Former Dally M Medallist and Golden Boot winner Raecene McGregor has turned back the clock to produce a masterclass and steer the Wests Tigers to their third victory of the season keeping hopes alive of a first ever NRLW finals’ appearance.
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Under clear skies in Wagga Wagga to open the NRLW’s second Magic Round – a stark contrast to the deluge of the inaugural edition in Newcastle – McGregor wreaked havoc with Cronulla’s defence playing a part in five of the six Tigers’ tries, scoring two of her own and leading her side to a 32-20 victory.
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The three-time premiership winner had the ball on a string to set a new points scoring record for the Tigers in the NRLW, reminiscent of 2022 when she won the Dally M. McGregor finished the match with 16 points setting a new mark surpassing the previous record of 12.
Whether it was with ball in her hand dummying before the line, fooling the Sharks’ defence with her footwork or her kicking game which assisted three of the Tigers’ tries, every facet of her play showed the true worth of the 28-year-old’s recruitment to the club this season.
Raecene McGregor scored 16 of the Tigers’ 36 points against Cronulla.Source: Getty Images
Her try early in the second half demonstrated footwork the great Brad Fittler would have been proud of, after the dummy had again drawn the defence, like it did in the first half for a try, and had the Sharks reeling. Cronulla did their best to keep pace with their opponents, but the return of Tiana Penitani-Gray and four tries were not enough to prevent a fourth loss from five matches this season, putting finals at risk.
The Tigers even overcame the loss of former Origin player, Australian representative and Wests Tigers star Holli Wheeler for 10 minutes in the first half, who is on report for a challenge on Cronulla halfback Chantay Kiria-Ratu, and in what could sour the victory, could be set for a suspension if the precedent of Canberra’s Jordyn Preston is anything to go by, who misses Magic Round for a similar challenge at the legs on the same player last round.
MORE HISTORY AS ROOSTERS DEMOLISH DRAGONS
Elsewhere, points-scoring machine Jocelyn Kelleher has made history on day one of the NRLW’s Magic Round in the heart of the Riverina becoming the first player to reach 300 career points.
Kelleher, 26, in her seventh NRLW season before an ever-increasing crowd of more than 5,000, passed the 300-point mark with her third conversion of the day, late in the Roosters’ 38-8 win over the St George Illawarra Dragons to remain undefeated.
The closest to the NSW Origin five-eighth is Jillaroos’ super star Jesse Southwell with 274 points. Kelleher’s five conversions of the Roosters’ seven tries taking her to a total of 305 career points.
Jocelyn Kelleher of the Roosters. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Her swirling bomb created a late match nightmare for Teagan Berry which an opportunistic Jess Sergis pounced upon, getting her right foot to the loose ball, chasing through to score her third try, securing a first NRLW hat-trick and putting a full stop on the win.
After a week in the headlines, hooker Keeley Nizza exposed the brittle Dragons defence to dive over from dummy half for the Roosters’ first, and although the Dragons showed resilience to level up mid-way through the first half and stay in the contest early in the second trailing by 12 at that point, the frailty on the line and inside 20 came to the fore in the final scoreline, making finals very hard from here.
The Dragons’ woes were made worse late in the game when star recruit Shenae Ciesiolka went down heavily, after contact close to the line with Jayme Fressard, with what may be a quad complaint. Kasey Reh also left the field in the dying minutes for a HIA assessment.
COWBOYS FINALLY END WINLESS DROUGHT
The Cowboys 11-month winless drought in the NRLW has ended in Wagga Wagga to complete day one of the Magic Round with “one of the best centres in the game” leading the way.
And a major error by a Raiders’ star ultimately proving the difference on the scoreboard, finishing 18-16.
During the week, speaking on a podcast Jillaroos’ legend Ruan Sims rated Abigail Roache as ‘one of the best centres’, and returning from a knee injury, the Kiwi International showed why.
The 25-year-old was a menace on the left side for the Canberra Raiders’, who let slip a 16-nil lead.
Before 7,142 at Geohex Stadium in NSW’s Riverina, Roache finished the game with three try assists and four line break assists. Her dynamism on the left edge feeding winger Margot Vella two tries of the three needed for victory.
Before 7,142 at Geohex Stadium in NSW’s Riverina, the turning point coming when Canberra star metre machine fullback Sheridan Gallagher conceded a penalty try in the 49th minute, soon after the Raiders’ third try.
The Cowboys finally won. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
From that point on, Canberra and their fullback began to implode.
The Bunker ruling direct contact to the head in the act of scoring the try, the Cowboys’ first, with Charlize Lloyd-Phillips leaving the field for a HIA and Gallagher placed on report as a result. The Cowboys’ winger passed her head injury assessment.
Gallagher’s day then quickly turned to custard when she dropped a number of balls which gave North Queensland scoring opportunities and territorial advantage as the game drew to a close. It would cost the Raiders all momentum.
The Cowboys entered Magic round having lost their past six games dating back to September last year, and had been outscored 230-54, and at the 48th minute they were staring down the barrel having conceded 172 points in their first five games this season and remaining winless.
This was despite a gallant defensive effort which had kept the deficit to four-nil at half-time, in a first half that did not see a line break until the half an hour mark, but kept the Cowboys in the contest allowing for the comeback, taking North Queensland off the bottom of the ladder albeit temporarily until day two of Magic Round.