KIERSTEN DUKE: Annetta-Claudia Nu’uausala and Kennedy Cherrington helped get NRLW season off to fiery start

They say the biff is dead in the rugby league, well the women showed they can throw haymakers as well as their male counterparts as the NRLW season kicked off with an explosive opening round.

The seventh NRLW season started with a bang. Quite literally with Broncos prop Annetta-Claudia Nu’uausala landing one on Eel Kennedy Cherrington’s chin.

Tempers flared nine minutes into the second half of the game when Nu’uausala performed a dangerous hip drop tackle on Eels hooker Rueben Cherrington.

It didn’t help matters that Cherrington’s sister Kennedy was also in the blue and gold and was quick to express her displeasure with Nu’uausala over her tackling technique.

The pair were eventually pulled apart with Kennedy making clear that no one touches her sister. I mean, it’s a contact sport but I’m picking up what you’re putting down KC. The Eels had the last laugh running out 22-10 winners.

If the fiery action in the first round of the NRLW is anything to go by, we’re in for a blockbuster season. So get your popcorn ready.

Several players had a blinder in round one with Sky Blues stars Tiana Penitani and Isabelle Kelly among the league’s best. Sharks skipper Penitani not only had a try assist but also scored a meat pie of her own against the Cowboys, contributing to their 14- 0 victory over the Queenslanders.

Although the Roosters lost 12-10 to the Knights in a nailbiter, Kelly’s tenacity shone throughout the game. She ran for 201 metres, made 17 tackles and four offloads with the centre’s hard work certainly didn’t go unnoticed.

It’s no surprise to fans that these stars have come out all guns blazing. After all, these two players are a couple of the most reliable in the game. But who else should we keep our eye on throughout the season?

Well after her ripping efforts during the Origin series Jaime Chapman surely has to be one of the first who springs to mind. That 80-metre solo try for NSW in Game One was simply stunning. I had it playing on repeat for about a week.

There’s no one quite like Chappo when she gets in open space. Her stride length is next level. She just eats up the ground to glide away from her opposition. In full flight, I genuinely question whether she is part gazelle. In fact, I’d like a DNA test because I refuse to believe she’s 100 per cent human.

Another player I’ll be following is Jasmin Strange. She’s made the move back to the Roosters after an epic 2023 season with the Knights as part of their premiership winning side and will be bringing that confidence with her to Bondi alongside fellow new recruit Tiana Davison.

Strange made her NRLW debut with the Roosters as a winger in 2022 before moving to Newcastle to achieve a career goal of a premiership win and that she did, complete with an epic video of her dressed as a gingerbread man tackling some fella at the pub on Mad Monday. Priceless.

The 21-year-old showed great character to move away from the comforts of being coached by her dad, John Strange, at the Roosters to go and forge her own path in the sport. I’m excited to see what she’s going to achieve next as she continues her development, again under the guidance of her old man, as a centre for the Tricolours.

Speaking of premiership winning players, how about young Jesse Southwell? At just 19 years of age she’s already a dual premiership winner and was named 2022 club player of the year at the Knights. A proud Novocastrian this young gun is also a Commonwealth Games gold medallist in rugby sevens and in 2022 became the NRLW’s youngest player in the competitions history to score in her first game.

She then played a starring role in guiding the Knights to back-to-back premierships and after narrowly missing out on Blues selection, she’ll be out with a point to prove this year.