{"id":78223,"date":"2025-10-02T09:03:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T23:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=78223"},"modified":"2025-10-02T09:57:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T23:57:58","slug":"2025-nrlw-grand-final-tips-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2025\/10\/2025-nrlw-grand-final-tips-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 NRLW Grand Final Tips & Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nothing is inevitable in rugby league but the NRLW Grand Final we all expected has finally arrived.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Injuries have hit Easts hard and at the wrong time in the season, but they still play with the best systems in the women\u2019s game on both sides of the ball. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile Brisbane have overcome a dreaded Preliminary Final hurdle to finally book their place in the big dance and will employ the best player in the NRLW at fullback on Sunday afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s my deciding factors for the 2025 NRLW Grand Final.   <\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n
\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n
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Sydney Roosters<\/div>\n
vs<\/div>\n
Brisbane Broncos<\/div>\n
Sunday 5th October 2025 (Accor Stadium)<\/div>\n
Tips: Brisbane Broncos (-2.5) line, Romy Teitzel try, Gayle Broughton try\u00a0 Karyn Murphy Medalist: Gayle Broughton, Julia Robinson, Keilee Joseph\u00a0<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

Brisbane Broncos<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A star studded spine and a backline oozing with representative talent makes this Brisbane Broncos outfit an attacking force.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jada Ferguson is a crafty dummy-half while Gayle Broughton and Ali Brigginshaw are both capable of organising and executing on shape down either tram line. With Tamika Upton complementing all three smartly – or doing it all herself at different times – the Broncos are able to pose <\/span>so many<\/span><\/i> different questions to the defence on each tackle.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cricket scores every other week throughout the regular season though have perhaps overshadowed what is arguably Brisbane\u2019s greatest strength going into Sunday.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In their past four games, this Broncos defence has conceded just three tries.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brisbane handled relatively soft matchups against Canterbury and New Zealand with ease before closing out the regular season with a 50-4 shut-out of the North Queensland Cowboys – one of the better attacking teams in the NRLW this year.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To back that up again in the Preliminary Finals and leak just six points against Newcastle last week is a testament to the resilience and connection under pressure in this Broncos defensive line.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What makes those recent numbers even more impressive is that Brisbane have produced them while completing at just 64% on average.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Against the Knights last week, the Broncos completed just 21 of 37 sets (56%) to <\/span>repeatedly <\/span><\/i>gift Newcastle free looks at their try line. <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the enormous pressure this Brisbane defence is putting itself under right now, they are consistently finding ways to defend their errors.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Provided the Broncos can tidy up their discipline in yardage and pick their moments to push the pass, their defence profiles well to contain whatever Easts throw at them in good-ball.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the ball in hand, I\u2019m looking down Brisbane\u2019s left edge on Sunday afternoon.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cronulla made a target of the spaces around Jasmin Strange (36 tackles, 6 misses) last week to have some joy down that channel once fatigue sets in.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I like Gayle Broughton to do similar things on the Broncos left edge this week; she\u2019s got a lethal decoy in Mele Hufanga in the centres while Lauren Dam and Tamika Upton push off either hip in support.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Point of Difference<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not often a nine-game rookie profiles as a point of difference in a Grand Final, but this is Shalom Sauaso we\u2019re talking about.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The teen sensation has been on a tear for Brisbane this season, making a mockery of would-be defenders once fatigue sets in through the middle of the field.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Easts and Brisbane employ two of the biggest packs in the NRLW and there will be fireworks early.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Sydney\u2019s middle handles the level-change when Brisbane kick up a gear through Sauso and Chelsea Lenarduzzi will be a pivotal moment in this contest.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sydney Roosters<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rugby league is a cruel game and the Roosters are feeling the pinch of some untimely injuries to key players right now.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Halfback Tarryn Aiken is an enormous loss; she\u2019s right up alongside Tamika Upton as the best player in the NRLW and the Roosters attack simply can\u2019t replace what she offers with the ball.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For coach John Strange to also potentially be without Amber Hall (calf) this week has left two big holes in this Roosters lineup.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Easts <\/span>do<\/span><\/i> have on their side here though is experience and consistency in key positions.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keeley Davis, Corban Baxter, Olivia Kernick and Jocelyn Kelleher have all performed on this stage before and won\u2019t shy away from the occasion. <\/span><\/p>\n

Easts don\u2019t typically roll the dice like Brisbane do in attack because they don\u2019t need to; they know they\u2019ll always have a platform to play off thanks to the productivity of Isablle Kelly and Jess Sergis in yardage, and they\u2019re happy to play patient and wait for points to come in good-ball.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kernick and Kelleher will be key to the Roosters attack when they do arrive on Brisbane\u2019s goal-line.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We mightn\u2019t see sweeping movements from coast-to-coast but both Kernick and Kelleher are elite at squaring up defenders and winning little positive matchups for ball runners around them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Point of Difference<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jocellyn Kelleher won\u2019t threaten the line or throw a double cut-out pass like Aiken but she\u2019s still one of the better general play kickers in the women\u2019s game.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where, when and how Kelleher finishes Easts sets on Sunday will go a long way to containing the work of Tamika Upton on kick returns. Upton is often the catalyst for a dominant Broncos yardage set as she finds spaces in the kick chase and steals cheap yards for her team.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The less Kelleher allows Upton to take those early wins coming out of trouble, the better Easts will contain Brisbane in the yardage battle.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\n Roosters v Broncos<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nothing is inevitable in rugby league but the NRLW Grand Final we all expected has finally arrived.   Injuries have hit Easts hard and at the wrong time in the season, but they still play with the best systems in the women\u2019s game on both sides of the ball.  Meanwhile Brisbane have overcome a dreaded Preliminary Final hurdle to finally book their place in the big dance and will employ the best player in the NRLW at fullback on Sunday afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0 Here\u2019s my deciding factors for the 2025 NRLW Grand Final.    Sydney Roosters vs Brisbane Broncos Sunday 5th October 2025 (Accor…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":75322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[24],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-78223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby-league","tag-rugby-league"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":"","md_tip_date_end":"","md_market_url":"","tip_date":"02\/10\/2025","event_country":"Australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78223"},{"taxonomy":"hub_post_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub_post_cat?post=78223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}