Latest news with #MahaliaMurphy
News.com.au
19-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Canberra Raiders' horror start to the NRLW season continues, this time thrashed by the Parramatta Eels
Canberra's horror start to the NRLW season has continued after they slumped to their third loss in a row at home as the Eels punished some sloppy errors at the back to celebrate Mahalia Murphy's return from injury with a thumping win. Murphy missed the opening two rounds of the season with a hamstring injury but scored a crucial try on the stroke of halftime as Parramatta bounced back from last week's loss in New Zealand to win 46-12. The halves had a field day with Cassey Tohi-Hiku setting up two tries while Rachael Pearson had three assists and scored one of her own as Canberra struggled to deal with their high kicks. The Eels made them pay with a couple of quick tries, including one to Martha Mataele who crashed over for her first try to celebrate her birthday on a day the club posted its highest NRLW score. The future looks bright for a team brimming with young talent, including rookie prop Tess McWilliams who powered past superstar Simaima Taufa to open the second-half scoring. Parramatta's attack will be hard to stop if Zali Fay continues to do special things after the winger flew through the air to reel in a Pearson kick before she offloaded to Owen who grabbed her second try. CAPITAL CURSE The Raiders would have been banking on a fast start to the season with their first three games at home, but they are anchored to the bottom of the table and are winless through the opening three rounds. They have now lost nine-straight games at GIO Stadium, with their last win coming way back in 2023 against the Eels. The writing was on the wall from the very first set when they dropped the ball, and things didn't improve as the Green Machine completed just 53 per cent of their sets in the first half. Their inability to handle kicks is a huge concern with all four of Parramatta's first-half tries coming on the back of simple errors, including one to Rory Owen who was simply more desperate to attack the loose ball. SIGNS OF HOPE Madison Bartlett grabbed a double to become the second player to score 30 NRLW tries, while Raiders fans would have enjoyed what they saw from Elise Simpson who overcame a few tough moments to shine on debut. The local junior will learn a lot from Saturday's showing, with Simpson gifting the Eels a couple of tries with dropped balls but also coming up with some big plays in defence. The fullback set up both of Bartlett's tries with lovely passes on the left edge, while Simpson also had a huge kick return which led to another try a few plays later.
The Age
03-07-2025
- Sport
- The Age
NRLW 2025 LIVE updates: Sharks and Eels go head-to-head in season opener
Go to latest Pinned post from 7.09pm Vote now - 2025 NRLW premiers 7.09pm Eels trio out for season opener By Billie Eder Parammatta are missing three crucial players for their match against the Sharks tonight, including skipper Mahalia Murphy. Murphy is out with a hamstring injury, and was fighting to be back for round one, but coach Steve Georgallis has erred on the side of caution, keeping his captain on the sideline in the hope of a round two return against the Warriors in Auckland. Kennedy Cherrington is another big loss for the squad as she deals with a knee injury carried over from Origin earlier this year. She's hoping for a mid-season return, along with Boss Kapua as she comes back from a fibula injury. 7.09pm Vote now - 2025 NRLW premiers 7.09pm Hello, sports fans Welcome to the opening night of the NRL season. With another truncated week of NRL action due to next Wednesday's State of Origin decider in Sydney, the Eels-Sharks showdown takes centre stage.
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Eels star Cherrington to miss start of NRLW season
Kennedy Cherrington will miss at least the first three weeks of the NRLW season with the knee injury she suffered in the third State of Origin match. She could be joined on the sidelines by captain Mahalia Murphy, who is racing to recover from a minor hamstring injury in time for the season opener against Cronulla. Parramatta had initially hoped NSW forward Cherrington may recover from her posterior cruciate ligament injury in time for the opener on July 3. But she is now tracking to miss up to a third of the regular season with the injury that prevented her from playing the second half of NSW's game-three loss in Newcastle last month. It's a blow for Cherrington, who missed the end of last season with a separate knee issue. "It's tough for Kennedy but it'll be good to get her for the back half of the season," said coach Steve Georgallis. "We're hoping she'll be back for round four or round five at the latest." Eels captain for a second straight season, Murphy is hoping to return from a hamstring injury in time to face the Sharks. "Mahalia's just got a little niggle," Georgallis said. "We're hoping she should be back for round one but if we feel like she's not ready then we're not going to push her." The news is less rosy for Eels forward Boss Kapua, who fractured her fibula in an opposed session and will miss the opening weeks of the competition. "She's tough, she walked off the field and she just said, 'I'm a bit sore here'," Georgallis said. "We were glad it wasn't syndesmosis because syndesmosis can be like 12 (weeks), three months. She'll be three or four weeks. She might even be back before Kennedy."
