The Sydney Roosters face the Brisbane Broncos in Sunday afternoon's grand final, in what's been touted as potentially the best decider in NRLW history.
Legend and Fox League commentator Tarsha Gale is expecting "a cracker of a game" -- with the Broncos to prevail over the undefeated minor premiers and reigning champions.
She gave us her thoughts as to how the thriller could play out.
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ROOSTERS
The Roosters have gone through undefeated and a grand final win would mean a historic perfect run in the first year of an expanded 12-team competition.
However following recent injuries, these once-roaring favourites now face more of an uphill battle than expected in the decider.
Front-rower Amber Hall has been names in the extended reserves after a calf injury picked up in Round 11 saw her play just 10 minutes in the preliminary final. It remains to be seen if she's a chance at late inclusion.
"I am concerned about Amber Hall. I think she's racing the clock to come back and be fit, and she's been a great asset for the Roosters because there's very few teams if any that can stop her so close to the line -- so I think the Roosters attack will miss her," Gale said.
Following a dominant season, the Roosters' struggle to a one-point win last weekend - thanks to a field goal from halfback Jocelyn Kelleher - was a worrying sight. They were able to replace hurt playmaker Tarryn Aiken (ACL) with a fellow rep star in Corban Baxter, yet the attack has lost fluency.
"I am a bit concerned about the Roosters' attack," Gale said.
"They had the best red zone attack in the competition, they only needed five tackles in the red zone before they could turn it into points and they just didn't show that last week. They had far more opportunities and it ended up three tries a piece.
"Whether that turns out to be a bit of a wake-up call for the undefeated Roosters is yet to be seen.
"They needed to be rattled. I think they needed a bit of a shock. Going through undefeated is always frightening when you get to the grand final."
The Roosters have one big return this week, with Aliyah Nasio back from suspension and slotting into the second row. Taina Naividi goes back to the wing, shifting Mia Wood to the interchange.
"Taina Naividi, 11 tries from 11 games. I think they really need her pointscoring ability out there on the wing," Gale said.
Nasio's return should open up space for players like Isabelle Kelly, Jess Sergis and Jayme Fressard. Both continue to be powerful metre-eaters and tryscorers.
"Fressard opened up the scoring the last two games and I think that's what the Roosters are going to be relying on, is hitting that scoreboard first," Gale said.
Isabelle Kelly will be a major factor for the Roosters. Yet despite Kelly being one of the league's toughest players, she struggled to get around the Sharks defence, and Gale worries how she will fare against Brisbane's Julia Robinson, her centre partner in the Dally M Team of the Year.
"She didn't come up with as many tackle busts or line breaks that you'd normally expect because Annessa Biddle was all over her," Gale said, adding that Brisbane now looked the NRLW's best defensive side.
"This week my favourite match-up is Julia Robinson lining up against Isabelle Kelly. You know the two of them are up there one and two in run metres."
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The Broncos are riding not just a wave of form and the anticipation of breaking a premiership drought stretching back to 2020. They are also about to farewell a teammate.
"It will be Gayle Broughton's last game and they're definitely going to want to farewell her in style. She's been outstanding for the Broncos," Gale said, with Broughton expected to join the Warriors next year and potentially be replaced at Brisbane by Knights star Jesse Southwell.
For now, they need her and Ali Brigginshaw to steer the ship and pin the Roosters' powerful outside backs in the corners at often as possible.
"They're really going to need to bring a long kicking game in now. They didn't show that last week," Gale said.
"Perhaps that's because they didn't need it but I think they're really going to need it against the Roosters."
That's one part of the game plan. The other is to exploit a difference in the forward packs, running ragged the bigger Roosters middles with a targeted attack.
"If the Broncos are to beat the Roosters, I think they've got to move that forward pack around and then come back in and attack in the middle," Gale said.
"I don't think the Roosters are as fit and mobile as the Broncos forwards, so I think there's a place that the Broncos could see themselves getting on top. Julia Robinson, Shalom Sauaso and Mele Hufanga all lead the competition for tackle busts, so defence is going to be a priority for the Roosters and they missed 50 tackles last week. They're going to have to tighten up on that."
Sauaso has been a powerhouse on a Broncos bench that also carries three rep players in Destiny Brill, Chelsea Lenarduzzi and Shenae Ciesiolka. That's serious impact.
"I'm looking forward to Chelsea Lenarduzzi. She only plays normally half the game but she makes a big difference," Gale said.
"She loves the big stage. She'll come on, she'll run straight, she'll run hard. At times she'll run right up in the middle of the posts, turn her back and give those offloads. She's doing that more and more across the park now, so I'm really looking forward to that bringing broken defensive lines for the Roosters and maybe that's where the Broncos are going to crack them.
"It's very hard to run outrun or go around Sergis and Kelly in the centres, so it's best to move the forwards around and then come back at them through the middle."
Gale has been convinced for the past few weeks that the Broncos are ready to prevail despite the Roosters' undefeated run. That largely comes down to one player: Dally M Award winner Tamika Upton.
"I think it will all come down to how can you contain, or at least slow down, Upton," she said.
"Wherever Upton is, that's where the action is going to be. She leads in tries (19), try assists (14), linebreaks (19) and linebreak assists (17), so if she's not scoring, she's putting her teammates over. I don't think any team has managed to totally quieten her."
While plenty will still back the Roosters to win and complete their unbeaten campaign, Gale is sticking with Brisbane. She believes that the pain of finals failures in recent seasons will push them over the line.
"The Broncos are hitting their strides exactly at the right time. They're tightening up their defence, they're showing that they've got so many points in them in attack. All year they've been doing that, but in particular when they've got the ball in the 20m zone they're converting that into points, which is something the Roosters didn't do that well last week against the Sharks.
"The Broncos have been knocked out of finals before and they hate losing. Ali Brigginshaw is retiring at the end of next year and I can just see her wanting to really make this grand final count.
"I don't want to say that they want it more, but perhaps they want it more than any team I've ever seen. They're just very, very determined.
"I'm tipping Brisbane in a tight one."
And while there are stellar head-to-head battles across the field, one in particular has the potential to get fiery, Gale has tipped.
"Sergis vs Hufanga - I'm expecting a bit of heat there because they're both very, very passionate players and they're marking right up against each other," she said.