Ron has done well to have us consistently winning despite having to reshuffle the pack almost every week. This week he has the luxury of picking what I think will be our strongest lineup this season:
1. Tamika Upton
2. Sheridan Gallagher
3. Shanice Parker
4. Abigail Roache
5. Jasmin Strange
6. Georgia Roche
7. Jesse Southwell
13. Hannah Southwell
12. Yasmin Clydsdale
11. Laishon Albert-Jones
10. Caitlan Johnston
9. Olivia Higgins
8. Rima Butler
14. Nita Maynard
15. Tayla Predebon
16. Kayla Romaniuk
17. Tiana Davison
A lot of our form has been patchy this season but I think where we excel and why I think we can go back to back, is defensive technique and discipline. Other sides just aren’t as good as we are on a team-wide basis when it comes to preventing the opposition from gaining momentum, through line speed, effective contact and slowing the ruck more intelligently than most opposition.
I think we have the best spine in defence as well - Higgins, J Southwell and Roche are all more robust than most skill-based players in the women’s comp, so forcing them to make one-on-one tackles just doesn’t result in tries as consistently as it does against most opposition. And Upton has come along in leaps and bounds defensively and I would say stops more tries than any other fullback.
Brisbane are a good team with serious strike out wide, they’re using Hufanga a lot better and she’s now living up to the hype. The trick to me isn’t what tactics you use in defence to stop Hufanga - you need really hard inside pressure to stop them moving the ball effectively to her in the first place, and also to ensure you can get multiple bodies in front of her and not let her get up a head of steam if they do manage to get the ball to her. Then going the other way, Mele is a genuinely awful defender, so if everyone else can do their job I think we can score down that side more than they score against us. I don’t think Brisbane’s pack is that good so I’m confident we can contain them.
Knights 22 Broncos 10.
Titans to cause a major upset in the other semi final. Titans 16 Roosters 8.