NRLW History So Far: A Stats Breakdown

The NRLW. An elite women’s competition that features the very best female players of the modern era. 

A chance for new stars to be made and born, as well as a chance for existing ones to assert their dominance.

Many have donned the jerseys so far and with an expanded competition ahead for the upcoming NRLW, it should be exciting.

We thought we would collate the stats, look at the raw data and showcase just how good these ladies can be.

We covered all stats in attack and defence from tries to line-breaks to penalties and more, all as accurately as possible.

For each category, we will only put the top 10 players over the NRLW history to date.

Should you wish to know more about a specific player, let us know and we can tell you their stats.

Let us begin; the cumulative NRLW player leaderboards in NRLW history:

Total Run Metres

1. Jess Sergis (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 1,019.
2. Isabelle Kelly (Sydney Roosters & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 977.
3. Julia Robinson (Brisbane Broncos) with 847.
4. Botille Vette-Welsh (Sydney Roosters & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 847.
5. Kezie Apps (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 792.
6. Millie Boyle (Brisbane Broncos) with 786.
7. Amber Hall (Brisbane Broncos) with 781.
8. Karina Brown (Sydney Roosters & New Zealand Warriors) with 729.
9. Tamika Upton (Brisbane Broncos) with 700.
10. Steph Hancock (Brisbane Broncos & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 694.

Ricky’s Analysis: It should be no surprise to see Sergis and Kelly top this count as both are the benchmark centres in the NRLW.

Steph Hancock shows that age is just a number with an impressive three years in NRLW to date as well.

Amber Hall and Millie Boyle are the backbones of the Broncos pack and their work allows Tamika Upton to flourish.

Total Average Metres Per Run (minimum 25 runs)

1. Evania Pelite (New Zealand Warriors) with 13.57.
2. Ellia Green (New Zealand Warriors) with 12.3
3. Honey Hireme (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 11.88.
4. Botille Vette-Welsh (Sydney Roosters & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 11.6.
5. Corban McGregor (Sydney Roosters) with 11.14.
6. Shakiah Tungai (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 11.1.
7. Annette Brander (St George Illawarra Dragons & Brisbane Broncos) with 10.63.
8. Krystal Rota (New Zealand Warriors) with 10.41
9. Sammy Bremner (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 10.41.
10. Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos) with 10.21.

Ricky’s Analysis: The two rugby sevens stars in Pelite and Green showed their worth in 2020 for the Warriors. Electric, dynamic and the duo formed a deadly partnership.

Botille Vette-Welsh’s numbers could be even higher, had it not been for a few injuries over the course of the NRLW seasons so far.

Krystal Rota is the surprise packet here and the Newcastle Knights will love her smarts and nippiness around the ruck in 2021.

Most Tries Scored

1. Tamika Upton (Brisbane Broncos) with 6.
2. Taleena Simon (Sydney Roosters) with 5.
3. Jess Sergis (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 4.
4. Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos) with 4.
5. Kimiora Nati (Brisbane Broncos & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 3.
6. Shakiah Tungai (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 3.
7. Tiana Penitani (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 3.
8. Julia Robinson (Brisbane Broncos) with 3.
9. Evania Pelite (New Zealand Warriors) with 3.
10. Meg Ward (Brisbane Broncos) with 3.
11. Quincy Dodd (Sydney Roosters) with 3.
12. Chelsea Lenarduzzi (Brisbane Broncos) with 3.

Ricky’s Analysis: Upton’s meteoric rise began in the 2019 grand final and she has since gone from strength to strength, scoring tries at will.

Taleena Simon’s four tries in one game was an impressive feat.

Perhaps the two surprise packets in some ways are Penitani and Pelite, both former rugby sevens stars but both fitting in seamlessly to rugby league.

Try Assists

1. Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos) with 6.
2. Tarryn Aiken (Brisbane Broncos) with 6.
3. Lavinia Gould (Brisbane Broncos) with 5.
4. Brittany Breayley (Brisbane Broncos & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 3.
5. Maddie Studdon (Sydney Roosters & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 3.
6. Zahara Temara (Sydney Roosters) with 3.
7. Tamika Upton (Brisbane Broncos) with 3.

Ricky’s Analysis: Tarryn Aiken is the surprise name here as she took over the halfback mantle for most of the 2020 season.

That was on the back of providing support for superstar Ali Brigginshaw who eventually moved to lock to fit Aiken in for the entire game.

Line-Breaks

1. Tamika Upton (Brisbane Broncos) with 9.
2. Julia Robinson (Brisbane Broncos) with 7.
3. Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos) with 7.
4. Chelsea Baker (Brisbane Broncos) with 6.
5. Ngatokoturu Arakua (Brisbane Broncos & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 5.
6. Ellia Green (New Zealand Warriors) with 5.
7. Taleena Simon (Sydney Roosters) with 5.
8. Shanice Parker (Sydney Roosters) with 5.

Ricky’s Analysis: The only forward on this list is Ngatokoturu Arakua who was a destructive wrecking ball in the opening two years with the Broncos.

Chelsea Baker was flying high but then Tamika Upton, out of nowhere, cemented that Broncos fullback spot.

Also no surprise to see Ellia Green’s name feature her as she used her strength to make breaks for fun.

Line-Break Assists

1. Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos) with 12.
2. Tarryn Aiken (Brisbane Broncos) with 6.
3. Kirra Dibb (Sydney Roosters & New Zealand Warriors) with 5.
4. Brittany Breayley (Brisbane Broncos & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 4.
5. Lavinia Gould (Brisbane Broncos) with 4.
6. Keeley Davis (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 4.
7. Tamika Upton (Brisbane Broncos) with 4.

Ricky’s Analysis: A quintet of classy Broncos players made their mark when it came to line-break assists.

Kirra Dibb hustled and bustled to produce opportunities for her sides, particularly linking up well with Green and others.

Tackle Breaks

1. Jess Sergis (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 33.
2. Julia Robinson (Brisbane Broncos) with 29.
3. Kezie Apps (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 26.
4. Isabelle Kelly (Sydney Roosters & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 26.
5. Ngatokoturu Arakua (Brisbane Broncos & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 21.
6. Hannah Southwell (St George Illawarra Dragons & Sydney Roosters) with 21.
7. Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos) with 21.
8. Annette Brander (St George Illawarra Dragons & Brisbane Broncos) with 19.
9. Evania Pelite (New Zealand Warriors) with 19.
10. Botille Vette-Welsh (Sydney Roosters & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 19.

Ricky’s Analysis: To think that in just one season, Evania Pelite nabbed 19 tackle breaks. Imagine what she could have done in three!

Vette-Welsh’s injuries probably restricted her from hitting the 30 mark.

Though Sergis and Julia Robinson, two of the most potent outside backs in the game, seemingly break tackles at will.

Offloads

1. Steph Hancock (Brisbane Broncos & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 12.
2. Tazmin Gray (Sydney Roosters, Brisbane Broncos & New Zealand Warriors) with 11.
3. Chelsea Lenarduzzi (Brisbane Broncos) with 11.
4. Amber Hall (Brisbane Broncos) with 11.
5. Kezie Apps (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 9.
6. Isabelle Kelly (Sydney Roosters & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 9.
7. Kirra Dibb (Sydney Roosters & New Zealand Warriors) with 6.
8. Elsie Albert (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 5.

Ricky’s Analysis: A late surge from Lenarduzzi and Hall almost saw them pass their former Broncos teammate in Hancock.

Isabelle Kelly showing that she isn’t just a destructive runner but also a difficult player to tackle, able to get the ball away a nice number of times for second-phase play.

Tackles

1. Brittany Breayley (Brisbane Broncos & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 277.
2. Georgia Hale (New Zealand Warriors) with 276.
3. Simaima Taufa (Sydney Roosters) with 259.
4. Nita Maynard (Sydney Roosters) with 234.
5. Holli Wheeler (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 206.
6. Vanessa Foliaki (Sydney Roosters) with 202.
7. Steph Hancock (Brisbane Broncos & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 194.
8. Kezie Apps (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 193.
9. Tazmin Gray (Sydney Roosters, Brisbane Broncos & New Zealand Warriors) with 188.
10. Millie Boyle (Brisbane Broncos) with 187.

Ricky’s Analysis: Put simply, some of the girls here are tackling machines.

Hale and Maynard are two that you wouldn’t expect to see so high up but their work rate is astounding.

Holli Wheeler’s tackling count came after just two as injury forced her absence in 2020 so a full final season and she may have gone close to Breayley’s mark.

Missed Tackles

1. Zahara Temara (Sydney Roosters) with 29.
2. Jess Sergis (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 27.
3. Nita Maynard (Sydney Roosters) with 24.
4. Keeley Davis (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 19.
5. Lavinia Gould (Brisbane Broncos) with 18.
6. Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos) with 18.
7. Maitua Feterika (Brisbane Broncos & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 17.
8. Tazmin Gray (Sydney Roosters, Brisbane Broncos & New Zealand Warriors) with 17.
9. Holli Wheeler (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 16.
10. Annette Brander (St George Illawarra Dragons & Brisbane Broncos) with 16.

Penalties conceded

1. Lavinia Gould (Brisbane Broncos) with 8.
2. Tazmin Gray (Sydney Roosters, Brisbane Broncos & New Zealand Warriors) with 7.
3. Rona Peters (Brisbane Broncos) with 6.
4. Holli Wheeler (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 6.
5. Amber Hall (Brisbane Broncos) with 6.
6. Nita Maynard (Sydney Roosters) with 6.
7. Chelsea Lenarduzzi (Brisbane Broncos) with 6.
8. Simaima Taufa (Sydney Roosters) with 6.
9. Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos) with 6.
10. Raecene McGregor (St George Illawarra Dragons & Brisbane Broncos) with 6.

Errors

1. Jess Sergis (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 12.
2. Shakiah Tungai (St George Illawarra Dragons) with 12.
3. Zahara Temara (Sydney Roosters) with 11.
4. Isabelle Kelly (Sydney Roosters & St George Illawarra Dragons) with 9.
5. Raecene McGregor (St George Illawarra Dragons & Brisbane Broncos) with 8.
6. Corban McGregor (Sydney Roosters) with 8.
7. Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos) with 7.
8. Georgia Hale (New Zealand Warriors) with 7.

As we shape up for another entertaining season of NRLW, there are sure to be plenty more spectacular and heart-wrenching moments.

So for all the teams in the upcoming competition, good luck, and may the fans have something to cheer about.

As always, if there are additional players’ stats you want to see or something more specific, either comment on the post or shoot us a Twitter message.