The opening round of the Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership saw six teams take the field for the first time in months with the game of the round being a hotly contested 8-all draw.
North Sydney 8 drew Wests Tigers 8
The away side drew first blood, with winger Teagan Toa Toa going over in the corner to take the scores to 4-0.
The home side hit back through new recruit and winger Tyla Gambell, who dived over the in the corner to take the halftime scores to 6-4 in favour of the Tigers.
“Rob was impressed with how we were playing and just wanted us to stick out what we were doing, so he was very calm and very collected and was saying that we were playing our shapes, we were defending well and if we kept doing it was going to benefit us,” North Sydney five-eighth Kirra Dibb said.
“So fortunately, we did score that try and we got ourselves back in the mix but coach was very calm at halftime.”
Gambell bagged her second try later in the match and Dibb was unable to convert from the sideline, while the Tigers were awarded a penalty goal and Curtain slotted it to even the scores.
“I had two conversions from the paint as far out as possible and they just aired to the left,” Dibb said.
“It’s been something I’ve been working on but two tough ones and unfortunately I just didn’t get them over.
“I think we really pulled it together well but obviously being the first round back and because of that gap there are definitely things we need to fix up but for a first hit-out I am very impressed with how the team went, we’ll definitely grow from there.”
Central Coast Roosters 22 def Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 0
The newest team in the competition, the Central Coast Roosters have pulled off a defensive masterclass by successfully shutting out the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 22-0 at Terry Lamb Complex.
The Roosters flexed their muscles on both sides of the field with both left and right centre's Bobbi Law and Jayme Fressard going over for tries.
Melanie Howard's radar was near-perfect, only a loosener first kick being waved away.
The Roosters now sit atop the Premiership ladder given they won by the biggest margin on the weekend.
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 28 def Wentworthville Magpies 14
The Wentworthville Magpies have shown how far they have come in just two years after going toe-to-toe with the star-studded Sharks team.
Just two years ago when these teams faced off, the Sharks hit 100 points against the Magpies. They certainly had a tougher assignment against an improved Magpies outfit on the weekend.
The Sharks started fast with Andie Robinson scoring in the opening minute of the match, before Kennedy Cherrington scored just moments last.
It seemed a big score would be once again on the cards, but the Magpies turned it around and toughened up in defence.
That toughness turned into points on the scoreboard soon after when centre Kayla Sauvao scored back-to-back tries after a Sereana Naitokatoka penalty goal in the 14th minute.
The Sharks were able to hold on and sealed the match when superstar Tiana Penitani scored a try.
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