Thirroul Butchers emerge 2023 Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup champions in thrilling grand final
A day that will long live in the history of the Thirroul Butchers as they emerged as surprise Illawarra Cup champions. Check out the full wrap of all grades on grand final day and 90+ PHOTOS.
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Coach Jarrod Costello experienced the heartache of grand final footy in 2018 when his Thirroul boys went down to Western Suburbs 18-16 in the grand final.
Now, a few days on from the 2023 grand final, Costello admits it’s “only just starting to sink in” that his boys finally got the job done on the big stage.
“I’m just really grateful mate,” Costello said.
“I was definitely on the edge of my seat towards the end there … when Stevie [Steven Marsters] took that intercept I thought ‘thank god!’”
The relief and euphoria was shared by captain Hayden Crosland who also was on that losing side in 2018.
“It’s only just starting to hit home now, just laying in bed and scrolling through all the posts and articles,” Crosland said.
“It was unreal mate, I was lost for words at the time.
“Seeing what it meant for not only the boys on the field, but the entire club and fans.
“I was seeing boys on Saturday who had been in the team in previous years and this premiership means just as much to them as it did to us.”
Thirroul had only just about scratched their way into the finals series in the first place, as for a while it looked as though Dapto might snag fourth spot on the ladder where the Butchers ended.
With that in mind it was a game that on paper favoured the Collie Dogs: three from three against the Butchers in 2023 and spurred on at the thought of being the first team in over a decade to go back-to-back-to-back.
What transpired though was a Thirroul masterclass, coming out in the second half and keeping Collegians scoreless and sealing their first premiership since 2014.
Player of the Match was Jarrod Boyle who defeated his former club to secure his fourth Illawarra Cup in a masterful performance from the five-eighth.
“Boyley has been one of the most influential halves in the competition for the last 10 years,” Costello said.
“I’ve coached against him for years, I know what he can bring so to see it for us on the weekend and all year was outstanding.”
“It was just the way he backed himself with those 50-50 chances,” Crosland said.
“That pass out wide to Cooper Bowen for Jye Patterson’s try, or the short drop-out that we regained, he just backs himself and everyone sort of gets on his back as a result.”
There were heroes all over the park for the Butchers, from a bloodied captain Crosland himself, to a limping Wayne Bremner at fullback.
Brad Deitz was influential with a try and assist from hooker, Jye Patterson trumped in his winger battle against Jay Watling, while Kaleb Hocking and Ammon Carney stood up in the face of arguably the best forward pack in the league that Collegians has.
Spurring the Butchers on for the full 80 minutes though was the extra man they had on the WIN Stadium hill. The blue and white Butchers army.
“It was a huge crowd, the biggest I’ve seen there in a long time,” Costello said.
“We talked about it at half time, I told the boys to look up at the hill when they run out again, remind yourselves who you’re playing for.”
Match wrap
The Thirroul Butchers have emerged as underdog champions of the 2023 Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup after defeating defending premiers Collegians 24-18 in the grand final.
Captain Hayden Crosland lifted the illustrious Illawarra Cup aloft in front of the masses of blue and white Thirroul fans that engulfed the hill of WIN Stadium on a picturesque Saturday afternoon in Wollongong.
It’s the first Butchers premiership since 2014 and a first for head coach Jarrod Costello.
Player of the match went to veteran five-eighth Jarrod Boyle who marched his troops around with class and invaluable experience all afternoon, getting his hands on the footy and providing some game defining moments in attack and defence.
It would be the Butchers striking first within minutes of the match kicking off, with hooker Brad Deitz capitalising on some sloppy goal line defence from the Collegians, diving through a gaping hole out of dummy half and opening the grand final scoring.
Collegians looked a bit rattled in the opening minutes, with Wayne Bremner forcing two drop outs with some neat grubber kicks and Steven Marsters coming within metres of the try line with his first run of the game.
Eventually though the Collie Dogs found some field position where some tidy offloads created some space down the right flank. Enter Callum Gromek who was able to evade an attempted tackle and break down the line, accelerating and weaving his way to the line to the cries of “Go Winxy!” from the Collegians crowd.
Now Collegians were in the contest, with Josh Dowel making some great metres with his barnstorming hit ups through the middle of the park, often followed up by brother Blake Dowel following with a big run of his own.
It wouldn’t be long before they went in again as the ball shifted through the hands of the halves and created some room for Charly Runciman to attack the line. He looked for all money as if he was in to score, but incredibly the ball came loose as he went to plant it and was deemed a stripped ball and not a lost one, allowing Zeik Foster to follow up and plant down the footy to score.
Thirroul showed their resilience though with grand final veteran Jarrod Boyle stepping up with a big play.
Boyle would put an inch perfect bomb up that Jye Patterson soared to take brilliantly and be held up just short of the line. From the next play Boyle would recognise an overlap on the short side and send Cooper Bowen in to level the scores.
Collegians would once again strike before the break though through Callum Gromek once again, dummying to his outside runners and once again piercing a hole down the right flank and going in for his second to give Collegians a six point advantage at the break.
Come the second half, Thirroul were really testing the goal line defence of Collegians as they searched for a try, with the Collies Dogs holding out resolutely.
They would eventually break when Brad Deitz put through a cheeky grubber kick from dummy half on the last tackle allowing the unsuspecting lead runner Monty Raper to go through the line and plant it down to level things up again.
With the scores locked it was a battle of will, where both teams were doing their upmost to disallow the other from getting any good field position.
Jarrod Boyle would once again work his magic though, spiralling a ball out to Cooper Bowen on the left flank for a break, who would then grubber it back infield where his winger Jye Patterson was able to toe it forward, regain the footy and score.
Collegians had chances in the final 10 to get the game back level, but were denied by some inspirational Thirroul defence.
Boyle put a massive tackle on Gromek to force the footy lose, while Wayne Bremner did brilliantly to deny a blitzing Sam McCann burst down the left flank.
Steven Marsters would intercept the footy on Collegians’ final roll of the dice play, allowing the Butchers to play down the clock and see out the game until the final siren where they were mobbed on the field by the blue and white faithful.
The end of a nine-year premiership drought and the end of a couple of years of Collegians dominance in an Illawarra Cup grand final for the ages.
Match Highlights:
Illawarra Cup grand final photo gallery
Devils demolition in 1st Division
It’s not a scoreline you see everyday in a grand final but it turned out to be an absolute blowout in the 1st Division final as Western Suburbs Devils demolished the Corrimal Cougars 54-0.
It caps off a stellar season for the Devils in the reserve grade in which they secured the minor premiership, suffering just two losses and standing well above the league for their points difference.
It was an unfortunate ending to the season for the Corrimal Cougars who were unable to repeat the heroics of their miracle drop-goal victory in the preliminary final, much to the disappointment of the hill at WIN Stadium that was filled by Corrimal supporters. Their 40-year wait for a premiership will have to wait another season.
The Devils were simply a class above and showed some real positive signs for next season, especially considering a number of their players have already dabbled in first grade this season.
Five-eighth Matthew Nokes picked up the Player of the Match award for the Devils, picking up three tries as he dummied and weaved his way to the line at will.
Brock Sepulveda picked up a double from centre, while hooker Jackson Walsh also snagged two from dummy half.
Isaiah Kennedy, Bradley Buffolin and Braith Lawrence-Foye made up the rest of the try scorers for the Devils who ran away deserved winners of the 1st Division Cup.
1st Division Photo Gallery
Eagles soar to undefeated season in Harrigan Shield
The Berkeley Vale Eagles have finished a dominant year in the 2nd Division Harrigan Shield with a grand final victory.
The Eagles finished the season undefeated as they defeated third placed Avondale 18-0 in a tough-fought final.
It was a day for the forwards with all three tries coming from the Eagles big men.
Jake Kinzett opened the scoring for the Eagles after some nice offloading from his team to send him down the right flank.
His backrow partner Tane Sturmey busted his way through a number of tackles to extend the lead shortly after.
Big front rower Daniel Zohar would score the only other try of the match with a powering second half effort, sealing a premiership for the Eagles.
Harrigan Shield Photo Gallery
Future bright for Collegians despite first grade loss
It wasn’t to be their day in the main event, but Collegians have left WIN Stadium with reason to be optimistic about the future as their U18s got up 32-18 over Thirroul in their grand final.
Collegians were the benchmark in the U18s this season as they secured the minor premiership, while Thirroul finished in third and were no match for the Collie Dogs on the final day.
Toby Rumble was a star for the victors, scoring two tries and setting up another for his winger with a lovely flick pass.
Beau Devlin was another standout picking up two tries of his own from the second row, including one terrific charge-down effort.
Try of the match went to fullback Tom Kirk, returning a kick from his own 30m line the length of the field through the Thirroul line and accelerating away to score a beauty.
Zac Scott, Ryan Patterson and Beau Tones all got on the scoresheet for the Butchers, but ultimately were no match for the free-scoring Collegians who are 2023 U18s champions.
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