NRLW: Cronulla Sharks' Emma Tonegato and Jada Taylor too classy for Canberra Raiders

So will watching as much Emma Tonegato footage as you like, or the replays of Jada Taylor going the length and then some. Actually stopping them is a very different thing.

The Canberra Raiders found out the hard way as the Cronulla Sharks prevailed 28-14 in a battle between the NRLW's newcomers at Shark Park on Sunday afternoon.

Tonegato won a Dally M Medal at fullback and made a seamless transition to five-eighth, carving up Canberra's defence and beating Temara to score Cronulla's first try in the competition.

As for the vacancy Tonegato left in the No.1 jersey? Enter 19-year-old Taylor - you know, the one whose 109-metre try for the NSW under-19s last year has clocked up more than 15 million views online.

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It was Taylor who put Tiana Penitani on course for Cronulla's second try before Quincy Dodd split the defence to score their third, all of which came down Canberra's right edge.

"I'm not going to lie, I thought defensively we were just going to be a little bit better," Raiders coach Darrin Borthwick said.

"A couple of bad reads there and we got penalised for them with a couple of quick tries. Defensively, we need to be better. In attack we were pretty good.

"What made me proud was we were competitive. Obviously we had some debutantes that will learn a lot from today's game. We've got something to build on.

"We've got some work to do defensively, and we're up against a really good Rosters side [in round two], so we'll try and fix that up through the week.

"We've got that out of the way now, history has been created, now we can build on it."

The building blocks are there.

Look at Raiders winger Madison Bartlett, whose two tries lifted her to the top of the competition's all time try-scoring list with 13. Or at Simaima Taufa, who - to the surprise of nobody - topped the tackle count with 40 and ran for 143 metres, more than double the figure reached by any other starting Canberra forward.

The Raiders did manage to slash the margin to four during the second half, only for the Sharks to kick clear. Tonegato would finish with a line break, two line break assists and one try assist in her move to five-eighth.

"She came here wanting to play six and we gave her the opportunity. She put in the work and she deserves all the accolades that come with that," Sharks coach Tony Herman said.

"She just wants the ball in her hands all the time. She was probably sitting out the back of shape a little bit. To be first receiver, get the ball in her hands, take the defence on, I think that really suits her. The opportunity was here."

Just like it was for Taylor, who laid on two tries in her shift to the shire after one game for the Sydney Roosters last year.

"She was great. Everyone knows Jada for those 90, 100-metre tries," Herman said.

"She's got a tough side to her too, and she had a lot of tough carries out there back at their middle. For her to have that as part of her game and part of her weaponry, she's a special player."

AT A GLANCE

NRLW round one: CRONULLA SHARKS 28 (Quincy Dodd 2, Emma Tonegato, Tiana Penitani, Vanessa Foliaki, Ellie Johnston tries; Tayla Preston 2 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 14 (Madison Bartlett 2, Emma Barnes tries; Zahara Temara goals) at Shark Park.

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