Central Coast Rugby League: wrap, standouts, talking points from round 13
The finals spots have been locked in following a series of draws and key wins in round 13 of the CCRL, while the minor premiership race will go down to the final round.
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The top four teams have now all booked their spots in this year’s final series after a string of crucial results during round 13 of the CCRL.
Elsewhere, the incredible run of draws this season has continued, while results have ensured that the minor premiership and golden boot will go down to the wire during the final round.
For a wrap of the action and major talking points from the weekend’s footy, catch up with the CCRL Set of Six below.
1) Top four decided
It was a big weekend not only with regard to the blockbuster games, big comebacks and tight contests, but also in terms of finals ramifications, with the top four settled after the weekend’s action.
Terrigal’s come-from-behind draw against Erina ensured it would play finals football, while Wyong’s big win over Berkeley Vale more saw the Roos book their ticket after The Entrance were held to a draw with Woy Woy.
The top four teams are exactly the same as last year, with Toukley, Erina, Terrigal and Wyong to battle it out for the title.
2) Minor premiership to go down to final round
While the top four might have been decided, the race for the minor premiership will go down to the final round with Toukley and Erina both a chance of taking it out.
The Hawks are in the box seat, two points clear at the top. However they do play third-placed Terrigal, who handed Toukley its first loss of the season back in round seven, in what is a stern test ahead of the finals.
If Toukley lose, the Eagles are waiting in the wings to claim top spot. Already with a superior goal difference than their rivals, Erina face last-placed Berkeley Vale and would simply need to win to overtake their rivals.
3) Draw-a-thon continues
The draw-a-thon of 2023 continued with Erina and Terrigal finishing 22 apiece and The Entrance and Woy Woy playing out a 20-all draw in what was an entertaining weekend of footy.
There have now been five draws so far this season, with both Terrigal and The Entrance taking part in three each – including a 12-all clash between each other in round five – while Woy Woy has been involved in two and both Toukley and Erina one.
This is more than the four draws recorded last season and the zero in the Covid-shortened season in 2021.
4) Roos looking for perfect set of six
Wyong will head into the final round of the season with a spring in its step after notching up its fifth-straight win over the weekend against Berkeley Vale.
It has been a remarkable turnaround in form from the Roos, who at one stage in the season looked finished with a record of three wins and five losses.
However a focus on actions rather than talk, as well as the inspiration gathered from the club’s 2014 premiership victory, has seen the club wipe away its opponents, with Wyong looking to head into the finals with six-straight wins as they take on Woy Woy on Sunday.
5) Tryscoring gun goes ahead, final round golden boot shootout
On the individual front, the leading tryscorers’ title has more or less been wrapped up while the race for the golden boot will go down to the wire in a final round shootout.
Erina’s Riley Burke scored another hat-trick on the weekend in the Eagles’ game against Terrigal to take his tally to 18 – a remarkable five ahead of Woy Woy’s Ashton Carroll.
It has been an incredible for the 18-year-old, who only made his first grade debut in round two. Highlights include the incredible four-try haul he scored against Berkeley Vale in round seven, which he then followed with a hat-trick against Kincumber the very next week.
Meanwhile in the pointscorers’ race, Carroll and Erina’s Finn Douch will both go into the final round locked at the top with 118 points, with Toukley’s Josh Kessler third with 102 and Terrigal’s Josh Moffitt fourth with 98.
6) Plenty to play for across all grades
However first grade isn’t the only competition where the stakes are high, with plenty to play for in terms of finals spots and minor premierships in all grades.
In reserve grade, The Entrance has the chance to cap off a perfect, undefeated season when the team takes on Kincumber in the final round. It’s a similar story in league tag, with the all-conquering Tigers looking to make it 14 wins from 14 when they face off with the Colts.
In open grade, St Edwards are two points clear of second-placed Wyong but have the bye. The Bears will be hoping the Roos don’t win by more than 36 so they can claim the minor premiership.
In the under-19s, Wyong is in the box seat to claim top spot, two points ahead of The Entrance. They face off with a very strong third-placed Kincumber side and will hope to put the icing on their very good regular season with a win.
Meanwhile in women’s tackle, Berkeley Vale has the chance to create history as the inaugural minor premiership winners if they can knock off or draw with Woy Woy on Sunday.
ROUND 13 WRAP
A stirring second half comeback capped off a brilliant spectacle as two top-four teams went toe to toe in a blockbuster clash during round 13 of the CCRL.
Meanwhile, another side racked up its fifth win in a row as the race for the top four and minor premiership became clearer during a huge weekend of footy.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
Hawks hammer the Colts
Toukley has ensured that it will head into the final round of the regular season on top of the ladder after a comprehensive 46-0 thrashing of Kincumber at MacKillop Oval.
The Hawks ran in nine unanswered tries to ensure that they are in the box seat to win the minor premiership next weekend.
The rout started early with tries to Kallin Adams and Brady Barwick inside the first 20 minutes. That was then followed by another quickfire double to Jacob Griffin and Aaron Heaven respectively to put the Hawks up 22-0.
The excellent first half was then capped off by a Kiran Page intercept try to give the side a 28-0 lead at the break.
Things continued in much the same way in the second half, with Jakob Giles and Jayden Jones crossing for four-pointers, before Griffin’s second and a try to Jye Tudehope putting the icing on the cake of a solid win.
Toukley 46 def Kincumber 0
Sharks come back to snatch draw against Eagles
Terrigal has come from three tries down to snatch a thrilling 22-all draw against Erina in a blockbuster top-four clash at Duffys Road Oval.
Eagles’ winger Riley Burke scored a hat-trick as his side surged to an early lead before three second-half tries to the Sharks ensured that the game went down to the wire and the points were shared.
“We were down 20-6 at one point, so we did come back well. It wasn’t looking good at the start, but we fought hard and were on a bit of a roll at the end,” said Terrigal captain-coach Dylan McKeown.
It was a great start from the visitors, who dominated the early exchanges on the back of some sloppy ball-handling from Terrigal.
Erina ran in three tries to one in the opening half, with some excellent attacking kicking from the Eagles taking advantage of their good field position.
“We were a bit sloppy in the first half, making a few unforced errors and that sort of thing,” said McKeown.
“If you give Erina those chances they ice those tries. They put in a few good kicks to the corner to score those tries. Our defence was alright, they were scoring off kicks and those sorts of things, so if you give them that ball they’re going to do that.”
Erina extended their lead early in the second half, and just as it looked like they would run away with the game, the Sharks launched a stirring comeback, with tries to Daniel Lotu, Caydn Rosemeyer and Elih Jackson locking things up at 22 a piece with four minutes to go.
“It’s just when you complete a few sets and get a bit of confidence, we’re the team that when we start rolling we can remember what we can do,” said McKeown. “And we just put it together which is nice. We just need to do it for 80 minutes and we’ll be very hard to beat.”
But despite a late charge from both sides, the points were shared in what was an entertaining contest.
Terrigal 22 drew with Erina 22
Tigers and Roosters share the points in thriller
There was a second-half comeback, an eight-point try and a goal on the siren in a match that just about had it all as The Entrance and Woy Woy fought out a seesawing 20-all draw at EDSACC Oval.
The home side got off to a strong start, with two converted tries and a penalty goal giving the Tigers a 14-0 lead at the break.
However it was a different story in the second half, with the Roosters putting on three of their own to surge ahead into the lead.
This included one of the more controversial moments of the game when Woy Woy was awarded an eight-point try.
Winger Ashton Carroll was running around to improve the position after crossing the line when a Tigers player tried to tackle him. The referee ruled that the attempt was dangerous and awarded the visitors an additional kick at goal in addition to the conversion.
Carroll slotted the kicks to put his team in front before the Tigers clawed their way back with a try at the death. This time it was The Entrance’s halfback Jake Slee who kicked the goal from on the siren to tie things up in the entertaining draw.
“In the end we were probably a bit disappointed. We led 14-0 at halftime, so to let that lead slip, find ourselves in that position and end up with a draw was a shame,” said Tigers’ coach Kyle Whiteford.
“We just made too many errors when we were in front in that second half. We coughed it up too many times and we gave them enough opportunities and they took it.”
The Entrance 20 drew with Woy Woy
Roos round Panthers to go five straight
Wyong has won its fifth game in a row after pushing aside Berkeley Vale 30-0 at Ted Doyle Oval.
The Roos crossed for five converted tries to none in the victory, which assures the team of a spot in the semi-finals.
It was a good day for five-eighth Aaiden Wright who scored a try and kicked five goals for a personal haul of 14 points, while Stephen Gordon, Brendan Quigg, Bailey Frost and Zac Ryan also crossed for tries.
The win keeps the Roos in fourth position, two points clear of The Entrance and with a points difference 108 better than their rivals, meaning that it would take a catastrophic collapse and a huge Tigers’ victory next weekend to dislodge the team from the finals.
As for Berkeley Vale, they remain in eighth position and will be hoping for a positive end to the season this weekend against Erina.
Wyong 30 def Berkeley Vale 0
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