The Illawarra Steelers’ hopes of a Women’s Premiership grand final appearance at their first attempt have been dashed, beaten 16-8 by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in their semi-final clash on Sunday.
The match was level at 4-4 when the halftime whistle sounded. Wingers Sarachen Oliver (Bulldogs) and Shakiah Tungai (Steelers) put points on the board early.
A Monalisa Soliola double in the second half helped the Bulldogs into the 2023 Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership Grand Final in their first NSW Women’s Premiership season since 2019.
For Alicia-Kate Hawke’s Steelers, handling errors plagued them all afternoon.
“There was an essence of want and urgency that made them push things they wouldn’t necessarily push,” said Steelers coach Alicia-Kate Hawke.
“In terms of our completion rate, we’ve been up and down with that all season. So with a team that has such power like the Bulldogs you can’t win off poor set completions.
“Even after letting in that first try early in the second half we felt like we were breaking them down. But time just ran away from us,” Hawke said.
“The girls and their effort has been amazing to create such a culture in this Illawarra club. I’m super proud of that but what hurts most is that we know what could have been if we’d played our best footy.”
Soliola’s first try early in the second half and then a penalty to Tayla Preston put the Bulldogs out to 10-4.
Steelers halfback Rachael Pearson sent a low-trajectory kick to the right-hand corner in the 53rd minute, which winger Olivia Vale collected off one bounce to edge within two points (10-8).
But Soliola’s second four-pointer broke the Steelers hearts. Despite several attacking raids upfield, they couldn’t finish those moves.
Meanwhile, in the Tarsha Gale Cup Semi-Final on Saturday, the Bulldogs held the Illawarra Steelers scoreless in their 28-0 win after a tight first half which saw them take only a 6-0 lead into halftime.
The Bulldogs came out firing in the second half to pile on five unanswered tries, with winger Charlotte Eather bagging a double.
As reported by nswrl.com.au