Video highlights and news from Harold Matthews, SG Ball, Tarsha Gale Cup

The son of an Illawarra Steelers’ cult hero has sent the SG Ball competition into meltdown, scoring a contender for try of the year for the Roosters. WATCH THE VIDEO

A Sydney Rooster who is the son of an Illawarra Steelers legend provided the magical moment of the round with a classic solo try, while a Western Suburbs back-rower dominated in a gritty win over the Dragons.

Here are the five things from Round 2 of Harold Matthews U17s, SG Ball U19s, and Tarsha Gale U19s.

Solo try lights up SG Ball

The Sydney Roosters lost its Harold Matthews clash with Canberra but halves combo Lachlan Dooner and No.7 Toby Rodwell, whose father Brett played 156 games for the Steelers, produced plenty of highlight-reel moments. Rodwell stole the show when he beat eight defenders to score a cracking 40-metre try.

Tody Rodwell (head gear) leaves a trail of defenders in his wake.

Clarke seals it in nailbiter

After a blistering 70 minutes in Saturday’s heatwave, the SG Ball Magpies were able to seal a hard fought victory over the Dragons on the back of a 10-point haul from Zakauri Clarke. The back-rower landed his three conversion attempts and scored a try to secure a win for Wests and keep them in the top four.

Adams keeps Roosters perfect

Halfback Skyla Adams produced a stellar performance, scoring two tries in the Roosters’ Tarsha Gale win over the Raiders to cement its spot as a competition force.

Skyla Adams is a football prodigy. Picture: Jerad Williams

End-to-end footy

The Tigers-Eels SG Ball game may have ended in a blowout but during the 70-minute clash spectators witnessed two great runaway tries.

Eels interchange Patrick Spence found himself defending his line when he saw an intercept opportunity and ran 90 to take the lead for Parramatta just before halftime. Not long after the half Balmain’s Keenan Lawandos did similar on the other side of the field, gathering a kick to run 80 metres and score.

Captain courageous does it all for Bulldogs

Bulldogs Harold Matthews captain and halfback Mitchell Woods continued his strong, scoring a double, with one coming off the back of an excellent team play.

The team went 60 metres, going through multiple sets of hands before a stylish finish by Woods sealing their 16-point win.

$20M CHARITY BOOSTS JUNIORS

- Dean Ritchie

Welcome to the NSW town bucking the trend when it comes to rugby league participation in the bush – all while pocketing a cool $20m thanks to visiting NRL teams.

While rival country clubs continue to struggle with player numbers – some clubs have folded in recent years – the central west town of Mudgee has recorded a stunning engagement growth in rugby league of 35 to 40 per cent.

Mudgee mayor Des Kennedy claims the increase is due largely to the town having secured the Charity Shield game between South Sydney and St George Illawarra for the past six years.

Mudgee has attracted other NRL games in recent years through partnerships with the Dragons and Manly.

The Rabbitohs and Dragons continue their 41-year pre-season rivalry in Saturday’s Charity Shield at Glen Willow Regional Stadium. Souths left Sydney on Tuesday for a five-day camp in Mudgee where they will visit schools and promote the game while the Dragons will hold an open training session on Thursday.

Footy fans from around the central west will cruise into Mudgee for the match, along with more supporters from the Hunter and Sydney.

Kennedy said the local Mudgee economy has been boosted by around $10.8m due to the Charity Shield games over the past six years and another $9m through the Dragons and Manly matches.

South Sydney fans at last year’s Charity Shield clash in Mudgee. Picture: NRL Imagery

That equates to nearly $20m, with tourists injecting nearly $1.8m into the local economy with each game.

While happy with the cash, Kennedy said the NRL games also ensured kids were now playing rugby league.

Mudgee Dragons have teams in the under 8s, 10s, 12s, 14s, 15s, 16s and a first grade side, reserve grade and under 18s (Group 10). There were 423 juniors registered in Mudgee last year and before the Charity Shield started going to the town, there was 330.

“The numbers in our junior league since we started having the Charity Shield here six years ago have gone up about 40 per cent,” Kennedy said.

“We are going up because we have two NRL games here every year. The kids go and watch these matches. Can you imagine kids going to school and Damien Cook walks into your classroom? Or Latrell Mitchell?

“Some of those kids are so excited that they can’t speak. People in the bush are starving for that sort of stuff.

“And the Charity Shield has brought between $10m and $11m to our economy and region. Other people from Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst and all those towns might come for a day trip.

“I don’t think the NRL appreciate how big of a boost this is for bush football. To keep this going, we need some assistance from the NRL because it’s an expensive exercise.”

Originally published as Video highlights and news from Harold Matthews, SG Ball, Tarsha Gale Cup