Individual brilliance and big team statements: Talking points from the Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup round one
The Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup is back giving us our first look at the six sides competing for the crown in 2023. Check out six of the big talking points from the first round of action.
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Round one of the 2023 Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup has been and gone, with local footy back in full swing around the Illawarra now.
There were big hits, great team tries and suprise results across the grounds in round one.
We wrapped the games earlier this week, now we’ve got six key talking points for you from the three major games that took place.
Check them out below.
Best and worst tackles of the round
Round one showed us some of the best and worst of rugby league tackling technique.
On the positive side of this scenario is ex-NRL star Grant Millington who laid the big hit of the round on Dapto’s Dylan O’Brien, laying a strong shoulder on his opposing forward to send him right back to the canvas.
Worst tackle of the round came through De La Salle’s Te Wehi Waitere who was sent to the sin bin after a dropping Thirroul’s Bradley Deitz on his neck in a dangerous tackle which sparked an all in brawl early in the second half.
Feki hits ground running
Sosaia Feki got his Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup career off to a bright start in his Wests Devils victory over Dapto Canaries.
A winger in his NRL days, Feki lined up for the Devils in centre on the weekend to get his experience a bit more centrally on the park.
It was the positioning of the former NRL premiership winner that got him over the line twice, first running in untouched off skilful Justin Rodrigues offload assist, before charging through a hole in the line perfectly for his second.
No doubt we’ll be seeing Feki on the scoresheet a lot this season.
Gromek masterclass
Identified as one of the players to watch this season, fullback Callum Gromek got his 2023 campaign off to a flying start with a masterful performance against Corrimal.
The former Jersey Flegg and NSW Cup player had his hands on everything throughout the afternoon, picking up two tries and a couple of assists.
The pick of the bunch was an excellent solo scored in the first half, splitting the line with an excellent dummy before putting a big step on the Corrimal fullback to go in for four points.
Rodrigues steers the ship
Halfback Justin Rodrigues stood up for his side massively in their opening round clash, not panicking when they went down 12 points to nil early on.
Rodrigues steered the ship all day, first assisting Feki before feeding Wyndham Peachey through the line in what was the start of an exquisite team try.
The Devils will hope the Maltese international can keep up his red hot start to the season.
Champions mentality
While Collegians were expected to beat Corrimal, they still took the opportunity to make a statement to the rest of the competition with their relentless intensity.
This was showcased through the final try of the game, where Collegians refused to take the foot off the pedal despite being up by 38 points and with only a matter of minutes remaining.
Halfback Zeik Foster fielded a catch in his own in goal to force a 20 metre restart, seeing an opportunity to counter attack.
From here the Foster, Gromek and Samuel McCann would also play support to each other, simply wanting it more than the tiring Corrimal defence, before feeding centre Toby Rumble in to finish the job in a wonderful team try.
De La Salle finally get up over Thirroul
The newest entrants to the Illawarra Cup, De La Salle, finally got up over Thirroul, a team that has had the better of them historically.
It was hard work to do so however, with coach Luke Manahan saying his side had to really grit their teeth to get the job done.
“It was a gutsy win and our defence really got us there,” Manahan said.
“Defending those last four or five minutes on our line was brutal, but we seemed to solve just about everything they threw at us.”
Manahan identified lock forward Jacko Stewart as the standout performer for the side, carrying the enthusiasm and intensity, rising to the tough conditions thrown at the side.
New look teams, big wins and shock results: Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup round one wrap
The Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup 2023 season kicked off over the weekend, with six teams fighting for premiership glory this year.
Three exciting games took place over the weekend as we got our first look at the six teams that’ll be doing battle over the next few months.
Already we’ve had our leaders established and upsets place, read on to check out how it all unfolded.
Don’t forget to check out our ultimate preview of the season ahead.
Devils fight back against Canaries
In the headline game of the round, Western Suburbs Devils hosted Dapto Canaries in an enthralling season opener.
Dapto came out of the blocks early and looked as if they were making a statement performance after narrowly missing out on finals footy in 2022.
Prop forward Justin Faughlin crashed over the line for his side’s first of the year off the assist from his hooker Connor McNally.
This was followed by a beautiful spreading play involving captain Troy Pieper which ended in winger Jack Piccirilli finishing for Dapto’s second.
This lead could have been extended more had it not been for some solid Wests defence.
The Devils bounced back before the break with ex-NRL winger Sosaia Feki opening his account for the club from centre after a great offload assist from halfback Justin Rodrigues, taking them into the break down 12-4.
Five-eighth Mitch Porter got his side off on the right foot in the second half, punching a pocket of space close to the line to charge in to score.
Another ex-NRL star in Grant Millington had a highlight moment, producing an early contender for big hit of the year on his opposition number.
This was a sign of the dominance to come for the Devils, with Feki going in for his second try shortly after to gain the lead.
This would be followed by a try of the round contender, started by Rodrigues who hit Wyndham Peachey through the line, who produced a silky flick to Levi Pascoe, who then fed prop forward Jalal Bazzaz to finish off a magic team try.
Pascoe would get one for himself late on, finding himself a hole off a scrum play, by which time frustration had gotten the better of Dapto, seeing Jack Owens sent to the sin bin for dissent.
A strong opening round from last year’s runners up as they look to go one further in 2023.
Collegians will be team to beat again
Collegians looked to pick up exactly where they left off in 2022 with a crushing 44-0 win over the luckless Corrimal Cougars.
It took two minutes for the floodgates to open, with gun second rower Blake Dowel breaking a number of tackles and crashing over the line.
Fullback Callum Gromek had his hands on everything all afternoon, picking up his first try when centre Toby Rumble pounced on a Corrimal error and fed his fullback down the wing, running the remaining length of the field to score.
Gromek would follow that with an excellent solo try, throwing a dummy to pick a hole in the defensive line before stepping the fullback to score.
Collegians just seemed to want the ball more than the Cougars, with Jesse McDonald chasing a kick harder than anyone to pursue and plant down the ball in the in goal for his try.
Gromek once again had his hands on the pill as he fed his winger Samuel McCann in for his first of the year.
The last try of the game highlighted the intent of this Collegians side in 2023.
Halfback Zeik Foster diffused a kick in his own in goal, before racing half the field off the 20 metre tap, feeding his fullback Gromek, who had support in McCann and centre Toby Rumble, with Rumble finishing off the move to complete a statement opening round victory for the champions.
De La Salle ruffle Thirroul feathers
De La Salle produced a potential upset of the round in getting up over last year’s table toppers the Thirroul Butchers 18-13 at home, as the side looks to improve on their early finals exit from 2022.
Winger Thomas Rodwell got his side’s scoring underway for the year in the first half, finishing a nice right to left spread in the corner.
De La Salle would favour the left flank, finding success again soon on as Kai Parker crashed over on the left flank as his side ran the ball on the final tackle.
Thirroul would snap into action from here, with second rower Riley Graham taking it upon himself to get the team going, doing some great running to smash his way over the line.
The Butchers would lift from here, with halfback Tarje Whitford fooling the defence as his side was set up to the right, dummying and crashing over himself to level the scores.
Five-eighth Jarrod Boyle would send his side into the shed with a one-point lead after a field goal on the siren, highlighting good resilience from Thirroul to come from behind to lead.
However it would be De La Salle who would triumph, with interchange hooker Isaac Longmuir burrowing his way over from close range to give the home side the advantage which they would hold for the remainder of the half.
A statement win by De La Salle and a disappointing start for Thirroul.
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