Kylie's Korner: Sky Blues coach points out who to watch in Round Six

Sky Blues coach Kylie Hilder talks about the matches and players to watch in Round Six of Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership and Tarsha Gale Cup.

Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership

We are at the midway point of the NSW Women’s Premiership season and things are pretty tight on the Harvey Norman ladder.

Three teams are on eight competition points and four are on six points. That means seven teams are well within range of the top-four to play finals this year.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Illawarra Steelers

The game of the round for me this weekend is second-placed Bulldogs up against the third-placed Steelers, where the Nos. 6, 7, and 1 are going to be really good match-ups.

The two fullbacks, Emma Tonegato (Steelers) and Abbi Church (Bulldogs) are both superb runners, who like chiming into the line to create that extra pair of hands.

The halves – Rachael Pearson and Taliah Fuimaono for the Steelers, Tayla Preston and Gayle Broughton for the Dogs – create opportunities and control their respective sides well.

The Bulldogs are coming off an impressive win (28-18) over last year’s minor premiers the North Sydney Bears, where Gayle was Player of the Match scoring two tries and setting up a third.

The Steelers have three incumbents from the Sky Blues spine in hooker Keeley Davis, Rachael and Emma, plus they're going for three wins in a row having scored 60 points in their past two matches.

So with Origin not too far away I’m looking for who is in form and who is making a difference in their team.

The Steelers also welcome Jillaroos co-captain and Sky Blues skipper Kezie Apps, off the bench in her first game of the season. She will bring some spark around the Illawarra pack.

The Wilson twins, Anneka and Leilana, who were part of the NSW U19s last year, were great off the bench for the Bulldogs against the Bears.

Mounties v Bears

North Sydney were undefeated heading into last weekend so the loss would have jolted them and narrowed their focus for this weekend.

They have made a few changes, getting a few players back like Filomina Hanisi, who gets to join her younger sister Fatafehi Hanisi, and another forward Aliti Namoce off the bench.

This is shaping up to be a very physical game but Mounties have an expert leader in that department with lock Simaima Taufa. The work and guidance she does for her team, who are in a rebuilding phase, is awesome.

Wentworthville Magpies v Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

The Sharks have former Jillaroo Nakia Davis-Welsh coming off the bench and it’s nice to see her back after having a couple of children.

She’s making her entrance in the Women’s Premiership and it’ll be good to see her talents on the football field once again.

Wests Tigers v Newcastle Knights

The Knights are missing a few key players like Jesse Southwell and Caitlan Johnston, which isn’t ideal with the Tigers coming off a big loss (38-6) to the Central Coast Roosters last round.

Last year’s Premiers in the Tigers will be fired up to show they are still a force to be reckoned with this year.

The Knights could be a little fresher as they are coming off a Bye, but the Tigers are at home at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.

Roosters v St George Dragons

The Dragons are still searching for their first win, but they face a Roosters outfit resting a few of their stars on Monday night like centre Isabelle Kelly and hooker Shawden Burton.

But Maroons and Jillaroos half Tarryn Aiken is in the No.6 jersey for a second week. She was outstanding last round making a big difference to the Roosters attack.

Tarsha Gale Cup

I was really impressed with Parramatta Eels fullback Debbie Doueihi in their 26-12 win over the Canberra Raiders in round five.

Debbie scored the last of the Eels four tries, but every time she touched the ball she either broke the line or put someone through a hole. She even sent a couple of bombs into the air to make things tough for the Raiders defenders.

The Eels will be looking for her to perform that way again this week as they sit fifth on the ladder and are taking on the eighth-placed Sharks - with just four rounds left to finals.