Murphy confirms NRLW debutant for Dragons derby
Karyn Murphy has revealed Sophie Buller will get her maiden opportunity from the interchange bench against the Dragons, set to make her NRLW debut for the Titans on Saturday afternoon.
In one of two changes made a day before the Gold Coast's sixth game of the season - the other being Kaitlyn Phillips replacing Hailee-Jay Ormond-Maunsell on the pine - the hard-working lock gets her first crack upon joining the main squad after learning the ropes as a development player in 2022.
Moving from Newcastle to chase her rugby league dream, the 22-year-old was close to making the top 17 in both Rounds 2 and 4 after impressing at training and was strong in the QRLW competition helping Burleigh to premiership glory, averaging 121 running metres and three tackle breaks a game.
"Soph was with us in our development squad last year and came into the top squad this year and I know how hard she's worked," Murphy said.
"She's been looking forward to this opportunity and she'll get her debut with us this weekend."
Expecting a baptism of fire in her first game against the Red V on their home soil, it's a team the Titans have never beaten in its history across their previous three matchups, and the task will get even tougher with the visitors attempting to snap a two-match losing streak against a team with their tails up after notching up a strong win last weekend.
"The Dragons had a good win last week and we know they're dangerous down there and our Titans NRLW side haven't beaten the Dragons in any game so far," Murphy said.
"We're looking forward to bouncing back ourselves. We've had a couple of hard weeks of footy and we're coming off a couple of losses, so we're keen to get down there and get a win this weekend."
Match: Dragons v Titans
Round 6 -
home Team
Dragons
8th Position
away Team
Titans
3rd Position
Venue: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney
Honing in on rectifying the side's poor completion rate - currently tied last in the competition with 72 percent - Murphy believes this has been a big factor in the back-to-back losses, changing the approach at training this week to seek improvement.
"It's an obvious thing that errors are hurting us at the moment.. we're defending well, but we can't keep defending our errors and we're making too many of them," she said.
"We've gone back to simplifying a few things at training this week and it's definitely been a focus for us."
The Titans will also welcome back Jaime Chapman who returns from concussion as one of four former Dragons who will suit up against their former side.
"Chappo is definitely that athletic strike player that we want in our backline," Murphy said.
"She had some niggles in the first few weeks and we were managing that, and then of course picked up the HIA (against the Knights).
"She's had a frustrating start with us, but she's looking good out there and is back to nearly full fitness, so I'm looking forward to seeing how she goes this weekend."
