Illawarra Steelers have secured their first title in the Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership after a hard-fought 10-6 win over the Newcastle Knights in the Grand Final at CommBank Stadium today.
The Steelers had to rally from a 6-4 deficit in the second half with prop Bronte Wilson crashing over underneath the posts and Caitlin Moran landing the conversion from right in front to put them ahead with only five minutes remaining.
That set up a frantic finish with the Knights doing everything they could to score again but the Steelers’ defence held tough for an epic win claiming a maiden premiership.
“I’ve got so many emotions right now but I’m over the moon for our team, it’s the greatest feeling,” Steelers captain Lily Rogan said.
“It was a cracking game, full credit to them, they really stuck it to us and made it a really competitive game, but that’s what you want in a Grand Final.
“We know that we did everything we could and what we had was good enough so it’s awesome.”
The first half conjured memories of the Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership Grand Final from last year, which finished in an historic 1-0 win to Mounties over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Both teams had boasted plenty of attacking firepower during the regular season – the Steelers had scored the most points (344) and the Knights were the third-best (284) but they couldn’t find a way to crack their opponent after heading into halftime locked at nil-all.
The defence was strong from both teams. Rogan was bundled into touch in the opening minutes by Knights duo Carissa Reid and Jessica Gentle. The Steelers returned serve when the goal-line defence stopped a surging run from Knights five-eighth Joeli Morris.
The work from the forwards was just as willing. Steelers prop Bronte Wilson made plenty of strong runs up the field and kept dragging Knights defenders with her. Her opposite number Grace Kukutai was just as impressive for Newcastle and proved a handful for the Illawarra defence. The hit of the match came early in the first half when Knights replacement Elizabeth Montgomery shot out of the line and stopped Steelers prop Mackenzie Lear in her tracks.
Moran tormented the Knights with her kicking game but tenacious defence from the opposition left her with nothing to show for it. Time and time again she put a clever kick through, with Knights fullback Lilly-Ann White proving she was more than up for the challenge.
The best scoring opportunity for either team arrived late in the first half when Illawarra shifted the ball wide for winger Jessica Patea to get over the line. Again, the Newcastle defence was on point with Gentle and Reid holding her up to deny her.
The deadlock was finally broken early in the second half when a bomb from Moran took a saloon bounce into the arms of Steelers replacement Shae Muhleisen, who charged on to the ball and then around the defence to score out wide.
Fullback Tayleah Handcock missed the conversion, but the Steelers had a 4-0 lead in a match where points were at a premium.
With a premiership up for grabs, the big hits from both teams continued with Muhleisen shooting out of the line to pressure Montgomery only to clash heads. Play was stopped as both players were treated on the ground before leaving the field for HIAs (head injury assessment).
Illawarra had an opportunity to go further in front when a penalty put them in good field position and attacking the Newcastle line, but they couldn’t capitalise and then added to their woes after conceding a penalty for obstruction.
That proved even more costly when the Knights worked their way downfield before hooker Leah Ollerton shot out from dummy-half and stepped her way past the goal-line defence to score. Gentle landed the conversion to put the Knights narrowly in front 6-4.
“We knew that we had time on our side still and we’ve been saying all finals series that whoever wants it more is going to get it,” Rogan said.
“We just showed that we wanted it more. We hung in there, we competed and that’s all you can ask from a team.”
The Steelers finally received their chance when hooker Kaarla Cowan shot out of dummy-half and picked up a rampaging Wilson to crash over the line and score a well-deserved try.
It was the second title for the Steelers this season, after they scored a 24-12 win also over the Knights in the Grand Final of the Westpac Tarsha Gale Cup (Under 19s) in April.
“I think we’re really setting something special up down there and it is showing now,” Rogan said.
“We did it in Tarsha Gale and now we’ve done it in Harvey Norman.
“I don’t know what to feel right now, but I’m just so happy.”
