The Canberra Raiders Tarsha Gale Cup side are the sole junior representative side playing this weekend, as the other two sides enjoy the bye.
Coming off the back of a valuable 22-16 win against the Indigenous Academy, the Raiders are currently sitting in seventh place.
Raiders coach Matt Corkery said he has been impressed by his side so far this season.
“Certainly the depth this year has been much stronger than in previous years, not to take anything away from previous squads,” Corkery said. “They’ve really bought in to what we are trying to do and they’re a really young squad.
“One of the big positives is that we had a devolvement system come into place during the off-season with the majority of the girls in the squad working through this system.”
With 2019 being the third season that the Raiders have had a Tarsha Gale Cup side, Corkery has been impressed by the manner that the gap has been closing between Canberra and the top sides.
In the first two rounds of the campaign, the Raiders went down fighting to the Eels and Knights but Corkery has identified key areas where he wants to see his side improve.
“The first twenty minutes of our games were quite poor,” Corkery said. “There were six or seven mistakes from our side alone and you can’t win football games like that against quality opposition.
“Last weekend [against Indigenous Academy] it was a great opportunity for the girls to start well and we did thankfully.”
This Saturday the Raiders travel to New Era Stadium to take on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. The Raiders enter the game seventh on the ladder while the Bulldogs are chasing their first win.
“The girls are upbeat and they’ve trained well this week,” Corkery said. “If the girls turn up and play with the amount of enthusiasm they showed last weekend, they should do well.”
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Canberra Raiders
1:45pm, Saturday March 2, New Era Stadium
Team List
1. Madyson Tooth, 2. Klaudia Osztrenkovis, 3. Gabbie Davis, 20. Taylah Johnston, 14. Shanae Pope, 7. Samantha Small, 8. Tara McGrath-West, 17. Grace Martin, 10. Carly Wilkin, 4. Ashley Carter, 11. Geena Elliott; Interchange: 5. Tarnayar Hinch, 12. Samantha Clegg, 13. Sydney Harrison, 21. Jada Olsen-Flanagan; Reserves: 9. Krystyana Haridemos, 15. Taysha-Lee Campbell, 16. Courtney-Lee Picker, 18. Zali Waihape
