St George Illawarra defeated by Sydney Roosters in NRLW grand final

It was a feeling the St George Illawarra Dragons skipper had hoped she'd never experience again.

The heartbreak of a grand final defeat.

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On Sunday Apps and her Dragons teammates experienced that disappointment, the side defeated by the Roosters in the NRLW decider.

It was the second time St George Illawarra have fallen at the final hurdle in their quest for a women's premiership, after they lost to the Broncos 30-6 in 2019.

With Brisbane eliminated last weekend, it looked like this would be the Dragons year.

Instead the Roosters proved too good, upsetting their more-fancied rivals to secure a 16-4 win.

Dragons coach Jamie Soward shared Apps' emotions, the leader unable to replicate his 2010 premiership success as a player.

"It hurts," Soward said. "I feel sorry for the girls. They busted their arses for me for six weeks plus pre-season.

"I'm really hurting for them, they're a great group. They've given me their attention, bought into everything I've tried to set with culture.

"I feel sorry for them, it'll burn for a little while but someone had to win and someone had to lose. It doesn't feel great. I'm proud of the girls I've brought in who set the standard and the culture and what it takes to be a Dragon."

The Dragons were valiant in defeat, however they were below their best in attack.

A Madison Bartlett try just 90 seconds into the contest proved the only time they could crack an organised Roosters defensive line.

TheTricolours looked the more likely to cross and they spent the majority of the first half on the attack.

St George Illawarra's defence was up to the task and they maintained a 4-0 lead heading into the break.

Soward was thrilled with the defensive effort, however he conceded his team struggled to make the most of their opportunities with the ball in hand.

"We didn't execute how we wanted to with the ball at stages," he said. "Scoring the early try, we needed to put the foot down.

"We were a bit unlucky with some calls out there that could've gone either way. The last try, I'm not sure if it was obstruction.

"At the end of the day, the Roosters were the better team. They played smarter, they ran harder and they won the title deservedly. We didn't save our best for last."

The toll of a physical first half eventually proved too great for the Dragons and the Roosters were able to finish over the top of their opponents.

Yasmin Meakes levelled the scores in the 44^th minute before former Dragon Isabelle Kelly put her side in front with 16 minutes to play.

Olivia Higgins put the game away four minutes from time, securing the Roosters' first NRLW premiership.

St George Illawarra won't have to wait long for a shot at redemption, the 2022 season to commence in August.

Soward is confident the bulk of the team will be back and Apps said Sunday's disappointment will drive the side to go one better in the second season of the year.

"We didn't want to lose, we didn't come here to lose," Apps said. "We'll regroup and move on to the next job. We'll come back next season and learn from today."

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