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Players to watch

Sam Bremner wants to show her teammates they can have it all. The Roosters fullback makes her NRLW return after time away for the birth of her second child, pushing for a Jillaroos recall with a World Cup at the end of the year. The race to Australia’s No. 1 jersey looms as one of the most intriguing, with Emma Tonegato, Upton and Evania Pelite also in the mix.

Few can lay claim to a resume quite like Brooke Walker’s. The incoming Parramatta five-eighth will make her NRLW debut against the Roosters, but if you feel like you’ve seen her somewhere before, you probably have. The former Australian touch football representative and rugby sevens international has spent the past four seasons playing for Carlton in the AFLW.

Generation Next

Chances are you’ve seen that try. The NSW under 19s fullback scoops up the ball inside her own in-goal, skips clear of the Queensland defence and goes 109 metres to score. That was Jada Taylor, the teenager from Tamworth who has emerged as one of the NRLW’s brightest prospects after signing with the Roosters.

The NRLW’s answer to Joseph Suaalii will get her chance to shine in round one. Newcastle halfback Jesse Southwell needed dispensation to make her debut against the Broncos on Sunday. The minimum age to play in the top flight competition is 18, but the 17-year-old has been cleared to make the switch to rugby league after winning Commonwealth Games gold with the Australian sevens team.

Then there’s 18-year-old Roosters prop Kalosipani Hopoate. The daughter of former Australian winger John Hopoate has already represented Tonga and will make her debut from the bench this weekend.

The burning question

The Roosters ended Brisbane’s stranglehold on the NRLW crown en route to the 2021 premiership, which was played earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But can they back it up?

“Obviously there is extra pressure with winning a premiership, and that’s what the Broncos dealt with so well for three years,” Kelly said.

“It’s a really good feel, it’s a calm feel to be honest. I think being classed as the underdogs last year and kind of being written off at the very start, that’s something that we used a lot of motivation for. Now we’re just hungry to get in there and we just want to do the best we can from the very start.”