How Abigail Roache plans to improve on a dream debut NRLW campaign

A try on debut with loved ones watching from the stands, a regular starting spot in the centres cemented and a minor-major premiership double.

It is the stuff dreams are made of.

But the New Zealand cross-code talent is determined to back it up with an even stronger campaign in 2024.

"It was a lot of not getting thrown in the deep end but you're fresh to everything," Roache said of 2023.

"You're learning the way. So this year you know what to expect and you know you need to step up.

"You can't just keep doing what you're doing. You really need to step up, so that's a bit of a challenge this year.

"But I just really want to focus on the basics and keep moving forward."

The 23-year-old proved key to the Knights attack last year with six tries in 11 appearances, four line breaks, one try assist and an average of 95 running metres per game.

In defence, she tackled at over 90 per cent efficiency.

Roache, who overcame back-to-back knee reconstructions and a frustrating injury-plagued four-year period to become an NRLW player, picked up where she left off with another solid first-up effort as a gritty Knights beat the Sydney Roosters 12-10 at McDonald Jones Stadium last Thursday night.

The performance included a first-half try after Knights fullback Tamika Upton put Roache into a gap and the New Zealand international crossed untouched on the left edge.

"When you play outside Meeks [Upton] and the likes of Georgia [Roche] and Yassie [Yasmin Clydsdale], they make it easy," she said.

"I just have to run hard and hit the hole. But if felt good.

"It felt a bit rusty, just the first-game cobwebs, but once we got in the groove there was snippets of really good footy. I thought overall it was a grind but we got there in the end and that's what matters. I felt like all the work we did in the pre-season came into those hard moments."

The Knights travel to Canberra to face the Raiders, who dispatched West Tigers 32-12 in round one, on Saturday.

"My goals for this year are just to keep competing and keep putting my best foot forward and just evolving and still doing all the little things to get better," Roache, who also works full-time as a teacher's aide at Newcastle High School, said.

Coach Ben Jeffries will name his side for the Raiders clash on Tuesday.

Roache's countrywomen Grace Kukutai and Isabella Waterman, both Super Rugby converts, made their NRLW debuts against the Roosters. Waterman played on the wing and Kukutai had a 16-minute cameo off the bench in the second row.

Jeffries revealed on Friday he had signed another New Zealand rugby star in Tokyo Olympics sevens gold medallist Tenika Willison as a replacement for back Tamerah Leati, who has sustained a season-ending knee injury.

Willison is in Paris as a travelling reserve for the New Zealand women's sevens side and is expected in Newcastle next week.