{"id":404917,"date":"2026-04-30T12:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/404917\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T12:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:00:13","slug":"tiana-penitani-gray-opens-up-positional-swap-versatility-in-forwards-nsw-blues-womens-state-of-origin-queensland-maroons-nrlw-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/404917\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiana Penitani-Gray opens up positional swap, versatility in forwards, NSW Blues, Women\u2019s State of Origin, Queensland Maroons, nrlw news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday evening, Tiana Penitani-Gray will put on the NSW Blues jersey for the 12th time in her illustrious career, but this time she will be playing in a position that is completely new to her.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo?<a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Previously playing in the halves, on the wing and in the centres, the NRLW star has now been shifted to the back-row for the opening match of the 2026 Women\u2019s State of Origin series against Queensland.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>This comes after she impressed in the new role in just 13 minutes during an in-house trial in the Blues six-week training camp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s something Strangey (NSW coach John Strange) had an idea of when we had our internal trials. He put me there and gave me a really simple task and was happy with how I played,\u201d she said in the lead-up to the match. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf anyone watches our games and has watched me, I\u2019ve played like a backrower in the centres for a little while. It\u2019s a big part of my game. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not underestimating the role by any means. I know it\u2019s a really big job, but I\u2019m excited and I think the attributes of being a good backrower are skills I have. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s always said he looks at us as being footballers with attributes and skills rather than you\u2019re only a left centre or a right centre or whatever. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe trust the process and the plan, if he tells you to play back row you play back row and do your best job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NSW trust Tiana Penitani in new role | 01:31<\/p>\n<p>MORE NRL NEWS<\/p>\n<p>\u2018BROKE NO RULES\u2019: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-jarome-luai-and-benji-marshall-hold-press-conference-after-png-chiefs-signing-wests-tigers-roster\/news-story\/f3db3d3827321d6dc4ea52fbf729cc9c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Luai opens up on Tigers exit&#8230; and awkward \u2018team first\u2019 Galvin crack<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2018BROKEN DOWN\u2019: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-benji-marshall-reveals-emotional-jarome-luai-chat-png-chiefs-contract-wests-tigers-roster\/news-story\/43edba09890bd183fe8d623a5e8afd62\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Benji<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-benji-marshall-reveals-emotional-jarome-luai-chat-png-chiefs-contract-wests-tigers-roster\/news-story\/43edba09890bd183fe8d623a5e8afd62\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">\u2019s \u2018emotional\u2019 chat with Luai&#8230; and powerful reveal on moment he \u2018begged\u2019 star<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2018NOT A FAIR FIGHT\u2019: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-perth-bears-disadvantages-on-recruitment-front-compared-to-png-chiefs-failed-to-sign-star-players-solutions-nrl360-rugby-league-news\/news-story\/da1028272b7399123fe29ccb7d19dfdc\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Why Bears are fighting uphill battle in recruiting war<\/a><\/p>\n<p>No stranger to playing in a new position, she was thrown into the halves alongside Jesse Southwell for last year\u2019s series and didn\u2019t look out of place as the Blues won the shield.<\/p>\n<p>Showing her versatility, she is looking forward to the challenge on Thursday night at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle.<\/p>\n<p>However, Penitani-Gray jokingly admitted that she might need to eventually hang up the boots if she is moved into the middle of the field as a front-rower or dummy-half.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m feeling quietly confident, I know what\u2019s required from a good backrower, given I\u2019ve played six and centre,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel really excited that I get to be in that position and dictate how our middle and edge defence works.<\/p>\n<p>Elliot on Origin return after baby birth | 00:44<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re part of this intimate squad in the six-week block, what Strangey does is no shock to us. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s something we know, trust and love about Strangey, he\u2019s really unorthodox and creative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I end up getting pushed into the middle or at hooker, that\u2019s probably time to hang the boots up. That\u2019s not happening!\u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Thursday evening, Tiana Penitani-Gray will put on the NSW Blues jersey for the 12th time in her&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,2652,208603,208598,208600,208595,144752,208599,208601,81263,148954,68451,208602,2648,111,2653,139,208281,208597,69,2659,208596,151233,213],"class_list":["post-404917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-baby-birthrugby","tag-back-row","tag-blues-star","tag-edge-defence-works","tag-ethan-lee-chalk","tag-illustrious-career","tag-in-house-trial","tag-jesse-southwell","tag-lee-chalk","tag-maternity-leave","tag-millie-elliot","tag-new-south-wales","tag-new-zealand","tag-newcastle","tag-newzealand","tag-not-a-fair-fight","tag-nrlw-news","tag-nz","tag-oceania","tag-positional-swap","tag-queensland-maroons","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}