Welcome to The Debate, a column where the Mercury sport team discusses major moments and issues in the Illawarra, national and international scene. This week, sports editor TIM BARROW and rugby league writer CAMERON MEE consider the Dragons prospects of beating premiers Penrith on Friday night and the NRLW expansion.
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Barrow: Now, let's be serious here.
The Dragons have won the Charity Shield and beaten the Warriors, but this is a major step up in class on Friday night against premiers the Panthers. Even without their superstar halfback Nathan Cleary, Penrith were outstanding in round one against Manly. The most dynamic player in the NRL, Tom Trbojevic had nowhere to run or hide.
And I'll give you three reasons why the Dragons cannot win here. Firstly, Addin Fonua-Blake strolling through Aaron Woods and Jack de Belin from the restart and running 50 metres. Second, lock Josh Curran slicing through the middle past Andrew McCullough while Jack Gosiewski inexplicably raced up to create a huge hole in the defensive line. And thirdly, even though the pass was questionable, the defending of Blake Lawrie and Jack Bird on their goal line when Eliesa Katoa scored. Penrith can bring a picnic basket, they'll have so much time to enjoy themselves if the Dragons allow them those opportunities.
Mee: You raise some good points. Penrith were outstanding in round one and they totally shut Manly down in the season opener. The Dragons were rusty on Saturday and there was some pedestrian defence. St George Illawarra were lucky to defeat the Warriors, but the fact is they did and the players have taken a great deal of confidence out of the win.
Friday night gives the side a chance to return home to what should be a big crowd at Kogarah. It will be a special evening, the club to honour Norm Provan prior to kickoff. The Dragons players shouldn't need any extra motivation, but on such an important night, they will definitely be up for the contest.
If St George Illawarra can tighten up defensively and not allow any cheap points, they should have the firepower in attack to upset the Panthers.
Tyrell Sloan gave us a glimpse of what he can do last weekend and while he'll surely have a target on his back, if he gets the ball in clear air, points could soon follow. Zac Lomax is another one who has started the season in top form, the centre combining with Mikaele Ravalawa down the right flank.
They're a pair who have become close friends and that relationship has translated to the field, the Fijian scoring a hat-trick against the Warriors. With Lomax's finesse and Ravalawa's brute force, this duo could prove the difference on Friday night.
Barrow: Ravalawa is a much more complete player now. He's always had the ability to score a try, but was also very raw in terms of combinations and positioning. The Dragons should be encouraged by his combination with Zac Lomax, who as you know, I have a very high opinion of and people forget is still only 22 and has the best of his career to come.
Sloan was exciting in attack and MBye can really add something around Hunt, Talatau Amone and McCullough. The potential is there, but they'll need to turn the tap off in defence.
Ben Creagh used to stand on the goal line and yell "LOCKDOWN!" over and again when the Dragons were defending under Wayne Bennett and they kept turning teams away.
These Dragons are a million miles from there. But having said that, it's a great time to play the Panthers, it's an opportunity for St George Illawarra to really aim up and put a marker down. Let's see how close they are to the benchmark, even at this early stage of the competition.
Speaking of benchmarks, the Brisbane Broncos showed why they're the standout in the NRLW competition. What a sensational contest it was on Sunday against the Dragons. As much as coach Jamie Soward would be disappointed they lost, the Dragons have a real shot at the title this year and it was a fantastic show of the high standard of the women's game now.
Mee: St George Illawarra looked like they were going to run over the top of Brisbane at times throughout the second half, the Dragons just lacking the polish in attack to finish off their rivals.
It's important to remember Soward's side was below full-strength, with captain Kezie Apps one of a number of players sitting out through injury or suspension.
If these two teams face off again later in the season and the Dragons are full-strength, the result could be reversed.
The Broncos have dominated the NRLW since its inception in 2018, however that could be about to change with Tuesday's announcement of expansion to eight and then ten teams in 2023 and 2024 and the introduction of a salary cap.
Read more: How will your AFL team go in season 2022?
The Cowboys have already expressed frustration at the pace of expansion, North Queensland hoping to enter in the second 2022 competition later this year, but it's important to remember this is the first season with six teams. The NRL has been careful to avoid expanding the women's competition too quickly and so far, the results have largely paid off.
We have a salary cap and plans to expand to 10 teams, how long until we have a fully professional NRLW with all 16 clubs involved?
Barrow: There's a danger in going too hard, too quickly. I'm very pro-expansion in both the NRL and NRLW, but you also have to be careful not to dilute the product when the standard falls away. We've seen in the AFLW clubs simply struggle to compete with the top existing clubs while trying to build their own structures and development pathways.
It becomes lop-sided very quickly, which to be fair is already the case in the NRLW. The Broncos, Eels and Dragons appear to be above the other three teams, though the Roosters in particular have some quality players.
But the end result is, you want girls and women playing the game they love and more opportunity to play at the top level allows more pathways to bring players through. If the money is there - and they've boosted the salary cap - then it's worthwhile, even if there's some pain along the way in terms of one-sided results.
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