The Sydney Roosters NRLW team will host their first game of the 2023 season at the Sydney Cricket Ground tomorrow evening, an occasion Head Coach John Strange says the team certainly aren’t shying away from.
Following a disappointing loss to the Raiders last Saturday, the Tricolours mentor is confident his team can re-enter the winner’s circle after having difficult and honest conversations throughout the week.
"The Reaction Was Really Positive From The Girls" - Strange
“In the 2021 season, we had a couple of games that weren't great, especially early, until we started to sort of build and connect and come together as a team,” he said.
“We played really well in Round 1 against the Broncos, so we felt that we had hit the ground running and connected really well and that was probably a tougher opponent on paper.
“It's hard to know [where things went wrong] but we had a good chat on Monday, went through the video spoke about everyone being honest with themselves out there and working as best they can to help their teammates.
“Then we came together as a team, we went out and trained after that and it's the best they’ve trained, so the reaction from that was really positive from the girls.”
With the forward pack sustaining injuries in consecutive weeks, Strange has named 19-year-old Amelia Pasikala to make her NRLW debut in the second row while retaining Teuila Fotu-Moala following her Club debut in the front row last week
“That's part of footy, that’s what happens,” Strange said.
“We've got a strong squad of 24, obviously we've had to bring some new players in.
“Losing Amber Hall after 15 minutes meant that another girl gets an opportunity and we've lost a couple more middles from last week’s game with Mya being out with a HIA and Pani’s got an illness at the moment so she won't be playing.
“But that also gives other girls an opportunity to play and Amelia Pasikala is only a young … she gets to start and make her debut and that’s probably a little bit earlier than she thought but after watching her train on Monday, I’m so excited to see her get out there tomorrow.”
Kelly: 'We Can't Wait To Be Home'
Returning to Sydney following back-to-back interstate games in Rounds 1 and 2, Strange says he’s excited for the team to play at home this week but knows they can’t get used to the home ground advantage mentality.
“We don’t want to focus too much on ‘we have to be at home to lift’,” he said.
“We’ve got to have that attitude whether it’s in Canberra, whether it’s on the Sunshine Coast against the Broncos or up at Cbus against the Titans, we have to have the mentality that it doesn’t matter where we play, we’re going to be at our best.
“But in saying that, it’s our first home game at the SCG and I think it’s going to be really good atmosphere because the boys are playing after and hopefully we get a lot of fans out there to watch the girls as well as the boys - that’ll be really positive for us.”
Strange welcomes the inclusion of star forward Grace Hamilton this week, who returns to NRLW competition after making her debut at the Club in 2020.
“She's only had one training session before tomorrow's game,” he explained.
“She played here a few years ago in the 2020 season, she’s a great girl, really tough physically and mentally and she’ll be a really good inclusion for us.
“Obviously with the middles we've lost, especially losing Mya and Pani from last week, we really need her in there and I know that she’ll help."
Despite only having one training session under her belt before Thursday’s game, Strange knows Hamliton’s professionalism and dedication to learning will help the Roosters immensely.
“That's who Grace is,” he said.
“She actually trained better than I thought, she came in during the day and did a whiteboard session with her role out there and then she went home for couple hours and came back.
“She clearly studied, took the sheet and booklet home with her and then turned up at training and knew her role in all the plays like she has actually been here for two months.
“That's a testament to who she is, obviously she’s very smart and very experienced so that will certainly help.”
