Sheridan makes No.1 jersey her own in rousing Raiders debut

Everyone likes to impress on debut for their new club and Sheridan Gallagher not only ticked that box she did it in a completely new position – fullback. 

The 24-year-old former Knight looked comfortable and dangerous in her first outing for the Raiders in a 20-4 defeat of the Dragons at Kogarah on Saturday. 

Having won a premiership (2023) and scored 25 tries on the wing in three years at Newcastle, Gallagher travelled to the national capital for a shot at the No.1 jersey having never played or trained in the position at the Knights. 

Elise Simpson had held that spot for the past two seasons for the Canberra Raiders before three-way conversations between themselves and coach Darrin Borthwick. 

“It was always in the talks when I came down and as ‘Borth’ said there was a healthy competition here and it would be between me and Elise,” Gallagher told NRL.com. 

“I said to her the position is as much hers as it is mine. It’s ended up that I’m lucky enough to wear the jersey and a lot of credit goes to her because she pushed me the whole way through the pre-season.” 

Gallagher definitely didn’t disappoint. 

“It was awesome – I loved it,” she said. 

Statistics back that up with 28 runs for 213 metres - 63 post-contact and 86 kick-return metres – plus a line break assist, a try assist and three offloads. She even slotted a penalty goal. 

Fullback brings a whole different set of running and organisational skills than wing, as well as the added defence on both sides of the field. 

“There was definitely a lot more going on in my head, but I sort of like the chaos. That gets me through games,” Gallagher said. 

“I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.” 

The coach’s instructions were ringing in her ears. 

“He just said ‘Make it your own’ because I told him in the pre-season I’d like to be one of those really good fullbacks like Tamika Upton (Broncos) and Apii Nicholls (Warriors)," she said.

“He just repeated to bring my own game. He gave me that belief.” 

Gallagher also lightened the load on halfback Zahara Temara sending six kicks skyward for 132 metres. Temara had eight and five-eighth Krystall Blackwell three, which put the Dragons on alert all match. 

“That’s an obvious strength of hers with the soccer background,” Temara said. 

“She’s a very skilful player and we wanted her to use her strengths. So she can bomb them up into the sky all she likes. 

“Having three kickers takes the pressure off me.” 

Gallagher is a former Western Sydney Wanderers and Newcastle Jets player in A-League Women’s competition and is grateful to call on those kicking memory banks. 

“It is something that’s happened naturally during training and I’m probably blessed I grew up playing soccer and have a natural kicking ability,” she said. 

“I’m not the main kicker but it’s always good to have that ability.” 

Gallagher has come from a premiership-winning club and likes what she sees at the Raiders. 

“They are a really tight-knit group and that camaraderie and confidence only kept building throughout the team," she said.

“For me that’s a big one in going a long way in this competition.”