Jocelyn Kelleher is relishing the chance to prove her credentials as the Sydney Roosters look to claim back-to-back NRLW premierships for the first time in their history.<\/p>\n
Halfback Kelleher kicked the winning field goal three minutes from full-time in Gosford on Saturday night to clinch a 17-16 win over Cronulla and send the Roosters through to next Sunday’s grand final.<\/p>\n
The Roosters will meet the winners of Sunday’s second preliminary final between Brisbane and Newcastle.<\/p>\n
Kelleher, who is deputising in the number seven jersey following Tarryn Aiken’s season-ending knee injury, is keen to stand tall when it matters most.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old, who usually plays five-eighth, nailed a pinpoint 40\/30 kick along with her match-winning field goal.<\/p>\n
Her grubber kicks also caused issues all night for the Sharks’ scrambling defence.<\/p>\n
“That was the best kick of my entire life, I’ve never hit it so straight before,” Kelleher said.<\/p>\n
“It was good to put some scenario stuff in place in case it does get down to the wire next week.<\/p>\n
“We do a lot of that at training, and it came through out there.”<\/p>\n
Kelleher said Roosters coach John Strange had given her the confidence to make the match-winning play.<\/p>\n
“He has prepared us well for those situations, and it’s good to see we can compete in high-pressure situations,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Hopefully, we’ll bring that into next week.”<\/p>\n
The win extended the Roosters’ perfect record in 2025, with Strange’s side unbeaten through 11 regular-season matches and Saturday’s preliminary final victory over the Sharks.<\/p>\n
Since the inception of the NRLW in 2018, only the Broncos (2018, 2020) have gone through the season undefeated, claimed the minor premiership and won the grand final.<\/p>\n
Should they win next week’s grand final, the Roosters would be the first side to complete the sweep since the competition expanded beyond four teams in 2021 to the current slate of 12 teams.<\/p>\n
“That would be incredible. We put a lot of pressure on us to get better than last year,” Kelleher said.<\/p>\n
“We won last year, but that wasn’t going to be good enough this year. We knew that.<\/p>\n
“We’ve been working on what we can do to get better and trying to do that each week.”<\/p>\n
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