The rugby league world stopped and watched as Dragons fullback Teagan Berry clocked up a record-breaking four tries at Kogarah last weekend, but her eyes are fixed on something more: guiding St George Illawarra into the NRL Women’s finals.
Berry scored four in front of the Dragons faithful in a 42-minute run between the 28th and 66th minutes, but it wasn’t enough. In the end, a Lauren Brown field goal in the 69th minute proved the difference and Jamie Soward’s outfit lost to the Gold Coast Titans 22-23 and slipped down to eighth, four points away from a possible finals berth.
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While the performance, which Berry says she’s proud of, got plenty of plaudits in the following week, the heartbreaking one-point loss still stings the Red V youngster.
“[It was my] 20th game, [so] I wanted to go out and just play my best football and I’m happy with my performance but, obviously with the loss, I’m disappointed as well,” she said. “I sort of just go out there and play footy and the tries come.”
This week, try haul already put aside, there’s only one focus—climbing the ladder.
“This week, we’re really focused on [winning],” Berry explained. “We need to win our last three games to even be in the finals, so we need to go out and win this weekend.”
If the Dragons are to lift, first against the Cowboys up in Townsville on Saturday, and then against local rivals the Sharks and the star-studded Broncos in the final two rounds, it’s going to be through Berry’s fullback play.
This time last year, the 21-year-old playmaker was still on the wing, where she had started in her first three NRLW campaigns. In the offseason Jamie Soward tipped her as St George’s long-term number one and began moulding her into a player that could inject herself into the attack more often from the rearguard role.
There’s still a long way to go, but it’s clear the move was a success.
“I’m really enjoying fullback,” Berry said on the switch. “Obviously, running it more and coming off the wing. Doing lots more work. It’s been awesome. [Linking with Tyla Nathan-Wong and Raecene McGregor] has been great too, I really enjoy playing with them both. Sowie’s had that faith in me [to step up] which is also good.”
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It’s a faith that Berry wants to pay back with more wins this year: “I’m just playing my best footy for the Dragons at the moment… I just go out there and play what’s best for the team.”
