Andrew Johns/Laurie Daley Cup: The ultimate guide to the 2024 grand finals
There are the entertainers, the defensive masters and those looking to build a legacy. Meet all four teams ahead of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup grand finals.
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After a blistering regular season and semi-finals, the top two teams in both the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup competitions will fight it out for glory in the grand final this weekend at Cessnock Sportsground.
In the early game, the Macarthur Wests Tigers will try to stop the Central Coast Roosters from going back to back, while in the Daley Cup it’ll be the Northern Tigers and Monaro Colts going face to face for the title.
The games will act as a curtain-raiser for the country championships final between Newcastle and Monaro.
Ahead of the deciders, take a look at the story so far for all four grand finalists.
ANDREW JOHNS CUP
MACARTHUR WESTS TIGERS V CENTRAL COAST ROOSTERS
Sunday, 10:30am
It’ll be the best defensive team in the competition versus the only remaining undefeated side when the Tigers and Roosters clash in the Andrew Johns Cup grand final.
After both finishing second in their respective pools, Macarthur and the Central Coast played brilliant semi-final football last weekend to shut down their free-scoring opponents and book their spots in the big dance.
Both teams have fairly similar for-and-against records heading into the decider, with the Tigers having scored 146 points and conceded 64 for a points difference of 82, while the Chooks have put on 152 and let in 82 for a differential of 70.
MACARTHUR WESTS TIGERS: THE GREAT DEFENSIVE WALL
In the Andrew Johns Cup, the Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights had been scoring points for fun all season. Particularly down their lethal left edge, the Knights had torn teams to shreds as they topped the Northern Pool and went through the regular season undefeated.
However that all changed in the semi-final against Macarthur, with the Tigers’ defence thwarting the Knights at every turn. Every time Newcastle spread the ball wide, Macarthur’s defence shifted and blocked. Then when they tried to go straight, the forwards tightened up the middle.
It made the Knights force their hand, and then make mistakes, with the Tigers ultimately running away 14-6 winners on the back of an epic defensive display.
“I was very impressed,” said coach Harrison Fox. “I sort of saw that performance coming. Looking at our game against Illawarra (a 42-6 victory in round five), that was a bit of a catalyst for what happened against the Knights.
“We’re definitely a team that prides itself on defence and there were a lot of defensive stances where it showed that all that hard work at training really paid off.”
It was a perfect example of how Macarthur has strangled the attack of opposition teams all season en route to the grand final.
Conceding a miserly 64 points in six games, the Tigers are the best defensive team in either competition, and it’s clear their success isn’t just a fluke.
“Tuesday is our defence night,” said Fox. “From day dot we’ve been focused on defence and what to do in different schemes, different areas of the field. It’s just been repetition, repetition, repetition, and the hard work pays off – the proof is in the pudding at the moment.”
For example, the team has conceded six points or fewer in three of its six games, with the team only going down once in the competition, in a 16-10 loss to Monaro in round four.
“I’m a bit of a stickler for the statistics, as my boys could probably tell you,” Fox laughs. “We’ve only lost one half of football all year and that was in the first half against Monaro. And our defence is something we’ve prided ourselves on all pre-season and all year. We think if we can hold teams out defensively then we’re more than capable of scoring points.”
Indeed, while defence has undoubtedly set the team apart from others, the Tigers are no mugs with the ball in hand, with halfback Curtis Lakeman pulling the strings and centre Elijah Sefo in particular proving to be a damaging ball runner throughout the season.
The team will have to bring its A-game in both attack and defence though if they are to get over the top of the undefeated Roosters, who were equally impressive in taming the free-scoring Western Rams to take out the competition’s other semi-final 18-10.
“I’ve identified that they’ve got two silky halves and a lot of firepower out wide,” said Fox. “They’ve also got big Semi (Leweniqila) out wide, he’s the leading tryscorer and if he’s one on one with someone, he’s probably going to go over for a try. So one thing we’ll be identifying is their key players, what they do well and how we can try and snuff them out.”
He added: “The only thing we need to focus on is ball handling. Last week we had five errors in the Knights’ 10 and probably could have put the cue in the rack a lot earlier if we executed at least one of those chances, so if we can hold the ball and get in the grind early then we should be in the contest.”
CENTRAL COAST ROOSTERS: BUILDING A DYNASTY
When it comes to the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups, it’s hard to go past more successful clubs than the Central Coast Roosters.
Since the establishment of the competitions in 2018, the Roosters have won three titles to sit equal first with the Illawarra South Coast Dragons.
The dominance has been built on the Johns Cup, having won it in 2021 and 2023, and the Chooks will be looking to extend this legacy as they seek to win their third title in four years in the under-16s and become the most successful club in the junior regional rep sphere.
The results suggest that Central Coast, whose pathways are run by the Sydney Roosters, have become one of the best junior nurseries in the game in recent times.
“The Central Coast is a hotbed for rugby league,” said Central Coast Roosters coaching director Steve Deakin. “We have a lot of other clubs knocking on the door and trying to take our kids to their clubs because they know that rugby league is strong up here.
“And that’s why the (Sydney) Roosters are here, in my eyes. They know what we have up here. There’s a working-class background and you walk around, go to schools and every child and young man has got a rugby league ball. It’s definitely a stronghold of rugby league.”
The Central Coast’s strong pathways haven’t just translated into good junior rep results but have also produced plenty of NRL stars in recent times, with Nicho Hynes, Bradman Best, Daniel and Jacob Saifiti and Tom Starling among the current players to light up the competition.
And while this current Johns Cup team have a long way to go if they’re to make it to the top, Deakin has been impressed with what he’s seen this season as the team remains the undefeated side in the competition.
“They’re investing in what we’re preaching,” he said. “Sometimes there are more glamour players as such but it’s a team game and we come from a working-class background and they all buy into that to work together to achieve our goals.
“There are one or two standouts in the team, granted, but they are workmanlike themselves, and in games they have to work hard before they can express themselves in other manners.”
If they are to complete the clean sweep for the season the Roosters will have to get over the top of the Macarthur Wests Tigers, who have proven to be an incredibly difficult team to break down.
“Macarthur are very big and very direct, so we have to work together defensively and we can’t afford to turn ball over cheaply,” said Deakin.
“Nothing changes for us: we work hard together and then when opportunities arise hopefully we have the right players in the right place to execute them.”
LAURIE DALEY CUP
NORTHERN TIGERS V MONARO COLTS
Sunday, 12:15pm
There should be plenty of fireworks at midday when the Northern Tigers take on the Monaro Colts in a blockbuster grand final in the Laurie Daley Cup.
It’ll arguably be the most entertaining side up against the most in-form as both teams come off very different semi-final performances.
While Monaro led from the front to blow the Central Coast Roosters away, the Northern Tigers were forced to dig deep to come back from a 16-0 halftime deficit to storm home 28-16.
Both teams will be out to make history and win their first titles in the Laurie Daley Cup, with the Colts looking to go one better after losing by two points in last year’s decider.
NORTHERN TIGERS: THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS
When it comes to sheer entertainment value, there’s arguably been no better team to watch across either competition than the Northern Tigers’ Laurie Daley Cup side.
With game-breaking halves, dangerous edges and a never-say-die attitude, the Tigers have piled on the points and been involved in some of the most dramatic games of the junior rep season.
For an example, you have to look no further than the team’s 28-16 victory over Macarthur in last week’s semi-final.
Down 16-0 at halftime and in trouble of being bundled out, the Tigers turned on the heat in the second half with five unanswered tries to blow their opponents away and book a spot in the grand final.
Five-eighth Jackson Smith was outstanding, setting up three and scoring one himself to inspire his side to victory, while halfback Jordan Hamlin and backrower Dylan Keane were also excellent as they claimed doubles.
“They played well, especially in the first 10 minutes and then all of the second half,” said coach Darryl Rando. “We had a bit of a lull there for about 20 minutes but they definitely know how to not give in.”
He added: “You’re always a little bit concerned at 16-0 but I know they can score points and once they get going they’re pretty hard to stop.”
In fact, Rando’s calm and measured approach seems to have rubbed off on his team, with the coach revealing there was no hairspray treatment during the halftime talk and simply giving the team the freedom to play its natural game.
“I just said I’m not that concerned about the scoreline, it’s more about how we’re playing. I said if we can get it right and they don’t score any more points, I’m sure we can put 20 or 30 points on them,” he said.
“We talk about it when we get behind: don’t worry about the scoreboard, just focus on playing footy. It doesn’t matter whether we’re in front or behind, if we play to our ability then nine times out of 10 it takes care of itself.”
Indeed, the weekend’s win over Macarthur isn’t the first time the Northern region has come back from the dead this season. In round three the once again trailed by 16 before storming home to draw 26-all with the Central Coast Roosters in a round three blockbuster.
Underpinning the Tigers’ success has undoubtedly been the team’s attack.
The side has scored 190 points across its six games this season, piling on more than 30 on three occasions and scoring at least 26 in every game.
Led primarily by halves Hamlin and Smith, fullback Reece Josephson and interchange hooker Jayden Seckold, who has been electric coming off the bench, the team has been lethal over the course of the season, testing opposition defences out of dummy half, from the back and with sweeping backline moves.
“Scoring points isn’t a problem, we’ve just got to get a little better in defence for about 20-25 minutes each game,” said Rando.
Indeed, the Tigers will have to be on their game against Monaro, who since a round one loss have arguably been the form team of the competition.
“They’ve got a good forward pack. They’re a big side so we’ll have our work cut out again,” said Rando. “We have to play a bit smarter and can’t give them as much field position.
“But we’ll go in confident. We’ve beaten sides they’ve beaten and we haven’t been beaten yet, so it’s just a different team that we haven’t played against, which is good because you can’t be complacent because we haven’t played them yet.”
MONARO: THE RAMPAGING COLTS
If the Tigers are the great entertainers, then they’ll be coming up against arguably the most in-form team in the competition in the form of the Monaro Colts.
After losing their round one clash to the Central Coast, the Colts have been almost unstoppable, with the team barely troubled as they have gone on to win five straight to qualify for the grand final.
Perhaps the best sign of the team’s progress came last weekend, when Monaro turned the tables on their round one opponents with a 26-18 victory over the Roosters. In fact, the scoreline suggested the game was closer than it really was, with the Colts racing out to a 26-6 lead before clocking off in the final stages of the match.
“I thought they were pretty good for about 50 minutes, I was pretty pleased with them for that. But I thought the last 20 was pretty ordinary from us, so we need to be better,” said coach Brendan Bradley.
“They’ve improved a lot since round one, they’ve come a long way as a group.”
Much of the team’s improvement has been down to halfback Jonah Anderson, who after missing round one has transformed the side’s attack. His quality was well and truly on show in the semi-final, setting up three tries and scoring one of his own to blow the Chooks away.
“He never gets it wrong, he gets that deep into the line that he forces them to make a decision,” said Bradley. “His sleight of hand and wrist speed off the pass finds the mark all the time.”
Another big strength for the Colts has been the team’s forward pack. Led by the front-row rotation of Jesse Milin, Alex Hardy and JJ Mau Pohiva, Monaro’s big boys up front were far too strong for the Roosters and helped set the platform for the likes of Anderson to weave his magic.
“They’ve been terrific, the middles. They’ve been very, very strong,” said Bradley.
“We wanted to go through them and we thought we had the forwards to do it and they did it. And once we got on the front foot and got some ruck speed and rolled forward, they were a handful.”
And while they’ve barely been troubled since round one, Bradley knows his chargers will have to lift they’re to get on top of the undefeated Tigers, who last week showed how they can win from anywhere after coming back from 16 points down to defeat Macarthur.
“We’ll need to improve this week. They’re a good side, the Northern Tigers,” he said.
“They’re a solid side across the park. From one to 17 they look pretty likely and pretty willing, and they’ve obviously got that never-say-die attitude: they’re never out of a game, they finish hard.”
He added: “The mistakes are minimal, they just stay in the grind and they’re never out of the game, regardless of the score.”
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