She is a 17-year-old halfback about to play a grand final in front of a sea of blue and gold cheering for the opposition. If you thought that was supposed to daunt Jesse Southwell, think again.
There’s always been something about this playmaker. Enough for eighth Immortal Andrew Johns to declare she will be “the best player in the competition in a couple of years”. Enough for her sister, State of Origin and Test star Hannah Southwell, to declare she’d “never seen anything like it”.
“I watched her play a rugby league game back when she was 12 or 13, and I just thought ‘Oh my goodness’. I’m not being a wanker about it, but she is just something else,” Hannah Southwell said.
“I’d never seen anything like it before. I knew what she could do, and I told a few girls here ‘I’m not just saying this, she is going to be unreal’. The Brisbane Broncos game came around [in round one] and she proved me right and absolutely killed it. I’m very proud to be her sister and I’ve loved watching her play every second.”
The NRLW rookie of the year will be tasked with steering the Newcastle Knights around the park in a grand final against the Parramatta Eels at Accor Stadium on Sunday.
The Knights will enter the decider as heavy favourites but Newcastle fans will be outnumbered by thousands, with Parramatta supporters expected to flock to Sydney Olympic Park as the Eels chase a premiership double.
Jesse Southwell with her maiden NRLW jersey.Credit:Newcastle Knights
Perhaps those in red and blue will find allies in Penrith fans who filter in early for the State Championship decider between the NSW Cup-winning Panthers and Queensland Cup kings Norths Devils.
But the prospect of being a schoolkid – not even old enough to enjoy a celebratory drink with her teammates after full-time – and being targeted by the opposition matters little to Southwell.
The teenager, who signed with the Knights after winning Commonwealth Games gold with Australia’s rugby sevens team, has been a revelation this season and heads into the decider ranked second in the competition in try assists and third in total kick metres.
“It’s been unreal. I was at the Dally Ms watching her win rookie of the year, and that was a very special moment. I feel like a proud parent,” Hannah Southwell said as she recovers from an anterior cruciate ligament tear that will keep her out of the grand final.
“She’s done really well this year and she has stayed level-headed. To see what she has done in the game is unreal and hopefully she can help us get a win on the weekend.”
Eels centre Tiana Penitani says she will give herself until Saturday to prove her fitness for the grand final with a quadriceps injury threatening to keep her sidelined for the end of Parramatta’s fairytale run.
Penitani, who has withdrawn from World Cup contention due to her wedding, has spent hours in hyperbaric chambers and red-light therapy beds, and on massage tables in a bid to be fit for the decider.
“It’s feeling good at the moment. I’ve still got a couple of boxes to tick. I’ve been running this week, at 60 per cent, but the real test will be trying to hit top speed,” Penitani said.
“It depends on the feel and how much power you can generate. I’m doing absolutely everything you can possibly name.”
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