NRLWahine moves into semi-final mode this weekend with Kiwi-NRL talent in all four teams. Unfortunately for Knights and their abundance of Kiwi-NRL wahine, they didn't win a game this season and along with Eels they drop out of the competition. Annetta Nu'uausala dominated the Knights awards for their first NRLWahine campaign, with the Mangere/Otara junior snaring the Player of the Year and Player's Player awards.

The first semi-final to be played on Sunday is between Dragons and Titans. Page McGregor and Madison Bartlett are again named as a centre/wing combo, providing Kiwi-NRL flavour to the Dragons outfit. Titans have named Kimiora Breayley-Nati in the halves, Tiana Raftstrand-Smith on an edge, Destiny Brill at lock and Georgia Hale returns from suspension on the bench.

Big ups to Karli Hansen who hasn't played this season for Titans but is a consistent presence in their wider squad. With Breayley-Nati holding down her starting halves role and Hansen lurking in the Titans squad, Aotearoa's halves depth continues to be a point of intrigue ahead of the World Cup. Hansen will have another NRLWahine season to aim for later this year and hopefully the Te Atatu junior can experience wahine footy at this level ahead of the World Cup.

Dragons start as favourites and there is enough Kiwi-NRL juice in the McGregor/Bartlett duo to rally behind the Dragons. Titans are the funky team here though and after losing their first two games vs Dragons then Eels, Titans snared a big win over Broncos before defeating Knights. That translates to having no idea what Titans will dish up.

Raftstrand-Smith and Brill are among the best young players in this season of NRLWahine. Both have curious eligibility cases to keep track of as well. Brill leads NRLWahine in tackle busts as a middle forward and her mahi around the ruck is a constant threat for Titans. Having shifted from centre to edge forward, Raftstrand-Smith appears to have a simplified job with hard running off Titans halves.

The first three Titans games saw Raftstrand-Smith starting at centre, now she has started at edge forward in back to back wins. The Mt Albert junior has 2+ tackle busts and an offload in all five games, while the win over Knights saw Raftstrand-Smtih register her best mahi. 18 tackles is the most Raftstrand-Smith has made in a game this season and she had no missed tackles for the first game this season, along with season-highs of 136 run metres and 62 post contact metres. Prior to this game, Raftstrand-Smith hadn't run for more than 80m and 30 PCM.

Breayley-Nati and Hale have far less curiosity to their mahi. Both are Kiwi Ferns veterans who provide stability in an exciting Titans team and along with Kimiora's wife Brittany who is starting dummy half, these three form a crucial distribution trio through the middle.

Broncos then face Roosters and Broncos have been the best team throughout this competition. Amber Hall keeps her starting edge forward spot and Lavinia Gould continues to build into her campaign, named to start at lock for the semi-final after coming off the bench in her two games previously. Hall is third in total PCM for NRLWahine and leads the whole competition for offloads, which when combined with the eye-tests suggests that Hall is the best Kiwi-NRLWahine forward this season.

Gould only played 13 minutes off the bench in round two, then 41mins off the bench in the round four loss to Titans. Last week Gould started at lock and played 49mins, offering a similar vibe to Raftstrand-Smith as her 18 tackles vs Eels was the most of her season and came with no missed tackles. Gould is a veteran who combines distribution skills with gritty mahi which is a lovely counter-balance to the dynamic running of Hall and Broncos forwards.

Roosters have Leianne Tufuga on the wing, Raecene McGregor at halfback and Mya Hill-Moana starting at prop. Tufuga and McGregor will only impact this game if the Roosters forwards can settle into a grind against the hefty Broncos forward pack, which presents an enticing opportunity for Hill-Moana who is almost 20-years-old.

Hill-Moana has had a swift rise since impressing for Taniwharau Under 18s in 2019 and her first NRLWahine campaign saw her miss the first round, then starting three games and coming off the bench in one game. Hill-Moana grabbed the most minutes of this season when coming off the bench vs Knights (40mins) and while her minutes have decreased in the last two games, Hill-Moana has churned out her best performances of the season.

Two games with 40+ PCM and over 80m. Hill-Moana has also made a combined 36 tackles in these two games with just 1 missed tackle. While it's niggly to forecast how Roosters will deploy Hill-Moana, she appears to be playing her best footy at the right time of the season. Whether the Kiwi Ferns youngster can serve that up against an elite forward pack will be crucial to Roosters upsetting Broncos.

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