By Russ Haylock
Illawarra Steelers Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership coach Alicia-Kate Hawke says her team is primed and ready to take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs in their inaugural match on Sunday.
The Scarlet and Whites maiden HNWP match headlines a blockbuster day at WIN Stadium, with the Steelers SG Ball, Tarsha Gale, and Harold Matthews teams facing off against the Penrith Panthers.
Despite stars such as Jillaroos Kezie Apps, Emma Tonegato, and captain Keeley Davis being unavailable as they continue to recover from their World Cup triumph in November and Shakiah Tungai and Taliah Fuimaono being selected to represent the Indigenous All-Stars, Hawke is confident in the mixture of youth and experience in the weekend’s line-up.
“They definitely know how each other play, and we know the strengths of one another, but we also know it’s going to be a step up in terms of the level of footy,” Hawke says.
“The Rabbitohs are going to be a power team, they’ve got some really strong middles, and they also like to offload.
“We’ll be hopefully looking to weather that storm and play some footy back at them.”
With 12 members of the squad having represented the Steelers Tarsha Gale Cup team in the past, fans can expect plenty of exciting combinations to come together in defence and attack this season.
“We hope to have lots of people down there supporting us, and it’ll be great to have the Steelers back on a Sunday afternoon at WIN Stadium. Where else would you want to be?”
SG Ball take on Panthers in Finals rematch
After finishing fifth last season, Steelers SG Ball coach Russ Aitken is also confident that his team’s work during the off-season will come to fruition as they prepare to take on reigning premiers Penrith.
The Panthers beat them in the first week of the finals, with this Round One fixture giving them a chance to get one back over their opponents.
“If we play the Steelers brand of footy that we’ve been working on over the off-season, that’ll put us in a lot of games,” Aitken says.
“We want to play our footy and defend well as a unit. Giving the ball to the opposition on our terms and getting a good kick chase. That’ll be a big part of Round One for us.”
Aitken, a past NRL player with the Cronulla Sharks and Melbourne Storm, added that he has enjoyed the challenge of developing the players on and off the field in his first year in the role.
“The character of the boys was a big thing for us this pre-season, trying to develop good young blokes as well as good footy players and having that really selfless attitude in all that the boys do, so hopefully that comes out in their footy and holds them in good stead for life after footy as well.”
The Steelers Harold Matthews and Tarsha Gale Cup teams will also take on the Penrith Panthers this Sunday. The Greater Western Sydney-based club also won both of these competitions in 2022.
After a busy pre-season, all three junior grades will relish the opportunity to test themselves against the benchmark team in each competition come Sunday.
WIN Stadium Fixtures | Sunday, 5 February
- 10:30am – Harold Matthews Cup (Under 17 Boys) Steelers v Penrith Panthers
- 12.00pm – Tarsha Gale Cup (Under 19 Girls) Steelers v Penrith Panthers
- 1:30PM – SG Ball (under 19 Boys) Steelers v Penrith Panthers
- 3:15pm – Harvey Norman NSW’s Premiership Steelers v South Sydney Rabbitohs
Tickets On Sale
With the Round One quadruple header fast approaching, tickets to the full day of football are available for just $10, with kids under 16 admitted for free, as an exciting season of local representative rugby league kicks off here in the Illawarra.