Upset victory of season, new league leaders: Illawarra Cup Round 10 talking points and photo gallery
The wild wind of the Illawarra led to some thrilling local footy action in the Illawarra Cup, featuring one of the upsets of the season and a captivating grand final rematch. Check the wrap and full gallery.
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A wild round of Illawarra Cup footy down the windy south coast.
The table has had a massive shake up, with new leaders at the top and a surprise threat emerging from outside the top four with a statement victory.
There were plenty standout performers and magic tries to look back on.
Check out five of the big talking points from round 10 of the Illawarra Cup.
Can Collegians be stopped?
Collegians picked up a crucial 26-4 victory over Wests Devils to send them back to the top of the Illawarra Cup ladder for the first time since round three.
Crucially, Collegians have now beaten every team in the competition this season, having reversed earlier season losses to the Devils, as well as De La Salle last week.
With no team proving unbeatable, is there anyone that will be able to take them down later this season?
Two losses on the trot for Wests
After a staggering eight game unbeaten run to kick off the season, Wests Devils are now two losses on the trot after falling to Collegians this week.
Coach McLeod highlighted that even in that winning run, his side wasn’t playing their best footy, believing there’s still a lot left in the tank for the Devils and a loss shouldn’t face them too much.
“All the top four teams can beat each other on any day.
“It’s just about whoever is fit and healthy and playing their best footy at the end of the year, so that’s where we want to be.”
Wests face Dapto next week who will be on the high of their win over Thirroul, so no doubt that will be another enthralling encounter.
Highlight reel Dapto performance
A landmark win in the 2023 season for the Dapto Canaries, with a lot of their magic coming down their edges.
World Cup fever was taking over the Canaries with their football-style opening try scored by former NRL player Aaron Gray, who grubbered tge ball down the right flank for his winger Jack Piccirilli to toe forward on the foot again for Gray to regather and score.
There was magic happening on the other flank as well through centre Bradley Manton, scoring his first try with a length of the field intercept.
His second try would come later in the game where he combined beautifully with his winger Blake Wellington who produced a lovely flick pass to release his centre down the wing to score.
Rotation not an issue for De La
De La Salle were without regular wingers Jack Rodwell and Tyler McIlroy, instead lining up with Blake Bouzounis and Talanoa Penitani on the flanks.
There would be no issues with this new look line-up though, as the new wingers combined for three tries, with Bouzounis picking up a double.
Penitani had the pick of the bunch, showcasing his raw pace after being released down the right flank where no Corrimal player was able to lay a hand on him.
Discipline costs Cougars
Cougars second rower Kristian Sekuljica had a moment to forget in the second half, being sent to the sin bin for a moment of ill-discipline.
An illegal strip attempt was followed up by a couple of antics to delay the play, seeing the offender marched for 10.
This was only a few minutes after Corrimal had snagged their first try, but the numbers disadvantage would soil any comeback hopes as the Cougars conceded while a man down.
Full round wrap
Round 10 of the Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup was played across the wild winds of the Illawarra, leading to some unpredictable and enthralling local rugby league action.
We had a grand final rematch between Collegians and Westerns Suburbs Devils, two sides that very well could be in the same fixture later this season the way they’re both playing.
We also saw one of the upsets of the season, as one of the ‘big four’ was finally toppled by an outsider.
Check out the full wrap of round 10 and check out some of the best snaps from around the grounds.
Grand final repeat as Collies trump Devils
Collegians emerged victorious in the second meeting of last year’s grand finalists in 2023 to take them back to the top of the Illawarra Cup table.
The 26-4 scoreline was a second loss on the trot for Western Suburbs who slip from first position on the ladder and were unable to repeat their round five victory over their Collegians rivals.
Wind was wreaking havoc down the south coast and across the Illawarra over the weekend, stamping its influence within a matter of seconds.
Collegians first attacking bomb got caught up massively in the gale, falling back to Callum Gromek who attempted to offload backwards, but only found the hands of Wests’ Mitch Porter who was able to run 70m and score the opening try within the opening two minutes.
That would be the only influence the Devils could make to the scoreboard however, as Collegians would score five tries unanswered across the remaining 78 minutes of footy.
Sam McCann opened the scoring for the visitors to make it five games in a row on the scoresheet, finishing in the corner after a nice cut-out ball from Callum Gromek.
Gromek would get on the scoresheet himself next, one-upping the efforts from Mitch Porter to run 80m from his own half after a neat offload from Jerry Leremia.
Leading going into the second half, the Devils extended their advantage through Clive Brett, finishing under the sticks after an incisive grubber kick from Zeik Foster.
McCann would snag his second and third to seal the game for the Collies, making it a whopping 13 tries in five games for the productive winger.
Upset of the season as Dapto down Thirroul
A week ago in our local footy predictions for the rest of the season, we tipped Dapto to cause a ruckus in the Illawarra Cup and upset one of the big four with a win.
We didn’t expect it to happen so quickly, as the Canaries incredibly triumphed over the Thirroul Butchers 22-18.
Former NRL player Aaron Gray opened the scoring for the home side with an innovative try, with Gray and his winger partner Jack Piccirilli channelling their football skills to combine with the feet for the opener.
Thirroul bounced back with a quick one-two sucker punch with some soft Dapto defence, first prop forward Marcus Moore then second rower Riley Graham.
Jack Piccirilli would snag one for himself for Dapto after some good individual work out on the right flank to reduce the deficit, but another former NRL player in Bradley Deitz would then take a charge from dummy half for Thirroul to restore the advantage.
On the cusp of half time though, Dapto centre Bradley Manton would take an intercept and charge the length of the field, beating the last defender Jye Patterson one-on-one to send the sides into the break all locked up.
That little boost appeared to make all the distance, as in the second half Luke Penny charged over for the Canaries, followed up by a second to Manton in the corner after a lovely flick pass from Blake Wellington to create a gap on the scoreboard for the hosts.
In the dying minutes, Bryden Rutledge snagged one in the corner for the Butchers, meaning the Canaries just had to defend one set for victory.
It was sloppy and heart-wrenching as the Butchers marches the length of the field in the final set, but with the wind against them and no result coming from their kick, the Canaries were able to hold on and celebrate victory, keeping their slender hopes at finals alive.
De La Salle return to winning ways
De La Salle got the job done against an improved Corrimal outfit 26-10 at a gusty Ziems Park.
De La got out of the blocks the better, opening the scoring down the right flank through Andrew Faddy, before some sleepy Corrimal defence allowed De La to regain their own attacking kick and Blake Bouzounis was able to score.
Eli Levido had the Corrimal defensive line at his mercy when he threw a dummy and charged right through to score their third.
The one downer on a solid first half was centre Tre Fotu being sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle.
Corrimal bounced back in the second half through Charlie Jeffries finishing a solid right to left spread from the Cougars.
De La would regain control of the match though, first through Bouzounis picking up his second from a lovely long Levido ball, followed by Talanoa Penitani being released down the right flank off a scrum, simply too fast for any Corrimal player to get a hand on him.
Big interchange forward Jonasa Nakove powered his way over for a late try to the Cougars but it was merely a consolation as De La Salle took the chocolates.
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