Tamika Upton key to Knights win in NRLW semi against Broncos

The crowd holds their collective breath every time she touches the ball.

And Knights mentor Ron Griffiths has no doubts the Knights' marquee player and enigmatic fullback is only getting better.

Tamika Upton has the power to unlock Newcastle's sudden death semi-final showdown with Brisbane at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

She can turn a game in an instant.

"If you look at Tamika's game from last year to now, the evolution of the game has been two-pronged, one her leadership around the group and the other one is around her ball playing," Griffiths said.

"She could always certainly use the football, but now she's probably studying more football and watching how she thinks she can pull teams apart."

The Queensland 26-year-old has covered more ground than any other player this NRLW and is among the front-runners in plenty of game statistics.

She regularly produces try-saving tackles, has a killer pass, great hands, can kick, put teammates into gaps no one sees coming and is evasive at full acceleration.

Upton has clocked 2016 run metres this campaign and is averaging 223 metres per game.

She has scored four tries in nine outings and assisted six and is sure to be in the running for this year's NRLW Dally M medal.

"She's our marquee player and when the chips are down or things are flying, you want your marquee at the forefront of everything you do, and we've seen that from her this year," Griffiths said.

"I reckon there wouldn't be a game where she hasn't polled extremely well in any sort of ratings that are happening.

"We believe her game has evolved two-fold, and we'll continue to see that. Her growth over the next three years will be even better again. I reckon it will be exponential."

Upton already has three NRLW premierships - two back-to-back with the Broncos in 2019 and 2020 before producing a player of the grand final performance to help steer Newcastle to glory over the Eels last year.

The 2022 Karyn Murphy medallist can help seal another shot at a premiership with a win over the Broncos this weekend and has plenty of intel on her opponents.

"I'm really good friends with a lot of them, played Queensland with a lot of them, which can be a good thing," Upton said.

"I know most of their games and I'm sure they know mine, so it should be a good battle."

The Broncos have won three NRLW premierships in five seasons of NRLW. They have no shortage of experience and appear to be peaking at the right time.

They piled on nine tries in a 46-12 demolition of the Dragons in the final round while the Knights came from behind to beat the West Tigers 28-8.

"They have a great culture there, obviously led by [halfback] Ali Brigginshaw and [prop] Chelsea Lenarduzzi," Upton said.

"They've been in the game since the beginning, they know what it takes. They've been here before so they're obviously going to be prepped and ready, as are we."

Speaking this week, Prince acknowledged Upton was "regarded as the best player in the game today" and this weekend was not so much about stopping the Knights No.1 as it was about "minimising her impact and the damage".

A humble Upton said she was merely keen to "put on show" for Knights fans what she had learned so far in her time with Newcastle.

"I've taken heaps," she said. "It's a different team this year, so I've been really trying to work with other girls and play to their strengths.

"That's probably the job of a fullback, to get the best out of other people and play off the back of them."

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