Even losing star halfback didn’t derail Roosters. Does anyone else stand a chance?

1 week ago 7

For most teams, an ACL injury to your halfback will ruin your season. For the Roosters, it appears to have been just a minor inconvenience.

When Tarryn Aiken ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament 15 minutes into the last game of the regular season against Cronulla earlier this month, the Tricolours reshuffled, rallied and still put 40 points on the Sharks.

The two sides meet again on Saturday night in a rematch of last year’s grand final, with a place in the 2025 decider up for grabs.

And given their unrivalled strength in depth, any suggestion the Roosters – who finished the regular season with a perfect 11 wins from 11 games – are vulnerable is laughable, according to Sharks five-eighth Emma Verran.

“You take away Tarryn and you replace her with Corban [Baxter],” said Verran. “That’s incredible – to have that depth to replace somebody in a spine with another Australian representative is unheard of, and they have so many representative players across the board.”

The concentration of Origin and Australian representative stars at the Roosters and Broncos has been one of the biggest issues in this season’s NRLW.

Tarryn Aiken is assisted from the field after injuring her ACL.

The two sides boast a combined eight players (including Aiken) who represented the Jillaroos in Las Vegas earlier this year, and 17 who played in at least one game of the 2025 State of Origin series.

While four new teams came into the competition, a Roosters-Brisbane grand final has looked inevitable since the early weeks. The Broncos have beaten all in their path except the Roosters, who ran out 30-26 winners in a thriller back in round three.

The Roosters also have injury concerns over winger Jayme Fressard and forwards Rima Butler and Amber Hall, and Cronulla have their superstars, too – along with the knowledge they ran the premiers close in last year’s grand final before losing 32-28.

“They’re a great team and if we let them in the game they can easily run away with it,” Verran said. “They can put points on a team very easily as we’ve seen this season, lots of big scorelines

“But we can do the same, and we have to stay in it and stay focused and come out with a bang and get on the scoreboard early. We can definitely take a lot from that grand final. I know it’s a long time ago, but it just shows that teams can compete with them.”

While they lost halfback Tayla Preston to the Bulldogs this season, the Sharks have unearthed a gem in the form of Preston’s No.7 replacement Chantay Kiria-Ratu, and welcomed back superstar fullback Jada Taylor from an ACL injury in mid-season.

“I think having Chantay there, she’s a bit of a surprise package for us this year, she’s really earned her spot in that No.7 jersey, just the way she controls the game,” Verran said.

“She’s so calm and obviously got a great kicking game. It’s been a pleasant surprise having her, and it’s been awesome to see her flourish and just come out of her shell a little bit.”

Roosters playmaker Jocelyn Kelleher, who will wear Aiken’s No.7 jersey in her 50th NRLW game, won’t be taking the Sharks lightly.

“They have players that can switch the momentum, score that try and change the game in a heartbeat,” Kelleher said. “We have to turn up, we have to play 70 minutes.”

Chantay Kiria-Ratu after kicking the match-winning field goal against the Knights in round nine.

The Broncos go head-to-head with Newcastle in Brisbane on Sunday in the weekend’s other preliminary final.

Knights skipper Yasmin Clydsdale believes her team can match their high-flying opponents in a one-off showdown, and says insider knowledge on former teammate Tamika Upton, who won two premierships with Newcastle in 2022 and 2023 before joining the Broncos, could prove crucial.

“She is a really special player, an X-factor player in teams,” Clydsdale said. “So it’s just [about] putting pressure on her and putting heat on her and making sure if you get an opportunity to tackle her you don’t miss it.” With Robert Dillon

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