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We made it. It’s Grand Final week and we have a belter of a game coming up in the National Rugby League Women’s Premiership between the Cronulla Sharks and Sydney Roosters.
Let’s take a moment to recap how we got here and to reflect on the form of the two teams that bowed out this weekend, the Brisbane Broncos and Newcastle Knights.
In my heart, I honestly feel like the Broncos would have beat any other team that they came up against on Sunday, but they came up against a Sharks team that put on one of the best defensive displays I have ever seen in the history of the NRLW.
A defensive display so good that it kept the Broncos to zero.
The Broncos form had been incredible for most of the season averaging 30 points per game.
After losing their first two games, they then were undefeated until Sunday.
Their attack was improved by the addition of Gayle Broughton and Stacey Waaka in round three and the team never looked back.
But it was not to be on Sunday. The turning point for me was in the final 10 minutes of the first half, the Broncos were camped on Cronulla’s line for three repeat sets, thanks to the on-point kicking game of Broughton and Ali Brigginshaw.
The Sharks had an answer every single time and took plenty of confidence into half time because of their defensive effort.
They say that defence wins games, and it certainly was the case for the Sharks.
I can still feel some of the hits from the likes of Tiana Penitani, Annessa Biddle, Ellie Johnston and Georgia Hannaway.
That’s the end of the Broncos’ incredible season for 2024.
I was particularly gutted for Chelsea Lenarduzzi who has had a remarkable season after being recalled into the Queensland Maroons side for State of Origin and being the lynchpin of the Broncos forward pack.
I’ll reflect on the Knights season in a moment, but I wanted to start with how excited I am for Sam Bremner.
Bremner was only brought into the Roosters squad at the eleventh hour to replace Corban Baxter at the start of the season, so to have her so close to claiming a maiden NRLW Premiership is huge given that Bremner has accomplished basically everything else in the women’s game.
Onto the Knights, who were still dominant throughout 2024, just not as dominant as they have been in previous years.
Injuries to Caitlan Johnston-Greene did not help, but at times this year, I felt like the Knights were too dependent on Tamika Upton, passing her the ball and waiting for her to create magic.
She looked to be challenged by injury in the game on Sunday which made the job even harder for the Knights.
It’s been an incredible effort from the Knights over the last three years, but they just didn’t have enough this year to counter a team with so much representative experience.
I also wanted to take a moment to apologise to North Queensland Cowboys fans. I mistakenly excluded the Cowboys from my article last week and wanted to right that wrong this week.
Out of all the teams that missed the finals, the Cowboys and Parramatta were my most improved for 2024.
After finishing ninth last year with just two wins, the Cowboys won double the number of games in 2024.
One of the team’s biggest issues last year was fitness and that seems to have been rectified under new coach Ricky Henry.
The Cowboys are building and are dependent on the local talent in their area; we saw glimpses of that talent coming through this year and it will only continue to get better in 2025.
It all comes down to 70 minutes on Sunday afternoon, kicking off at 3.55pm to decide the new NRLW Premiers.
I’m thrilled the Sharks have made a Grand Final in just their second season in the competition.
The Sharks were also the in-form team for the first six weeks and it seems fitting that they made it playing a style of footy against the Broncos which was so successful for them early in the season.
It’s big for the Roosters too who have progressed to a Grand Final after bowing out at the semi-finals stage in the last two years against the Parramatta Eels and Gold Coast Titans.
The Roosters celebrate a try scored by Sam Bremner. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)
I could make a case for either of these two teams winning.
The Sharks will go in as underdogs, based on the last three weeks of the regular season and some injuries to key players, but don’t underestimate them or their defence.
The Roosters may have more representative players, but the grit and toughness I saw in the Sharks’ defence on the weekend was magnificent.
It was so good that it managed to hold the Broncos to their first duck egg in NRLW history.
That defence will be put to the test against players like Tarryn Aitken and Amber Hall.
But the Sharks have attacking weapons of their own including Tiana Penitani and Annessa Biddle who are two of the best outside backs in the competition.
A tough one to tip, but I’ll go with the underdogs with the Sharks to win 14-12.