Roosters lock Olivia Kernick says there are many good reasons why her team want to win the 2026 NRLW Premiership -- but one sticks out above the rest.
There's already plenty of motivation with next Sunday’s grand final being the last game for retiring Roosters' diehards Corban Baxter and Millie Elliott, while Tarryn Aiken and Taina Navidi get to atone for missing last year’s decider because of ACL knee injuries.
But Kernick says their major inspiration is to reverse the result from 2025 when they lost 22-18 to the Broncos.
The Roosters will have 12 players from last year fighting to make sure there's a very different outcome this time.
“We’ve done a great job in retaining our players but there’s a big mindset, a big shift this year,” Kernick told AAP.
“We lost a grand final and that really stings, really hurts, and it stays with you the whole next year until you get the chance to redeem yourself.
“We’ve had a lot of grit this year working towards the end goal and that’s to win the grand final next week.”
It will be the Roosters' sixth grand final since the NRLW started in 2018 and they haven’t had a great strike-rate, winning just two of five in 2021 and 2024.
Kernick, the 2024 Dally M Player of the Year winner, has been keeping up her part of the bargain in bringing the trophy back to Bondi junction.
In the 20-10 win over the Raiders in Saturday night’s Preliminary final, she topped the tackle count for both sides with 44, along with making 141 metres off 15 runs.
But she was surpassed by her former flatmate and good friend Elliott, who amassed a staggering 175 metres, along with four tackle-busts and 71 post-contact metres from her 50 minutes on the field.
“She’s an incredible player – her and Corbs (Baxter). I keep saying that, but it’s true,” Kernick enthused.
“They have been great influencers in my career and the best thing is I get to keep their friendship even though I won’t be playing with them next year.
“But for what they’ve done for this club and the women’s game, it’s even more reason to want to win the grand final for them.”
Elliott was on fire against the Raiders in her 50th NRLW match. She missed last year’s loss to the Broncos due to the birth of her daughter, Gigi, but she has the chance to leave rugby league with a real legacy.
Elliott and NRL front-rower Glenn Lazarus are the only two players to win four premierships across three different clubs.
For Lazarus, it was the Raiders (1989, 1990), the Broncos (1992, 1993) and Melbourne Storm (1999).
For Elliott, it is the Broncos (2019, 2020), Newcastle Knights (2022), and Roosters (2024).
But she can equal Lazarus with five rings in her final game for the Roosters next Sunday.
