Knights officials should give raises to everyone in the NRLW recruitment team after a number of high-profile purchases helped Newcastle reach the grand final with a 30-6 win over the Dragons.
This is a team that claimed the wooden spoon and didn’t win a game in its inaugural season, but they are into the decider just a few months later thanks to some special performances by former Broncos Millie Boyle and Tamika Upton.
The pair brought plenty of premiership experience to the Hunter, and it showed on Sunday with Boyle leading Newcastle’s formidable pack to a huge win in the middle.
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The representative star made 161 metres and scored one of the great individual tries in NRLW history when she skittled NSW teammates Emma Tonegato and Keeley Davis with a couple of brutal fends on her way to the line.
She played the entire first half as temperatures nudged 30 degrees and earned a handy rest late in the game as her teammates piled on the points.
“Quite possibly the best performance I’ve seen from a skipper in a very long time,” Knights coach Ronald Griffiths said. “The coach’s box went up (when she scored). We were in raptures.”
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TAMIKA’S STOCKS GO UPTON
All the talk this season has been on the battle between Emma Tonegato and Sam Bremner for the Jillaroos fullback spot at the World Cup.
And while both of them should be on the plane to England, Aussie selectors better make room for Upton after she stole the show on Sunday.
Making her return from a calf injury, Upton was in the thick of it early when she was collected high by Elsie Albert.
But she shook that off and punished a Tonegato error to score a few plays later off a lovely inside ball by teen sensation Jesse Southwell.
Upton had some enormous runs on her way to 166 metres and eight tackle busts, and it was fitting that the speedy fullback blitzed the Dragons through the middle to seal the win and become the equal-leading try-scorer in NRLW history with 11.
Her only blemish was a pass that was intercepted by Teagan Berry for St George Illawarra’s only try, but it was hard to fault given she was trying something enterprising with a bit of space on the outside.
DRAGONS FAIL TO BREATHE FIRE
This wasn’t a good way to end the season.
The Dragons have been one of the most consistent teams of 2022 but they were out of sorts on Sunday, butchering plenty of opportunities close to the line as things fell apart in the second half.
They rely so heavily on Tonegato who had a game-high 211 metres and tried her heart out, but things just didn’t go her way.
She spilled a few kicks early on and couldn’t quite position her wingers, and even when she did beat five defenders to score, the Bunker spotted a tiny knock on to deny what would’ve been a superb solo effort.
“It was a try,” coach Jamie Soward said.
“She still had her finger on it. It’s a try and it changes the game.
“I don’t know why we took three minutes to look at it.”
The concern for the Dragons is that a lot of their players are affiliated with the new teams joining the competition next year, so the pressure will be on to keep their biggest stars, including Tonegato.
“We’ll talk with her and see what she wants to do,” Soward said.
“We’ll let the dust settle and work out who we’re going to sign for next year. Em will probably be first cab off the rank.”
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