After just missing out on a Finals berth on points differential last season, Parramatta will be hungrier than ever when their second year in the NRLW gets underway this weekend against the defending Premiers.
The Eels will do battle with the Sydney Roosters on Saturday afternoon at CommBank Stadium ahead of Parramatta’s Round 23 NRL clash with the Canterbury Bulldogs at 3pm.
Former Eels star Dean Widders will once again coach the side, with Tiana Penitani and Simaima Taufa co-captains.
The Eels finished on the same amount of competition points as the Roosters last season, however they failed to clinch a spot in the Finals due to a poorer ‘for and against’.
Meanwhile, the ladies from Bondi – who also notched up two regular season wins last season – went all the way to the end.
With plenty of fresh faces on board as well as some familiar ones, the Eels will no doubt be fired up to go at least one step further this season.
Speaking with Parra News, Eels outside back Tess Staines said she can’t wait to make her official NRLW debut in front of her home fans on Saturday.
“The team hasn’t been announced yet, but it would be really cool to debut at home at CommBank,” she said.
“That would be an unreal stadium to play my first game at.”
Staines, who is from the Riverina region of NSW, was with the Eels last season but didn’t feature in any games as coach Dean Widders wanted her to get used to the rigours of full-time footy.
“Last season was about getting me used to the environment because my body certainly wasn’t used to that,” Staines admitted.
“Our training back at home for the sports I was playing was nothing like that at Parramatta. But Deano (Widders) treated me like a long-term prospect and didn’t want me to ruin my body by throwing me straight into the deep end.”
Staines said after playing bush footy – including rugby union – for most of her life, she wasn’t prepared for what the NRLW was going to throw at her.
“I was struggling with the training sessions because I wasn’t used to back-to-back days as well as gym and field sessions on the same day – even that was a lot for my body to be changing into,” she said.
To help the 20-year-old get up to speed with professional rugby league, Widders sent Staines to play with the Wests Tigers in the NSW Women’s Premiership. That move proved hugely successful back in July when the Tigers took out the Grand Final.
Staines believes that experience with the Tigers will springboard her into this season.
“That was the first lot of club footy for rugby league that I’ve ever played, so to get a full season of that under my belt was exactly what I needed,” she said.
“It was absolutely unreal to play that standard and that level of footy for those weeks, it was a really big eye opener.”
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.