A pep talk from Sharks Jillaroos representatives Corban McGregor and Shontelle Stowers following their final training session on Thursday, has the Tarsha Gale Sharks primed for a huge performance in the Grand Final at Leichhardt Oval tomorrow.
The Sharks Tarsha Gale team has been ultra-impressive throughout the season, winning all 10-games in 2018, however as good a season as it has been, they will want to finish it off and claim the trophy on Saturday afternoon.
The girls went through their final on-field preparations at Southern Cross Group Stadium yesterday, before a team dinner and the address by the two senior Sharks, with the Tarsha Gale Sharks taking it all in and said to be excited about the challenge awaiting them.
"You could have heard a pin drop, they were all listening and it's not very often that they are quiet," a Tarsha Gale team representative revealed. "They took in what Shontelle and Corban had to say, about what the Sharks had done for them to this point, about the pathway they now have to senior rugby league and how important their own personal preparation will be between now and the game tomorrow."
While the Sharks had been dominant throughout the 2018 regular season, the intensity lifted a notch once the Finals began, with their opponents this week in the Knights taking the game to the final seconds the last time they met, before the Cronulla girls emerged 40-38 winners.
Following a week off they backed up that effort with a 44-30 win over a physical St George Dragons side, in a match which saw talented outside back Faith Nathan score five tries.
The five tries to Nathan took her tally for the year to 23, an incredible effort considering she missed a handful of games towards the start of the season.
Should they hope to be successful and claim the trophy tomorrow afternoon, the Sharks will also need the likes of Quincy Dodd, the competition's leading point-scorer, along with the talented Madison Higgins-Ashby, to reproduce the form that has them rated amongst the best players in the Tarsha Gale in 2018.
Their opponents the Knights on the other hand have found form at the right time of the season, backing up their narrow loss to the Sharks in week one of the finals with a 50-12 win over the Panthers in week two, before beating the Tigers 26-16 last Saturday in the Grand Final qualifier.
The Tarsha Gale Cup Grand Final is scheduled for a 2pm kick-off at Leichhardt Oval, sandwiched in between the Matthews Cup and SG Ball Grand Finals, also set down for the same venue on Saturday.
For those unable to get to Leichhardt Oval, the NSWRL will be showing all Junior Rep Grand Finals via a live stream, including the Tarsha Gale decider, through both their website and Facebook pages.
The Sharks team is listed below, along with the Live Stream link.
Team List - Tarsha Gale Cup
Grand Final
Sharks v Knights
Saturday, May 5
Leichhardt Oval
Kick-off – 2.00pm
2 Zali Fay
4 Lynda Howarth
3 Faith Nathan
5 Jaida White
6 Madi Higgins-Ashby
7 Quincy Dodd ©
9 Kaleah Salmon
12 Sariah Paki
13 Mareva Swann
Interchange
1 Elly Hazelton
8 Talei Holmes
10 Temukisa Loane
14 Akira Kelly
17 Jesse Lengyelfalusy
18 Alilia Veikoso
Reserves
11 Merinda Smith
15 Teuila Taito
16 Ariel Ngatokorua
19 Bridget Fallah
20 Tali Smith
Coach - Colin Dodd
Live stream info
https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2018/04/30/nswrl-to-live-stream-junior-reps-grand-finals/
