Andrew Johns/Laurie Daley Cup: Top talking points from the semi-finals
From blistering starts to dramatic endings and damning stats, check out the top talking points from the semi-finals of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup.
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After five rounds of the regular season and a blockbuster weekend of semi-finals, just two teams in both the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup competitions remain alive ahead of this weekend’s grand finals at GIO Stadium in Canberra.
After some thrilling semi-finals across the board, check out some of the top talking points below.
EARLY BIRDS GET THE WORM
It was a weekend of fast starts as teams got off to dreams starts with early points across the weekend.
The Illawarra South Coast Dragons got off to a flyer in their Johns Cup clash against the Northern Rivers Titans, crossing through winger Cruz Efaraimo inside just three minutes before going 10-0 up after 12.
Macarthur was similarly explosive in its opening against the North Coast Bulldogs in the Daley Cup, taking advantage of a Dogs’ error to score through Teancam Epati in just the fourth minute.
While these starts were impressive, none were better than that of the Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights in the Johns Cup.
After completing the first set of the game, the Knights then forced an error out of the Tigers with their very first tackle. Just a few plays later hooker Chase Firman went over from dummy-half, with just 65 seconds having been played.
The Knights didn’t stop there as they went up 10-0 inside five minutes, bagging their second try before Macarthur had even managed to play the ball.
Newcastle continued the momentum and were excellent in the first half, taking an ultimately decisive 16-0 lead into halftime before running out 22-18 winners.
LATE HEROICS SEAL VICTORY
There were some huge moments over the weekend but none were bigger than Northern Rivers Titan’s forward Nixon O’Connor’s late try as his side pulled off a 20-14 come-from-behind victory over the Dragons in the Johns Cup.
With scores locked at 14-all with around two minutes remaining, O’Connor wound up from 15m out from the Illawarra line and charged into the defence.
He bumped off the first defender and kept the legs pumping. Dragons’ defenders were trying to pull him down left and right, however the big prop brushed them off and barged over the fullback to score, leaving a trail of six Illawarra players in his wake.
O’Connor was mobbed by his teammates as his team took the lead. It proved to be the last significant play of the game, with just 35 seconds left on the clock after the successful conversion.
Watch the action here.
WET WEATHER FOOTY PROVES CRUCIAL
There was plenty of rain around the state over the weekend but in terms of rugby league, few places would have been worse than the Port Macquarie Regional Stadium, where the North Coast Bulldogs and Macarthur Wests Tigers met in the Daley Cup.
In a game played in driving rain and on a surface where puddles of water splashed up after every step, it was the Tigers who proved best at handling the conditions with some smart wet weather footy.
From the outset Macarthur sought to test the Doggies’ back three under the high ball.
It paid dividends in just the fourth minute when halfback Stirling Faumui put up a towering bomb that forced an error out of the North Coast side, with backrower Teancam Epati coming through to pick up the scraps and score.
And while the Bulldogs kept turning the ball over, the Tigers did a better job of completing their sets and winning the battle for field possession.
Although the momentum shifted later in the contest and the Bulldogs at one stage took a 12-6 lead, Macarthur once again turned to the high ball, forcing another couple of key errors out of the North Coast and scoring two late tries to seal the win.
STATS TELL THE STORY FOR BULLDOGS
Undefeated so far in the competition and raging hot favourites to progress through to the final, the North Coast side struggled to deal with the wet weather as it tumbled out of the competition at the hands of Macarthur.
Ball-handling was undoubtedly the main issue that cruelled the Dogs as they kept turning the ball over in dangerous positions.
The numbers paint a stark picture between the two sides.
Throughout the first 25 minutes the Bulldogs had made six errors and only completed six of their 12 sets, while on the other hand the Tigers were perfect with zero errors and a perfect completion rate of nine from nine.
Perhaps most remarkable was the fact that the Dogs only trailed by two points at the time and at one stage even took a six-point lead.
However continued errors continued to hurt the home side, with two knock-ons deep in their own end in the second half ultimately providing the Tigers with the opportunity to score two late tries and seal the match.
MACARTHUR’S 44-POINT TURNAROUND
Macarthur’s 18-12 win in the driving rain just didn’t book the team a spot in the Daley Cup decider, it also capped off a stunning turnaround.
Just seven days earlier the Tigers were thrashed 44-6 by the ruthless Bulldogs in the teams’ round five fixture.
And while the form guide would have shown that the previously undefeated Dogs were favourites at home, the Tigers put on a remarkable display that turned a 38-point thrashing into a six-point victory – capping off a brilliant 44-point turnaround.
RUTHLESS DRAGONS MAKE KNIGHTS PAY
The Illawarra South Coast Dragons showed just how clinical a side they can be with a ruthless display in the 31-18 victory over the Knights in the Daley Cup.
In particular, some pinpoint short kicking proved to be incredibly effective.
Centre Archie Wheeler got on the end of a clever grubber from Beau Baldock to score the opening try after 12 minutes before a stunning grubber from fullback Jack Talbott put winger Jack Koster over to give the side a 12-0 lead after 25 minutes.
Despite the scoreline, it wasn’t all one-way traffic in general play. The Knights also enjoyed several sets in the Illawarra red zone but were unable to capitalise.
And while the visitors levelled things up at 12-all, the Dragons once again took full advantage of their opportunities with a further three tries in the second half.
Talbott showed brute strength to burrow over the line with four Knights’ players on his back before Baldock spotted a gap in the defence to go over straight from a tap.
Wheeler then showed great anticipation and skill to toe the ball through after a Newcastle error and plant the ball down to seal the win.
Watch the highlights here.
KNIGHTS LEFT TO RUE ERRORS
While the Dragons ruthlessly took their opportunities in attack, the Knights will be left to rue a series of mistakes and defensive errors as the team was bundled out of the competition.
After pulling things back to 12-all at halftime, Newcastle was made to pay dearly for some sloppy defensive efforts.
It started six minutes into the second half when Illawarra fullback Jack Talbott – one of the smallest players on the field – took a hit-up into the Knights’ defensive line.
Talbott was met by two defenders 10m out from the tryline in what appeared to be a regulation tackle, however the fullback kept pumping the legs and edged closer to the line.
It looked as though the Knights’ defenders, now numbering four, were slightly complacent as Talbott burrowing through to score.
A couple of minutes later the Knights conceded the softest of tries when Illawarra’s Beau Baldock took a tap five metres out from the tryline, spotted a gap in the defensive line, dummied and crashed over to give his side a 12-point lead.
The defeat was sealed with an error under the high ball. Newcastle’s Talen Balcombe and Archie McIlwain got in a mix-up that resulted in a knock-on, with Dragons’ centre Archie Wheeler scooting through to toe the ball forward and score to put the game to bed.
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