Andrew Johns/Laurie Daley Cup: Top talking points from round five
From last-minute victories to perfect 10s and some tunnel ball brilliance, check out the top talking points from round five of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups.
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There were last-minute victories, thumping upsets and heartbreak for some teams during a crucial round five of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups.
Catch up with some of the top talking points below.
FINE MARGINS PROVE CRUCIAL
It’s often said that rugby league is a game of fine margins and that old adage proved itself true once again as the Newcastle edged out the Central Coast 17-16 in a winner-takes-all shootout in the Johns Cup.
With scores locked up in the final minute of play, halfback Ty Ennis coolly slotted a field goal from 20m out to seal the win.
The victory was incredibly crucial as it pushed the Knights into first place in the Northern Pool and relegated the Roosters to third, all but ruling them out of finals contention.
However if the field goal hadn’t have gone over, the positions would have been reversed, as the Chooks’ superior points difference would have been enough to secure a top-two finish and throw the Knights into third.
PERFECT 10 FOR NEWCASTLE
The victories in the Johns and Daley Cups were part of a stunning weekend of footy for Newcastle sides, who remarkably won all seven of their clashes at Raymond Terrace.
The Johns and Daley Cup successes were bolstered by wins in the Lisa Fiaola, Tarsha Gale, Harold Matthews and SG Ball Cup competitions. Meanwhile the Newcastle open men’s side defeated the Central Coast 38-12 in the country championships.
Combined with wins in Jersey Flegg, NSW Cup and the NRL in Sydney, it left the Newcastle sides with an incredible 10-0 record for the weekend.
FAST START LAYS PLATFORM
Needing a win to give themselves any chance of playing finals footy, the Knights’ Daley Cup side put on a fast-start masterclass against the Roosters with a devastating 10-minute blitz that laid the platform for victory.
After receiving the kick-off and marching up field in the first set, Newcastle forced an error out of the Chooks with the first kick of the game before centre Kyran Blair scored shortly after to give the side an early lead.
The Knights then went the full distance in the very next set, with winger Ronan Hill putting in a nice grubber for hooker Diesel Hagan to score the team’s second in just five minutes.
It was all one-way traffic and the home almost went in for its third try in consecutive sets to start the game, instead forcing a goal line dropout.
And while the Roosters held on, it took 10 minutes and nine seconds for them to finally get their hands on the ball and force the Knights to make a tackle, by which stage the Central Coast had made 24 tackles themselves, conceded two tries and slipped away to an 8-0 deficit.
The win pushed Newcastle into the all-important top two, however the team is not yet assured a spot in the finals. The side could be knocked down to third if the Northern Rivers Titans rack up a big win in their rain-delayed round five clash against the Northern Tigers this weekend.
BITTER END FOR ROOSTERS
Onto the Roosters, it was a bitter end for the club, which is now unlikely to have any team playing finals football, despite its positive start to the season.
While the 24-6 loss to the Knights in the Daley Cup completely eliminated the side from the finals race, the Central Coast could arguably be more disappointed at the Johns Cup side’s slide over the past fortnight.
After winning its opening three games, the team went down to the Titans 22-12 in round four before being pipped by a field goal by the Knights.
And although there remains a slim chance that the team could sneak back up into the top two, the most likely outcome is that neither Roosters side will take part in the semi-finals.
FINALS EQUATION BECOMES CLEARER
With six of the 10 round-five fixtures completed, the equation for teams looking to play finals football has become clearer ahead of this weekend’s postponed clashes between the Northern Rivers Titans and Northern Tigers, and the North Coast Bulldogs and Macarthur Wests Tigers.
Much of the interest will centre on the Titans.
In the Johns Cup, all the side needs to do is to avoid a loss of 21 points or more against the fourth-placed Tigers to play semi-final football, with a win to secure top spot in the Northern Pool.
It is slightly more complicated in the Daley Cup, with the Titans needing to defeat the Tigers by 26 points or more to leapfrog the Knights into second place in the group.
While the stakes aren’t quite as high in the Southern Pool, Macarthur can secure top spot in they win, draw or lose by fewer than 20 points in the team’s clash with the unbeaten Bulldogs.
POSTPONED GAMES RESCHEDULED
The draw for the postponed fixtures have been released.
As a result of the damage and rainfall associated with Cyclone Alfred, the Titans v Northern Tigers games have been moved from Byron Bay to Jack Woolaston Oval in Tamworth, while the North Coast Bulldogs-Macarthur clashes, initially scheduled for the Regional Stadium at Homebush in Sydney, will now be played at Harry Elliot Oval in Tuncurry.
All games will take place on Sunday.
TUNNEL BALL ASSIST STUNS
There were plenty of smiles for Western in the Johns Cup as the Rams avoided the wooden spoon and chalked up their first win of the season with a 30-6 victory over Riverina.
And while the result was impressive, a late piece of innovation from winger Nate Vincent put the cherry on top for the side.
With the team attacking the Riverina line with just a couple of minutes remaining in the match, Vincent showed extraordinary vision to spot the run of teammate Cooper Byrnes to the blind side and then pass the ball through his legs, tunnel ball-style, into the lock forward’s path for the final try of the match.
Check out the footage here.
MONARO’S 10-MINUTE RAMPAGE
Four tries, 20 points. The Monaro Colts certainly turned on the fireworks with a stunning 10-minute rampage in the team’s 48-10 thrashing of the Illawarra South Coast Dragons.
Leading 12-4 early in the second half, the Colts ran riot with tries in the 41st, 44th, 46th and 50th minutes as they well and truly put the game to bed.
It was an example of complete domination as Monaro scored tries in four consecutive sets, with the closest the Dragons came to touching the ball during that spell was when they took it back to halfway for the kick-off.
It meant that during the time that Monaro ran in four tries, Illawarra was forced to make 16 tackles, with the Colts making the grand total of zero.
Watch the remarkable passage of play here.
NUMBERS BEHIND THE DRAGONS’ DOMINANCE
When it comes to excellence, none can top the Illawarra South Coast Dragons in the Johns Cup, with the side capping off a perfect regular season with a 24-18 victory over Monaro in Canberra.
The win took the side to the top of the Southern Pool with a record of five from five.
And while the results have been impressive, a dig into the numbers behind paint a greater picture into Illawarra’s dominance.
With 152 points scored, the Dragons are the best attacking team in the competition, some 18 above the next best.
Meanwhile they are also the best defensive side, having conceded just 46 points in five games. This puts them 14 ahead of the next best team, the Northern Rivers Titans, who have conceded 60 but played one game fewer.
All up the Dragons scored 27 tries and conceded just eight, with an average scoreline of 30-9 per game.
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