Central Coast Rugby League: Incredible defensive effort sees Toukley defeat Erina in grand final
Toukley has claimed back-to-back Central Coast Rugby League premierships after defeating Erina with an incredible defensive display in the grand final.
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Toukley has won back-to-back Central Coast Rugby League premierships after an incredible defensive display helped the Hawks to an 8-6 victory over Erina in the first grade grand final at Woy Woy Oval.
In a defensive effort for the ages, Toukley repelled set after set of Erina attacks in periods in both the first and second half to back up last year’s heroics and secure the club’s second premiership.
“The first half there, for us to turn up the way we did and compete was amazing,” said Toukley captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick.
“It felt like 35 minutes of that first half was against us but we pride ourselves on our defence and it showed.
“And then backs against the wall in the second half, we lost a lot of field position but we hung in there and it goes to show the mentality of the boys. We’re a tight-knit group and when push comes to shove and we get down in the trenches it’s hard to beat.”
The victory caps off a remarkable year for the Hawks, who not only defended last year’s inaugural crown, but also claimed the club’s first-ever first grade minor premiership.
With the team’s defence the cornerstone of not only the grand final win but entire season’s success, Toukley was forced to rely on this from the very beginning after coughing up the ball in just the second hit-up of the match.
Fortunately for the Hawks they survived that scare, and after an entertaining first few minutes they opened the scoring when a spread to the left put winger Aaron Heaven over in the corner for a 4-0 lead.
They weren’t able to celebrate for long though, knocking the ball on again in the second hit-up of after the kick-off.
This time the Eagles made them pay, with a lovely short ball from Jack Weir putting his skipper Joel Frazer over under the sticks. Finn Douch added the extras to put the Eagles ahead 6-4.
On the back of some Toukley errors coming out from their own end, Erina started to enjoy some good field position and were held up over the line twice on the back some desperate goal line defence.
Another knock-on gave the Eagles yet another golden chance, however the blue and gold wall held firm, with the Hawks forcing an error out of Frazer as he fell over the line.
The rock-solid defence helped build Toukley’s confidence and when Erina spilled the ball coming out of its own end the Hawks didn’t let them off the hook.
Toukley’s left edge of Fitzpatrick, backrower Jakob Giles and centre Jacob Griffin was causing Erina plenty of troubles, and with 13 to go in the half an excellent around the corner offload from Giles put Heaven over untouched for his double.
Josh Kessler’s conversion attempt went wide as the Hawks took an 8-6 lead into the break.
The second half turned into a grind, with both sides struggling to create clear-cut chances as strong defence led to a string of errors.
A penalty to Toukley for holding down in the ruck followed by an attempted intercept somewhat broke the stalemate and gave the Hawks two sets in Erina’s half, however a sloppy pass saw the side cough up possession.
As the half went on Erina began to look more dangerous with a series of sets at Toukley’s end.
However time and time again Toukley’s incredible defence held firm as the Hawks repelled attacks from the left, right and down the middle.
Erina went incredibly close eight minutes from time when Oliver Clements was tackled one metre short.
A Toukley dropped ball 10 metres out from their own line directly afterwards gave the Eagles another golden opportunity, with Cam Davies this time tackled a sliver short after a wonderful stepping run. Then in the next set Clements managed to get over the line but was denied once again after being held up by the desperate Hawks.
As the clock ticked down the Eagles began to throw the ball around and chance their arm a little more, with a Nick Newman bomb with less than two minutes to go the last roll of the dice as the Hawks held on to secure a famous premiership win.
As the full-time whistle blew a sea of blue and gold ran onto the field to celebrate with the Toukley players after what was a pulsating, if not polished, local grand final.
The achievement caps off a remarkable rise from Toukley in recent years. Not a traditional heavyweight of local league, the Hawks have gone from breaking a 55-year drought by winning their first premiership in 2022, to claiming their first minor premiership and then going back to back this year.
“It just shows that when you’ve got a good good culture and group of blokes who love being around each other anything can happen, and it’s a credit to the boys,” said Fitzpatrick.
On the back of a series of strong carries and steely defence, Jakob Giles was named man of the match, with the big backrower paying credit to his team’s resilience.
“When you only give up six points in a grand final it’s hard to lose, so I’m pretty happy,” he said.
Not only impressive with the tough stuff, Giles also produced a moment of brilliance with an excellent no-look offload to set up Heaven’s second try.
“I didn’t see where it ended up but I was just hoping it hit someone on the chest and it did,” he added.
The loss was a tough one to swallow for Erina, who has now lost two grand finals in a row to the Hawks and will see its 32-year first grade grand final drought continue.
Coach Dane Allen was gracious in defeat and paid credit to his opponents.
“Grand finals are won and lost on effort and you can’t fault Toukley’s effort,” he said.
“There were probably half a dozen times where Toukley scrapped and just pulled us down short or got underneath the footy in some capacity, and that was the difference between winning and losing. Two points, 8-6, it was a very defensive game and those desperate moments were the difference.”
Despite the loss, Allen said he was proud of how his young team performed on the big stage.
“Last year I was really disappointed with how we turned up and played but our blokes can hold their heads up high and learn from it. But onwards and upwards and hopefully we’ll be back next year with another crack.”
Grand final results
League tag: The Entrance 16 def Erina 4
Under-19s: The Entrance 28 def Wyong 0
Open grade: Woy Woy 8 def St Edwards 6
Women’s tackle: Berkeley Vale 18 def The Entrance 4
Reserve grade: Erina 18 def The Entrance 10
First grade: Toukley 8 def Erina 6
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