apps, Emma Tonegato, and captain Keeley Davis being unavailable as they continue to recover from their World Cup triumph in November.

Illawarra Steelers 2022 SG Ball Cup (Photo : Steve Montgomery)

Shakiah Tungai and Taliah Fuimaono being selected to represent the Indigenous All-Stars, Hawke is confident in the mixture of youth and experience in the weekend’s line-up.

“They definitely know how each other play, and we know the strengths of one another, but we also know it’s going to be a step up in terms of the level of footy,” Hawke says.

“The Rabbitohs are going to be a power team, they’ve got some really strong middles, and they also like to offload.

“We’ll be hopefully looking to weather that storm and play some footy back at them.”

With 12 members of the squad having represented the Steelers Tarsha Gale Cup team in the past.

Fans can expect plenty of exciting combinations to come together in defence and attack this season.

“We hope to have lots of people down there supporting us, and it’ll be great to have the Steelers back on a Sunday afternoon at WIN Stadium. Where else would you want to be?”

SG Ball take on Panthers in Finals rematch

After finishing fifth last season, Steelers SG Ball coach Russ Aitken is also confident that his team’s work during the off-season will come to fruition as they prepare to take on reigning premiers Penrith.

The Panthers beat them in the first week of the finals, with this Round One fixture giving them a chance to get one back over their opponents.

“If we play the Steelers brand of footy that we’ve been working on over the off-season, that’ll put us in a lot of games,” Aitken says.

“We want to play our footy and defend well as a unit. Giving the ball to the opposition on our terms and getting a good kick chase. That’ll be a big part of Round One for us.”

Aitken, a past NRL player with the Cronulla Sharks and Melbourne Storm, added that he has enjoyed the challenge of developing the players on and off the field in his first year in the role.

“The character of the boys was a big thing for us this pre-season.

Illawarra Steelers 2022 Harold Matthews Cup (Photo : Steve Montgomery)

Trying to develop good young blokes as well as good footy players and having that really selfless attitude in all that the boys do.

Hopefully that comes out in their footy and holds them in good stead for life after footy as well.”

The Steelers Harold Matthews and Tarsha Gale Cup teams will also take on the Penrith Panthers this Sunday. The Greater Western Sydney-based club also won both of these competitions in 2022.

After a busy pre-season, all three junior grades will relish the opportunity to test themselves against the benchmark team in each competition come Sunday.

WIN Stadium Fixtures | Sunday, 5 February

10:30am – Harold Matthews Cup (Under 17 Boys) Steelers v Penrith Panthers
12.00pm – Tarsha Gale Cup (Under 19 Girls) Steelers v Penrith Panthers
1:30PM – SG Ball (under 19 Boys) Steelers v Penrith Panthers
3:15pm – Harvey Norman NSW’s Premiership Steelers v South Sydney Rabbitohs

Tickets On Sale

With the Round One quadruple header fast approaching, tickets to the full day of football are available for just $10, with kids under 16 admitted for free, as an exciting season of local representative rugby league kicks off here in the Illawarra.

Purchase tix here: https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/search?aid=2969019…

Round One Team Lists

Position	HNWP	SG Ball Cup	Tarsha Gale Cup	Harold Matthews Cup
1.	Teagan Berry	Wes Pring	Tayleah Handcock	Tom Kirk
2.	Zali Yeo	Ethan Cliff	Taleisha Love	Harry Wililo
3.	Lily Rogan	Te Umuariki Heremia-Tukere	Chelsea Ahio	Hayden Buchanan
4.	Jordyn Preston	Savelio Tamale	Mia-Rose Walsh	Charlie Heidke
5.	Keele Browne	Jacob Haeata	Darcy Eade	Lucas Borg
6.	Riley Scott	Ashton Ward	Brody Preston	Aaymon Fitzgibbon
7.	Jade Etherden	Taj Ford	Sienna Yeo	Kade Reed
8.	Viena Tinao	Jett Liu	Hope Millard	Zechariah Taufa
9.	Salma Nour	Kyan Hjaltason	Chelsea Savill	Brodie Breakspear

10.	Anji Tau	Kane Graham	Sienna Morgan ©	Letham Manago
11.	Ula-Marie Time-Cribb	Callum Leikvoll	Charlotte Basham	Dreau Clark
12.	Anastacia Shum	Dylan Egan	Ella Koster	Drew Langdon
13.	Kaarla Cowan	Hamish Stewart	Katie Stevens	Daniel Meafou
Interchange	Interchange	Interchange	Interchange	Interchange
14.	April Stevens	Seth Pearman	Jayla Commins	Josiah Clifford
15.	Josie Strong	Lyhkan King-Togia	Ella Fisher	Leeroy Weatherill
16.	Mary Latu	Toby Miller	Rangitaiki Pohatu	Ezekiel Kennedy

17.

Tiana Kore

Campbell Rubie

Kelsie Frankham

Hudson Bailey

Reserves	Reserves	Reserves	Reserves	Reserves
18.	Ana Raduva	James Walsh	Hunter-Lee Afoa-Peterson Patrick	Tali Feagai
19.	Bianca Sutton	Neason Jha-Langley	Elise Farrant	Finn Egan
20.	Sharna Piccinelli	Darnell Te Ahuru	Keira Hol	Harry Middleton
21.		Jack Quine	Tully Phillips	Jett Rorie
22.		Bailey Sassall	Madeleine Allen	Lachlan Greatz
23.		Toby Rumble	Amelia Wright	Joseph Elton
24.		Zakariya Maarbani	Bianca Jones	Jackson Smith
24.		Vaenuku Vatuvei		Thomas Nelson