HNWP Sharks trounce Dragons, Dogs too good in the Tarsha

The Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership Sharks found some form in scoring their biggest win of the season, while in the Tarsha Gale Cup the young Cronulla team suffered a heavy defeat of 2023 at the hands of the Bulldogs in round eight matches played on Sunday.

Despite making around seven to eight changes to their regular line up, the HNWP Sharks proved far too good for the Dragons in a 46-12 win, while in the early game the Tarsha Gale leading Bulldogs registered a 56-0 victory to remain on top of the competition table.

In the senior women’s match the HNWP Sharks scored before the Dragons had opportunity to touch the ball, with the early try setting the tone for a first half where the Cronulla team would cross the try line on seven occasions.

Two Dragons tries saved them from embarrassment, however the 28-12 lead was a commanding one, with the Sharks going on with the job after the break, scoring three more tries in a 10 try demolition, only goalkicking saving the St George side from an even greater margin of defeat.

Coach Ruan Sims was obviously pleased with the performance of a team which had a distinctly different look to that of previous weeks.  

“We made a lot of change this week, gave a lot of girls an opportunity and I was really proud of the way they were able to find their groove,” Sims said. “There are always areas we can still improve on, (but) I was really happy with that.

For the Sharks five eighth Nakia Davis-Welsh, outsider back Ella Barker and middle forward Ellie Johnson all scored twice, while fullback Jada Taylor notched a try in her first game in Cronulla colours.

Despite the big win, the Sharks, who have the bye next week, will be depending on other results to go their way should they hope to qualify for the HNWP finals.

“It has been a rollercoaster,” Sims said of the 2023 season. “We’ve seen patches of good work and patches where we switch off a little bit, but the good signs are really good.”

In the Tarsha Gale match, the proverbial boot was certainly on the other foot, with the ladder-leading Bulldogs flexing their muscle against an outgunned Sharks side.

The Bulldogs led by just 14-0 at the break, however it was one-way traffic in the second period as they showed why they are the team to beat in the Tarsha Gale Cup competition.

Rather than talk negatively about the performance of the Tarsha Sharks, NRLW Coach Tony Herman preferred to praise their wholehearted efforts against the benchmark team of the women’s under-19 competition.

“They got worn down, didn’t control the ball and didn’t have much footy and once the bigger teams get a roll on you like that its hard to hold them out,” Herman said

But the girls were down 30-0 and they’re chasing, they’re making covering tackles, we were having halves having hit ups off their own line. And it was just that we cared about one another.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them. They chased for one another and that showed the true spirit in the team. They’ll learn a lot from that,” Herman added.

Next up for the HNWP Sharks is a Monday night match against the Illawarra Steelers on Monday night, while the Tarsha Sharks also take on the Steelers, that game to be played on Saturday at the Academy Fields at Cronulla High School.

HNWP
SHARKS 46
Nakia Davis-Welsh 2, Ella Barker 2, Ellie Johnson 2, Jada Taylor, Monique Donovan, Chloe Sanders, Sarah Boyle tries, Felicity Powdrell 3 goals
beat
Dragons 12

TARSHA GALE
Sharks 0
lost to
Bulldogs 56