“We know they’re playing quite well, but we’re not worried and are just going to play our best footy; we just play what we know and that has served us quite well,” Parker said. 

She said the Eaglettes had welcomed a number of new girls to the roster this year that had been slotting in well, but a clash with the Whalers would be a “wake up call” against the two-time premiership winners. 

“We’ll have a leadership talk at training tonight [Thursday] and our new girls know what they’re in for.

“We’re not putting too much pressure on ourselves though and we’re certainly not assuming anything, everyone is just keen to play.”

The two clubs are sharing competition honours at the top of the table and the hunt for the premiership is ever-present in the back of the Eaglettes’ minds, but it’s not priority one, Parker says. 

“We’re only a few games in so we’re not expecting anything, with some new players in our midst we’ll just play week-to-week and take it as it comes,” she said. 

Parker did say it would be nice to have Tarni Evans back in the ranks after missing the ruck player in the grand final. 

She also commended some players who are stepping up in a big way in recent outings. 

“Everybody has really stepped up, Eliza Terrey is working into a leadership role and she has matured a lot.

“And Gina Bricachek is really finding her own in the backlines, but is also strong in the forwards with a good tackling game and safe hands.”

The Eaglettes made short work of the Narooma Lions in the wet last week, and said they would be looking forward to a hard-fought game and hopefully a better forecast. 

“We'll just go out to play our hardest and if we can take home the win then that's a bonus,” Parker said. 

The senior Sea Eagles will also face the Whalers at the Eden Cricket Ground and will be looking to emulate their round one success against the Whalers.

The ladies take the field at 1.10pm with the seniors to follow at 2.30pm.