Andrew Johns/Laurie Daley Cup: Central Coast Roosters and Monaro Colts claim grand final victories
History was made and young stars put their names up in lights as regional NSW’s best young footballers clashed in the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup grand finals.
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History was made, dynasties were confirmed and some of the best young rugby league players in regional NSW shone as the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup grand finals took place at Cessnock Sportsground.
Fans were treated to some excellent football in the under-16 and under-18 country representative deciders as some of the next generation of stars led their teams home to victory.
In the Johns Cup, the Central Coast took on Macarthur, meanwhile in the Daley Cup, it was the Monaro Colts and Northern Tigers looking to create history by taking out their inaugural country crowns in the competition.
Catch up with a wrap of the action and a photo gallery of the best shots from the grand finals below.
ROOSTERS ASSERT ANDREW JOHNS CUP DOMINANCE
The Central Coast Roosters have claimed back-to-back Andrew Johns Cup titles and in the process further established themselves as one of the premier junior rep nurseries in regional NSW after a 20-12 victory over the Macarthur Wests Tigers at Cessnock Sportsground.
An epic defensive performance coupled with some clinical attacking plays saw the Roosters jump out to a 20-0 lead before a frantic late charge from the Tigers made for an exciting finish in the regional under-16 representative final.
Central Coast skipper and lock forward Alexander Stephenson was one of several outstanding performers for the Chooks, with his work in the middle earning him man-of-the-match honours as the team proved too strong for Macarthur.
“I haven’t had a feeling like it, honestly. I’m so happy. Five months of work paid off,” said Stephenson.
“That first 50 (minutes) of defence – I don’t think we’ve played better than that. The last 10 minutes was a bit scary but it was great.”
He wasn’t the only one happy after the game, with coach Paul Franze pleased with the team’s disciplined performance.
“I just asked them to stick to the game that we know how to play, to treat it like any other game, although I think I sort of said that to settle a few nerves,” he said.
“Obviously it’s a big day and the boys did really well. Ultimately, I just asked them to complete their sets, get to our kicks and get numbers in tackles because they’ve got quite a few big blokes.”
Coming into the game, Macarthur was the best defensive team in the competition, having conceded just 64 points in six games. However the Roosters turned the tables on their opponents by time and time again turning the Tigers away on their goal line.
“We train for this. There’s no special formula – it’s just hard work,” said Franze. “We’ve been out there the last few weeks defending our goal line on purpose – one and two men down at a time, just so we could be ready for an occasion like this.”
The victory is the club’s third Johns Cup title in four years and backs up the Roosters’ 18-10 victory over the Knights in last year’s decider.
It also puts the Central Coast in front as the most successful club in the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup history since the competitions’ inception in 2018 with four titles, with the region becoming a key NRL breeding ground in recent times.
“I live in Lake Macquarie but the amount of kids from the Coast who are playing for Newcastle in the NRL – whether it be (Phoenix) Crossland, the Saifitis, Bradman Best – is huge,” said Franze. “Then there’s Ethan Strange and Sandon Smith. The Central Coast is a huge breeding ground for quality rugby league players.”
Asked whether more of the current crops of kids in the pathways could make it to the top, the coach was adamant.
“100 per cent. John Strange set this academy up a few years back now and there are so many players that are coming through because of the dedicated coaches that are there – from the academy right up to the NRL.”
The victory is the club’s third Johns Cup title in four years and backs up the Roosters’ 18-10 victory over the Knights in last year’s decider.
It also puts the Central Coast in front as the most successful club in the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup history since the competitions’ inception in 2018 with four titles.
The Central Coast got off to a dream start in the clash, with a Macarthur error coming out from their own end in the first set of the game giving the Roosters excellent field position.
The Chooks didn’t need a second invitation to make it count, with halfback Owen Knowles finding a charging Semi Leweniqila unmarked on the right with a nice cut-out ball as the big winger went over for the first try of the match in just the third minute.
Knowles then drained the conversion from the sideline to give the Roosters a 6-0 lead.
There were big hits from both sides in what was a physical early period, with Macarthur five-eighth going close in the 10th minute but spilling the ball over the line.
The Tigers were building pressure and had several cracks at the Central Coast line, however the Roosters’ defence held firm.
Both sides were making errors, with Macarthur giving away penalties to give the Chooks a piggy back out from their own end and the Roosters losing the ball on a couple of occasions.
Despite the errors, the Roosters were the more clinical of the two sides, with powerful interchange forward Blessing Foini proving too big and strong for the Tigers’ defence as he charged over from close range for the Central Coast’s second six minutes before halftime to put the team up 12-0.
And while Macarthur had multiple sets on the Roosters’ line at the end of the half, the Central Coast defence continued to hold firm, with the Tigers dropping the ball over the line again right on the halftime siren to ensure the deficit remained 12 at the break.
The Roosters knew that the first try in the second half would put them in a commanding position, and when a swirling Knowles bomb led to another set of six, the Central Coast duly capitalised, with five-eighth Jack Dean-Potaka putting on a beautiful step and dummy to score.
Up 16-0, the Chooks were well on top and smelled blood in the water. When centre Koby Houghton crossed with 15 to go to put the team ahead by 20, the game was all but sealed.
While they had struggled to break the Roosters’ defence all game, the Tigers sprang to life in the final stages, with fullback Ronel Ribucan finishing off a nice switch to the right to get his team on the scoreboard with six minutes to go.
In the very next set, a shift to the left from the Tigers put Mawin Tema Soaai into clear space, with the winger burning his opposite number for space and doing extremely well to find Brock Achurch in support to score the team’s second and brings back to 20-12 with three minutes to go.
And while the Tigers almost went in again at the death after another break up field, it was all too little too late as the Roosters went on to defend their title with an excellent performance.
Central Coast Roosters 28 (Leweniqila, Foini, Dean-Potaka, Houghton tries; Knowles two goals) defeated Macarthur Wests Tigers 12 (Ribucan, Vella tries; Vella two goals)
COLTS CREATE HISTORY IN CLASSIC GF
A stunning kicking masterclass and some smart play out of dummy half has helped the Monaro Colts to their first ever Laurie Daley Cup title after a pulsating 28-18 victory over the Northern Tigers in the grand final.
Halfback Jonah Anderson was the star for Monaro with a brilliant performance with the boot while hooker Mitchell Brophy was excellent with a crucial double as his team held out a stirring Tigers comeback in what was an entertaining, high-scoring decider.
Some clinical attack saw the Colts go up 22-8 early in the second half and seemingly cruising towards victory before the Northern Region side, which represents an area stretching from Greta in the Hunter Valley up to Tamworth, Armidale and as far north as Moree, hit back with a quickfire double to make it a four-point ball game and set up a grandstand finish.
Despite the Tigers piling on the pressure in search of matchwinning try, the Colts defence held firm before a late try put the game to bed in the final minutes.
“They probably looked a bit more comfortable than I did on the sideline, to be honest,” said Monaro coach Brendan Bradley. “But it’s a grand final, they don’t give them out. We knew we were going to have to work for them and (the Tigers) are a good side. Credit to both sides, it was a pretty good game.”
For a while it seemed as though the Tigers were about to pull off another famous comeback, having come from 16 points down twice this season, including in last week’s semi-final victory over Macarthur.
However the Colts showed enough steel to hold their opponents out and claim the title.
“You give them (Tigers) the footy and they’re always hard to hold out but I thought our boys held their composure when it got to 22-18, as they’ve done all year,” said Bradley.
The victory caps off a quite remarkable turnaround for Monaro, who after losing the opening game of the season to the Central Coast Roosters, won six on the trot to not only top the Southern Pool but also take out the club’s inaugural Daley Cup crown.
“We might have been a little bit cocky early. In the first round we probably didn’t go in with the right attitude, to be quite honest,” said Bradley.
“I think there were expectations on us and we didn’t deliver,” he added. “But the improvement of the boys over the last five or six weeks has been outstanding. It was a really good kick up the bum for us.”
In the clash between the two teams searching for their first Daley Cup premiership, the Colts started the brighter as the Tigers made a string of errors coming out of their own end to give Monaro a golden opportunity to break through.
After Anderson almost sliced through with a run, a quick play-the-ball saw Brophy power his way over to put his side up 6-0 after nine minutes.
The Tigers showed just what an attacking threat they can be five minutes later with a wonderful spread to the right that saw fullback Reece Josephson sweep around the back to get on the outside of his defender and put winger Keandre Johnson-Vale over in the right corner to make it 6-4.
However mistakes came back to bite the Tigers, with an error shortly after the kick-off giving the Colts fantastic field position. This time it was big prop JJ Mau Pohiva who made them pay, using his size and strength to score with a hit and spin to make it 12-4.
In what was an end-to-end clash, Northern hooker Jack Foley was held up over the line, before a heart-in-mouth moment almost saw Monaro score after Tigers fullback Josephson lost the ball in his own in-goal area before regathering just before Colts players could jump on it.
From the ensuring set a wonderful offload put Joseph Elton into space down the left wing and the back-rower planted the ball down in the corner for the team’s third as they raced ahead 16-4.
The Tigers were pushing hard and were rewarded three minutes before the break after a lovely short ball from five-eighth Jackson Smith and then a half break and looping cut-out ball from Jordan Hamlin found winger Oscar Atkin, who cut back in to beat a couple and score to make it 16-8 at halftime.
The Monaro forward pack had been excellent all first half and they continued that after the break, charging 70m up field from the kick-off before a brilliant kick from Anderson earned the team a repeat set.
The young halfback then showed why his kicking game is regarded as the best in the competition with a wonderful grubber through for Joseph Elton to score in the following set to go 22-8 ahead.
The Colts continued with their formula of the forwards charging down field and Anderson continuing to earn repeat sets with his kicking game as Monaro kept pinning the Tigers in their in-goal area.
Famous for their comebacks, the Tigers were in need of a spark. And after forcing an error to put the team in good field position, Northern played second-phase footy by running it on the last, with Hamlin linking with Josephson and centre Sam Carr on the right edge to put Johnson-Vale over for his second.
The momentum was all with the Tigers, who made great yards from the kick-off and then received a penalty to be suddenly knocking on the Colts’ doors again.
They once again chanced their arm on the last, with centre Cooper Meldrum putting in a grubber and somewhat fortuitously picking up the rebound to score in the corner. Dylan Keane slotted the conversion from the sideline to bring things back to 22-18 with 20 to go.
With the scoreline close, the intensity lifted as both sides threw everything at the each other in what was a pulsating final period.
Monaro fullback James Croker was outstanding under the high ball as the Tigers peppered him with bomb after bomb, while Anderson kept his team in good field position by consistently finding open space with his kicks.
With 15 to go Elton thought he had a hat-trick for the Colts but the final pass was judged to have gone forward.
Then with six minutes on the clock the Northern Region side thought it had a hat-trick hero of its own when Johnson-Vale planted the ball down in the corner after a clever kick from five-eighth Smith, however play was pulled back for a knock on in the lead-up.
Hooker Mitchell Brophy started things for the Colts with the opening four-pointer and with just five to go he made sure he finished the job with a clutch solo try.
Running the ball on the last, he threw a nice dummy and then powered his way over to plant the ball down for a double. The number nine then slotted the conversion to extend the lead to 10 to seal not only the match but also the Monaro’s first premiership in the Daley Cup.
Monaro Colts 28 (Brophy 2, Elton 2, Mau Pohiva tries; Brophy four goals) defeated Northern Tigers 18 (Johnson-Vale 2, Atkin, Meldrum tries; Keane one goal)
PHOTO GALLERY
Andrew Johns Cup: Central Coast Roosters v Macarthur Wests Tigers
Laurie Daley Cup: Monaro Colts v Northern Tigers
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