The Illawarra Steelers hopes of making the finals series have had one more hurdle added after a devastating 34-12 loss against the Penrith Panthers in Round 9 of the NSWRL Women’s premiership at Croome Regional Sporting Complex on Saturday.
After slipping from third to sixth on the ladder, the Steelers now face a do-or-die final round clash against the ladder-leading Knights in Newcastle on Saturday. With finals hopes on the line, only a win will keep Illawarra’s campaign alive.
Returning from injury, St. George Illawarra Dragons NRLW veteran Keele Browne made her first appearance for the Steelers since 2023, slotting into the centres. Her return pushed Ella Churchill to the wing and Paige Knapp to the reserves bench.
The forward pack also saw changes, with Mackenzie Lear and Seriah Palepale starting, while Mary Latu and Roxy Murdoch-Masila moved to the interchange bench. Madison Hemopo (pictured) took up the hooker role, as Tori Shipton earned a call-up to the NRLW.
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The match began disastrously for the Steelers, as they conceded four tries in the opening twenty minutes to trail 20-0 early in the contest.
The Steelers hit back with Hemopo scoring in the 23rd minute after a sneaky scoot from dummy half to score near the posts, and fullback Tayleah Handcock’s ever-reliable boot bringing the margin down to 14 points.
Despite the reprieve, the Panthers would get the jump heading into halftime, with winger Samantha Hanrahan snagging her second of the afternoon in the 34th minute, sending the teams into the sheds 24-6.
The hosts found the first points of the second half through five-eighth Skye Spencer after a well-recovered fourth tackle kick by Rhian Yeo allowed Spencer to take the last tackle head-on and crash over, with Handcock once again converting the try to make it 24-10 with twenty-five minutes remaining.
However, the Steelers’ momentum soon came to a crashing halt with two Panthers tries within four minutes: one from second-rower Julie Notise in the 51st minute, and Hanrahan finishing off her hat-trick in the 54th minute, courtesy of a well-recovered pass by their five-eighth Aaliyah Boland.
Reeling from that double blow, the Steelers couldn’t regain momentum and ultimately suffered their fourth loss of the season and a significant setback to their finals hopes with just one round remaining.
After the match, halfback Georgie Barrett identified the main problems as breakdowns in ruck control and costly errors.
“Definitely just solving the ruck first and slowing down our play the balls. We tend to just all get off the players at the same time, and we just get rolled through the middle,” Barrett said.
“I think just going back, solving markers, solving our As, and then obviously just cutting down the errors and penalties.
“We just couldn’t complete a set, and if we did, we couldn’t control the play.”
Barrett knows exactly what’s at stake: only a win will keep Illawarra’s finals hopes alive.
“Obviously it’s a must-win. We’ve just got to try to stick to our game plan again; we keep falling away from it,” Barrett said.
“If we just tighten up our middle defence and… just defend. That’s all we’ve got to solve is our defence.
“We just want to make finals, and that’s our goal obviously, but we’re just going to play next week. That’s all we’ve got to do. Just play our game next week and get that done first.”
The Steelers take on the Newcastle Knights on Saturday, 29th August at the Newcastle Knights Centre of Excellence. Kick-off is scheduled for 2.00pm.
Words: Harrison Mellare
Photo credit: Denis Ivaneza