NRLW Pacific Champs Final Preview
Australia and New Zealand will battle for the Pacific Cup on Sunday
Both the Australian Jillaroos and New Zealand Kiwi Ferns head into Sunday’s Pacific Championship Cup Final with confidence, but know they’ll need to improve on their respective performances from when they last clashed just 14 days earlier.
Australia had the better of the October 27 match in Christchurch, but some impressive New Zealand defence turned the Jillaroos away time and time again. At times in that clash, New Zealand were their own worst enemy, unable to hold onto possession at crucial times when the game was in the balance.
However both teams won’t need any reminding that Australia won the opening game between the two sides in 2023, before New Zealand prevailed 12-6 in the return match in Melbourne. Last year, there was nothing on the line except Trans-Tasman Pride, but in 2024, the winner of the Pacific Cup will lift some silverware, and New Zealand captain Georgia Hale told HER WAY she likes that there’s more at stake this time around:
“I think this year adding a trophy into the mix and kind of extending the tournament is great for the women’s game. It kind of has a little bit more on offer to play for.”
The tournament this year has featured seven Pacific nations, with Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea competing in the Cup tier, while Fetu Samoa, Fiji Bulikula, Tonga and Cook Island Moana have all played in the Bowl event.
Hale believes including more teams this year has been a positive move:
“It’s so nice to see so many nations represented. We’ve had a really enjoyable couple of weeks - we got to go home to New Zealand and Christchurch, we got to go to PNG, and now we’re here.”
Georgia, the inspirational Gold Coast Titans NRLW skipper, will play her 20th test match on the weekend.
“Gosh, it’s been an amazing 10 years that I’ve got to worked in the Kiwi Ferns space, and I’ve got to train and play under some amazing coaches and alongside girls that I call sisters. It’s been a huge chapter of my life, and one that I’m proud of.”
Someone else who will be playing a milestone game on Sunday is Jillaroos co-captain Ali Brigginshaw. Some of her teammates celebrated the achievement a couple of days early by wearing custom made ‘Brigginshaw 25’ T shirts out to a team event on Friday night.
The veteran playmaker has accomplished everything in the game of rugby league, but she told HER WAY that the game has given her more than she could possibly give it in return:
“Rugby League is something that connects people. It was the sport that connected me to some of my best mates - I still get to play with some of them. My family loves it. It brings people together and that’s why I love it. Different personalities, different cultures - there’s so much that rugby league gives. I say it’s the greatest game of all, definitely.”
Brigginshaw missed the Jillaroos opening match of the Pacific Championships against PNG as she recovered from a hand injury, but returned for New Zealand clash. HER WAY asked Ali if the side took away any learnings from that game:
“Every game is different in women’s rugby league and you never know what you’re going to get. No doubt they’ve been together a lot longer now, they’ve had another game under their belt. They’ve always got great connection - that’s something they’re definitely going to have.
For us, I still think we have a long way to go, we can be so much better. We’ve been working really hard and I’m really excited to see what we can do.”
A variety of circumstances means only nine players remain from the Jillaroos 17 which played in the 2023 decider, and Brigginshaw has enjoyed the blend of experience and youth in this 2024 team, which has included seven NRLW team captains through to 22 year old Keilee Joseph:
“We’ve got some young girls, we’ve got some great leaders, we’ve got some girls who have grown into such mature leaders, so I’m really enjoying just sitting back and letting them run the show. It’s been a nice time to be part of the Jillaroos.”
One of those NRLW captains is Tiana Penitani, who has had an incredible 2024. The Sharks skipper was named Dally M Captain of the Year and in the Dally M Team of the Year as she led her team to the Grand Final in just their second season (scoring two tries in the decider), she had a good State of Origin series for New South Wales, and has been a tryscorer in both of the Jillaroos games to this point during the tournament.
Penitani played in the unfamiliar role of five eighth in the opening game with Brigginshaw injured, linking amazingly with the outside backs for three try assists and four line break assists. Her form insisted that she was picked for the centres since then, leaving Roosters premiership superstar Jess Sergis on the bench.
HER WAY asked Tiana if there was a secret to her 2024 form:
“I had a really big focus in the off season that I wanted to be back at my best and worked really hard in our off season leading into State of Origin. I guess being in such an amazing team and being part of the Sharks system now, and living and breathing the Sharks has really helped me - it suits the way I play, and I’m really fortunate to be in the mix here amongst the best players in the world.”
With good conditions expected for Sunday’s final, a high quality game is on the cards. New Zealand’s Olympic gold medal halves pairing of Gayle Broughton and Tyla King have had two extra weeks of training together. Both are instinctive players rather than structured game managers, so if they can execute a good kicking game and create space for damaging centre Mele Hufanga and wide running second rowers Amber Hall and Annessa Biddle, the Kiwi Ferns could cause another upset.
But if the Aussie forwards like Milly Elliott, Shannon Mato and Simaima Taufa can lay a good platform, Tarryn Aiken, Tamika Upton and Brigginshaw will trust their partnership in attack to get the job done for the Jillaroos.
Watch below to hear from all three players plus more at a western Sydney school kids clinic conducted on Friday.
MATCH DETAILS Sunday 10th November:
11:40am: Pacific Bowl - PNG v Fetu Samoa
1:50pm: Pacific Cup - Australia v New Zealand