Our nib Newcastle Knights NRLW team have secured a place in the Grand Final after winning 30-6 against the St George Illawarra Dragons yesterday afternoon.
The NRLW Head Coach Ronald Griffiths and Co-Captain Millie Boyle spoke after the game on the Semi-Final victory, team performance and making history for the Club.
ON THE PERFORMANCE
"Certainly extremely pleased. One of the Assistant Coaches out there spoke about the period of time on our line that just kept turning them away. The big thing for us is, every week we've wanted a performance that our Club, community, family and team can be proud of and we've done that without fail...it was a reflection of their effort and attitude at training, their commitment to our club and community, it showed in spades out there today," Griffiths said.
"I don't think the score reflected the game at all. It was definitely that tight period where it was. I think we have five sets in a row defending and a lot of them were on our line so proud of the girls for their scramble efforts in defence there," Boyle said.
"Everyone has a role in our team and Tamika and I's roles are no different to anyone else. Everyone wants to put on their best performance and play for each other and have that team-first mentality."
ON BOYLE'S PERFORMANCE
"Quite possibly the best performance via a skipper that I've seen in a very long time. Particularly, the last two weeks when we've really needed something special. Someone asked me earlier in the year [Upton & Boyle] 'do they win games for you'. They don't, but they show you how to win and how to prepare for big games," Griffiths said.
"There's probably periods of time where we ask a fair bit of Millie, particularly, defensively but then she has two carries of sets...one of the bravest performances I've seen from a middle front row Captain."
ON THE CONDITIONS
"That was definitely the hottest that we've played in, especially that middle time of the day up in 'Brissy'. It's no excuse, they're playing in it as well, we're both from NSW, so we're both not used to the heat. I think the girls just really adapted, it's good to get a couple of drink breaks for sure but I mean everyone's got to play in it, it's not a disadvantage for anyone," Boyle said.
ON THE 2021 SEASON
"There were some really stellar learnings from that foundation...we were always looking in the window screen I suppose, not looking behind us in the rearview. The Club has really embodied or really wanted to make sure our female athletes were looked after. We've developed a program where everyone is brought into it and the Club has really made sure it's invested in it heavily," Griffiths said.
"I was fortunate enough to grow up in Newcastle and I've seen what the club was built on the back of. The amount of times we saw those players in the community interacting with young kids or in particular myself...we know the joy that our fans get or supporters and family get. When the players turn out there and put that sort of performance out there, there's real pride in the jersey."
ON THE GRAND-FINAL
"We didn't speak about Semi-Finals or Grand-Finals once, it was never in our make-up. That's not in our DNA, our DNA is just to turn up and work hard for each other and we've seen that today," Griffiths said.
