Wests Tigers make perfect start in NRLW win over Eels

Jasper Bruce | July 23, 2023

Wests Tigers have announced their arrival in the NRLW with a 36-8 thrashing of last year’s runners-up Parramatta as returning fullback Botille-Vette Welsh and prop Sarah Togatuki starred.

Fielding seven debutants at CommBank Stadium on Sunday, the Tigers had been tipped to take time to warm into their inaugural season given the number of fresh faces on their roster.

But established players Togatuki and Vette-Welsh stood up in a fast-finishing win that gives long-suffering Tigers fans something to cheer about.

Togatuki finished with 219-run metres – almost 100m more than any Eels forward – and the try that opened the floodgates in the second half.

Fullback Vette-Welsh celebrated her first game back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury with an early try and five late assists, mostly in the form of dynamic passes for her edge players.

The Eels lost their two star recruits Elsie Albert and Rachael Pearson to calf injuries in their final training session but had the better of the first half despite needing to make last-minute changes.

The Eels are still assessing Papua New Guinea international prop Albert and NSW representative half Pearson but they do not believe the injuries are long-term at this stage.

Zali Fay became the second player to score two tries in an NRLW game for Parramatta,  crossing twice on the left wing to help the Eels to a 8-4 half-time lead.

But that was as good as things got for the home side.

Vette-Welsh became the Tigers’ first NRLW tryscorer in her first NRLW game since suffering an ACL tear that ruled her out of the 2022 campaign.

She dummied and stepped inside a hole on the left but errors prevented the Tigers from scoring again in the first half.

But when Vette-Welsh scooted into the line and passed to a flying Togatuki, the former Sydney Rooster ran 30 metres to score and sparked a 19-minute skirmish during which Wests score five more times.

Once the Tigers had their eye in, the Eels were alarmingly short of answers, Vette-Welsh and under-19s NSW State of Origin representative Losana Lutu combining effectively on the edges.

When Vette-Welsh popped an inside ball to Jakiya Whitfeld, the Tigers had opened up a 12-point buffer and were on their way to a big win.