Thrilling last gasp winner, losing streak snapped and shock send off: Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup round 12 wrap
See which local footy players stood out in round 12 of the Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup, as well as some of the biggest talking points from the weekend of footy.
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The Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup is fast accelerating towards finals footy, with five of the six teams still in with a shot of making it to the final at WIN Stadium.
Round 12 saw some thrilling rugby league action, headlined by a last gasp winner in a matchup that never ceases to entertain.
Across the grounds a losing streak was snapped, while a send off cost one side and chance at getting a result from their game.
Check some of the biggest talking points from the round and read on for the full round wrap.
Captain’s performance from Phillips
Collegians owe their dramatic 28-22 victory over Thirroul to their captain Blake Phillips, who produced two individual moments of magic in the dying embers of each half to get his side the two points.
In the final seconds of the first half, Phillips charged down a Thirroul kick and regained the footy to score and send Collegians into the sheds with the advantage.
Then in the final play of the second half and with the scores locked, Phillips went on a weaving run to the right edge, spinning and evading a number of attempted tackles, before offloading to Hayden Budd to crash over the line and win the game for Collegians.
A true captain’s knock from the prop.
Devlin at the heart of all things good
Another standout performer for the Collie Dogs was their instrumental five-eighth Max Devlin.
Devlin was at the heart of getting his team on the scoreboard after falling to an early Thirroul double, providing an inch-perfect lofted pass to Sam McCann to score down the left flank.
He was also prove to be the perfect provider later in the second half for Clive Brett to charge through a hole and score for the home side.
Devils lethal from the edges
The Devils returned to winning way against the Cougars thanks to some productive centres and wingers getting the business done.
Former NRL player Jy Hitchcox was on hand to cross down the left flank twice, while his opposite winger in Lachlan Hurst found one for himself as well.
Centre Colby Pellow also had a terrific day out with two tries, the first of which was a terrific solo run that showcased his raw pace and agility as he left the Corrimal defence in stitches.
Taulani stars from centre
De La Salle’s Jacob Taulani emerged as a contender to hang on to the starting centre position after a standout performance against Dapto.
Taulani was on hand to clean up an attacking bomb and score within the first minute of the game, setting his side on their way for a dominant first half.
He would pick up his second shortly after, showing unreal strength to fend away from attempted tackles, keep the legs pumping and score.
Taulani also sparked a try for his opposite centre Tre Fotu when he intercepted a Pita Godinet pass in the second half and sent his team down to the opposite end of the park to score.
Dapto captain still believes in finals footy
Dapto’s terrific run of form came to an end with a horrorshow in the first half against De La Salle, going into the halftime sheds 22 points down.
Despite this, milestone captainTroy Pieper says the belief is still high in their camp that they can play finals footy with two weeks of the season remaining.
“It was definitely a little hiccup for us, but we’ll use it as a wake up call,” Pieper said.
“We’ve got Corrimal next week who are a surprise package and we aren’t taking lightly.
“Wally [Blake Wallace] will drum it into us during the week as to what we have to go out and do.
“Hopefully it will set us up for a big final game against Thirroul the week after.”
Pieper crossed for a meat pie in his 100th first grade game for the Dapto Canaries in his side’s loss to De La Salle.
Read on to catch up on the full round wrap.
Collegians prevail with last minute winner
Collegians have moved one step closer to the Illawarra Cup minor premiership thanks to a last minute winner in a thrilling 28-22 win over Thirroul.
The Butchers came into the matchup needing a victory to put some distance between themselves and Dapto who are breathing down their neck after a string of victories.
The away side made the better start of the sides, with Tarje Whitford bursting through the line to set up Riley Graham for the side’s first, followed shortly after by Harry Leddy crashing over from short range.
The usual suspects of Collegians would get their scoring underway when five-eighth Max Devlin provided a peach of a lofted pass to Sam McCann to charge in for try no. 16 of the season.
Campbell Rubie would follow this up shortly after, crashing on to one from close range to get the second for Collegians.
The game defining moment would come in the dying seconds of the first half, as captain Blake Phillips charged down a Thirroul kick and regained the footy to score and send the home side into the sheds with the lead and the momentum.
It was a back-and-forth affair in the second half, with Thirroul’s Cooper Bowen the first to get over in the corner, before Clive Brett charged through a hole to score off another deft Devlin assist.
It looked as though this classic encounter was destined for a draw when Sione Afemui crashed over from close range for Thirroul to level the scores.
However in the final minute, some inspirational running and spinning out of attempted tackles from Blake Phillips created some room for Hayden Budd to be released and muscle his way over to score and win the game for the Collie Dogs with the last action of the game.
Illawarra Cup footy at its finest.
Devils snap losing streak
Western Suburbs Devils put their run of four straight losses to an end with a 38-0 win over the winless Corrimal Cougars.
The Cougars weren’t helped out by lock forward Peni Misinale who was sent off shortly in to the second half for dissent to the referee, who changed his initial sin bin call to a straight send off for the manner of dissent.
It was a much needed win for the Devils who have slipped to third after their stunning first half of the season in which they led the league for two months.
The combinations were beginning to get back into their flow, with winger Jy Hitchcox profiting off some nice right to left spreads to cross for the opening two tries of the game.
Down the other side of the field, centre Colby Pellow would grab a double himself, the first of which was the pick of the bunch, showing off his raw pace as he wove his way past three attempted Corrimal tackles to go in and score.
Rydge Smith crossed from close range off the bench for a meat pie, while Lachlan Hurst showed off his agility to wrong foot his marker and finish in the corner for his 12th of the season.
Brock Sepulveda finished the romp in the final minutes with some great individual strength to force his way over the line and seal a good day out for the Devils.
De La Salle crush Dapto winning run
Dapto were unable to keep their miraculous winning run going against De La Salle, with the away side triumphing 34-10.
After four wins on the trot, Dapto were unable to get the better of De La who keep the gap between themselves and Collegians at just one point.
Coach Blake Wallace said it was a disappointing result but credits the strength of the opposition, saying his side is still keeping morale high.
“We struggled a little bit, had a few guys busted early in the game which didn’t help either,” Wallace said.
“They got on a roll in the middle and we couldn’t withstand the pressure.
“We’ll learn from it though, there were plenty of positives to take from the second half.”
De La took a 22-0 lead into the half time sheds thanks to two tries from Jacob Taulani, two from Andrew Faddy and one from Tre Fotu, with Taulani’s opener coming off the first set of the game.
Dapto surged out of the sheds in the second half with a try down the short side to Jack Piccirilli, his 10th of the season.
It was turn south for Dapto shortly after though, with Taulani taking an intercept off a Pita Godinet pass, before finding Tre Fotu in support for his second. To make matters worse, Jack Piccirilli clashed heads with his own teammate in an attempted tackle of Taulani, seeing him come from the field due to the blow.
Cruise Devine powered his way to the line to get the seventh and final try for De La Salle.
Captain fullback Troy Pieper scored a late consolation for the Canaries after some lovely work to set it up from Luke Penny, which was a nice moment for the captain in his 100th game for the club.
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