Dragons player ratings: NRLW grand final

Player ratings for the Dragons team for the NRLW grand final against the Broncos.

1. Botille Vette-Welsh: Beautiful dummy for a dash towards the south-east corner late in the opening half. But couldn’t make the same impact in the second half. 6.5/10

2. Rikeya Horne: Strong one-on-one defender, who brought a few Broncos down just a metre of two from the line. Worked in tandem with Sergis to get the Dragons some metres early in sets. 6

3. Jess Sergis: The Dally M winner ran the ball hard to start the Dragons sets. And brought down fullback Tamika Upton on the charge to show her defence was just as solid. Slipped up in letting a Broncos goal-line drop-kick bounce, and a push in the back on Julia Robinson late in the game denied her a try. Never stopped trying though. 7

4. Tiana Penitani: Combined well with Horne to push Pilley over the touchline to stem Broncos possession midway through the first half. Defended well throughout but few opportunities to show her speed. Threw one mistimed pass out in front of an unmarked Horne early in the second half trying to make something happen. 6.5

5. Shakiah Tungai: Lost the ball in three-woman tackle inside her own 20m, but at least no opposition try resulted. Made an eastern sideline dash late in the game but Upton got her in cover defence. 6

6. Keeley Davis: Threw a forward pass from dummy-half early in the second stanza to show the team was missing Breayley (off with a knee injury). Generally tried hard to penetrate with her kicking and passing game. 5.5

7. Maddie Studdon: A couple of great positional kicks, when her side was under the pump in the first half. Put a grubber through that almost gave Apps a try. Kicked for over 200 metres in the first-half but only 30 metres in the second. That could have been a side-effect of a hyper-extended left elbow not long after the break. 7.5

8. Ngatokotoru Arakua: Knocked the ball on early on her own 20m line, which lead to the Broncos' first try off the next set. But from then on was punishing in defence. Equalled her skipper Kezie Apps in tackle-busts with five. 6.5

9. Brittany Breayley: Ball slipped from her grasp off the back of a scrum to put her team under pressure. The Broncos scored their second try off the next set. But showed plenty of courage when forced from the field late in the first half with a knee injury, to return in the second. Didn’t miss any of her 40 tackles made. 7.5

10. Maitua Feterika: Put her head down to try and break through the Broncos defence all afternoon. Topped the metre count (96 metres) in a badly beaten side from her 12 runs. 6.5

11. Kezie Apps: Busted through two tackles in the opening half, and another three in the second, to try and get some momentum going. Another feature of her game was her quick play-the-balls. The NSW captain was rewarded with a try. 7.5

12. Shaylee Bent: Good leg speed as she dragged tacklers backwards. But couldn’t poke her nose through often enough. 6.

13. Holli Wheeler: Made a bundle of tackles early when Broncos held 70 per cent possession. Tireless in defence all game (28 tackles) until she went straight up the tunnel with a left shoulder injury with 15 minutes to play. 7

Interchange

14. Aalyiah Fasavalu-Fa’amausili: Came off for an HIA after only 10 minutes on the field replacing prop Maitua Feterika in the first half. Made 11 runs in her 18 minutes game time. 5

15. Takilele Katoa: Suffered right shoulder injury trying to stop Lenarduzzi score the Broncos' fourth try. 5

16. Maddison Weatherall: Rotten luck to come on the field in the 12^th minute but left via the medi-cab just before half-time with a deep gash to her right knee. That was her afternoon done. 4

17 Najvada George: Made 10 runs in her 19 minutes but hard to make more impact in a side going backwards. 4

NRLW grand final: Broncos player ratings

The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of the NRL, ARLC, NRL clubs or state associations.