The Illawarra Steelers kept their Harvey Norman Women’s Premeirship title defence alive with a convincing 26–12 victory over the Wentworthville Magpies in the final round on Saturday at WIN Stadium, Wollongong.
The result, combined with the Wests Tigers upset win over Parramatta, sees the defending champions sneak into the top four with a better points differential than the Eels, setting up a blockbuster semi-final against the table-topping Newcastle Knights at Jubilee Stadium, Kogarah on Saturday afternoon.
The Steelers wasted no time asserting dominance, with Ella Churchill crossing in the 4th minute to ignite the home crowd. Further tries from Kiara Kostovski in the 26th minute, Tayleah Handcock in the 29th minute, gave the hosts a commanding 16–0 halftime lead.
Steelers prop Tiarna West (pictured) extended the lead with a converted try in the 41st minute before the Magpies hit back through Sarah Colman to reduce the margin to 22-6.
[Watch] Steelers prop Tiarna West crashing over under the sticks after some good lead up work by half Maddie Studdon
It was a brief comeback however, Paige Tauaneai crossing in 54th-minute to ensure the Steelers stayed in control at 26-6 with 15 minutes remaining. Carly Abbott crossed for a consolation try for the visitors on the hour mark but the Steelers had already done enough to secure the victory.
While the win was vital, the Steelers knew their finals fate also rested on other results. When news filtered through of the Tigers’ triumph over the Eels, celebrations kicked into another gear; their title defence was still alive.
Centre Brittany Lee admitted it was a tense wait.
“We needed that win for ourselves. Hopefully, we’d done enough to hold onto that final hope, but it depended on other teams. That’s the hardest part, you win, but two games later, you could still be out. We just gave it our all, and some things didn’t go our way, but that’s footy. At the end of the day, a win’s a win.”
Finals Force
Head Coach Jamie Szczerbanik praised the effort and reminded everyone why the Steelers remain a dangerous force in finals football.
“We spoke about controlling what we could control, and in the first half, we did that. Our completion rate was strong, around 79%, and we set ourselves up for a good second half. To hold a team to nil for 70 minutes is tough. We drifted away a bit, but overall, it was a really strong performance.”
Looking at the bigger picture, Szczerbanik also highlighted the balance of experience and youth driving belief in back-to-back glory.
“We debuted seven 17-year-olds this year, and no other team in the comp has done that. We believe in the future of our juniors; they’re going to be the future of the Steelers and the Dragons.
“The best thing about this group is that, despite the ups and downs, they still believe. We’re the defending champions, and we’ll fight to prove it again.”
Words | Angelina Raula
Pictures | Denis Ivaneza