On the shoulders of legends: Simaima savours every moment

After missing the NRLW finals through suspension, Raiders captain Simaima Taufa feared that may count against her retaining her Jillaroos jersey for a tilt at a third World Cup. 

Taufa's three-match ban for a hip drop tackle on Eels fullback Abbi Church in Round 10 meant she missed the Raiders' last regular season game and their first ever finals series, where they beat Wests Tigers before pushing eventual premiers the Roosters to the limit in the prelim.

“It was hard but when we had the conversations about building women’s rugby league a few years ago, it’s moments like these where we spoke about of next player up – developing the talent so someone could step in,” Taufa told NRL.com. 

“We had to do our job to make sure the next person was ready. And Sophie (Holyman), Chloe (Saunders) and Hollie-Mae (Dodd) stood up and led the pack around. 

“I had so much pride in the girls, watching on and seeing what they were able to do.  

“Having said all that I was still itching to get back out on the field.” 

The 32-year-old was also cognisant that Jillaroos coach Jess Skinner might go in a different direction with so many emerging middle forwards around, even though Taufa is a three-time Dally M Lock of the Year with 19 Tests to her name.

“For me just to get the call-up it was a shock because it’s never expected, never a given,” Taufa said. 

“If I got the call I knew I would be immensely grateful for it. Every girl given a Jillaroos jersey is ready to get the job done. 

“So I never took that for granted. Now I get to see a third World Cup and stand on the shoulders of the players that have gone before us.” 

The first outing looked successful from the outside with a 40-0 scoreline over Samoa, off the back of 60 per cent possession. 

But after five tries in the first half, the Australians scored just two in the second with their completion rate dropping to 76 per cent, their ineffective tackles and errors climbing. 

“It showed we’re still getting things to gel amongst the team, brushing away a few cobwebs as a lot of us haven’t played in a month,” Taufa said. 

“We’ve got vision now of what we need to improve on. This is now base for us to build on.” 

The last meeting against England ended in a one-sided 90-4 result in Las Vegas. 

“One hundred per cent England will be stronger. We expected the Samoans to come out firing and they did,” Taufa said. 

“The scariest part is that they, like us, have got more room to grow at this World Cup and so has England. 

“Every team here is the best of the best. We all have to earn the right to be in that final."