Andrew Johns/Laurie Daley Cup: wrap, results, standouts from round four
The were epic comebacks, a five-try haul and the upset of the season. Catch up on the latest action from round four of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup.
Local Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Round four of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup competitions gave us some of the most entertaining storylines of the junior reps season so far.
There was a mix of big wins and close contests, the upset of the season, a five-try haul, plus a forward who bagged four for his side.
All of this led to a big shake-up of the competition ladders, with plenty of teams still in the mix for the finals with just one regular season round to go.
Check out the full round wrap from an enthralling weekend of footy from regional NSW.
ANDREW JOHNS CUP
MONARO PRODUCE UPSET OF THE SEASON
The Monaro Colts produced the upset of the round and arguably the Johns Cup season, defeating league leaders Macarthur Wests Tigers 16-10 in Canberra.
There were incredible scenes as the Colts, who had previously been without a win in the Johns Cup knocked off the undefeated Tigers.
In the back-and-forth affair, Sebastian Jones opened the scoring for Monaro in the corner, before Ruben Toga levelled things up at 6-6 just before the break.
After setting up Jones’ first try, Monaro centre Latrell Dyer found his way to the line in the second half to restore Monaro’s lead.
This was extended some time later when fullback Tyler Stonham soared above the pack to claim a kick from his halfback and score a beautiful try.
Elijah Sefo found the line in the last minute of the game for the Tigers to reduce the margin, giving the visitors one final play to attempt to salvage their undefeated streak. However, the Tigers knocked the ball on from the kick-off, with the siren sounding in the background to give the Monaro Colts a memorable victory.
ROOSTERS KEEP WHEELS TURNING
The Central Coast Roosters continued their undefeated season in the Andrew Johns Cup with a 30-10 victory over the North Coast Bulldogs.
The first half was a tight affair, with Kohen Scott for the Roosters and Rory Clarke for the Bulldogs finding the line in the opening 10 minutes.
The Roosters took a four-point lead into halftime courtesy of a try to their rampaging bench weapon Blessing Foini, but the Bulldogs bounced back to even things up on the other side of the break through Logan Bes.
While the game was in the balance, the Roosters showed their class and ran away with the contest, scoring four unanswered tries to blow out the scoreline.
Prolific winger Semi Leweniqila scored tries seventh and eighth for the season, while he was joined on the scoreline by fellow winger Isaac Philips and hooker Kalen Cashin.
KNIGHTS PILE ON TRIES AGAINST BULLS
It was one-way traffic as the Newcastle Maitland Region Knights laid on nine tries against the Riverina Bulls, defeating them 44-12.
It was a tough afternoon for the Bulls, who are winless since their round one victory over Illawarra South Coast.
The undefeated Knights were at their try-scoring best, finding the line five times in the first half alone to go into the sheds ahead 28 points to nil.
Despite missing key winger Kade Paton, the Knights were still at their deadly best down the left flank, with his replacement Jesse Hudson scoring twice and reliable edge partner Chip Valentish also finding the line from centre.
Five-eighth Chase Butler continued his terrific run of form, scoring his fourth try of the season, while fullback Cody Field claimed a personal haul of 16 points with two tries and four conversions.
Billy Toms, Flynn Hodges and Riley Martin also scored for the dominant Knights who remain atop of the Andrew Johns Cup ladder.
FOUR-TRY HERO AS BULLS RUN RAMPANT
In the highest-scoring fixture across both grades so far this season, the Western Rams put a half-century on the Illawarra South Coast Dragons, running away 50-22 winners.
Just like the Knights did, the Rams piled on nine tries against the helpless Dragons, with Callum Miskell nailing seven from nine conversions in a strong kicking performance.
It was destined to be a bad day for the Dragons from the start, as the team conceded three tries within the opening 10 minutes of the game.
Logan Coombes was the headline act for the Rams, scoring four tries from the second row, including a first-half hat-trick. Coombes has played in every game so far for the Rams and found the line just once from the opening three, but is now firmly in the race to become the top tryscorer after this mammoth effort.
Another star in that race is Taj Jordan, with the gun fullback finding the line once again to continue his run of scoring in every game so far this season.
Other tries were shared between Kemp Riches, Jai Ashby, Charlie Fischbeck and Cooper Townsend in an absolute demolition.
The Dragons found the line four times, twice through bench weapon Cruz McGuinness, but were unable to contain the dominance of the Rams.
The Rams are now three on the trot, leapfrogging the Tigers into first place in the Southern Conference thanks to a superior points difference.
POINTS ON THE BOARD FOR TITANS
In a battle between two winless teams, the Northern Rivers Titans emerged victorious over the Northern Tigers 24-8 at Frank McGuren Field in Grafton to pull themselves off the bottom of the Johns Cup table.
After a rest in round three following the postponement of their game, the Titans looked sharp as they combined well to pull off some training ground set-piece moves against the Northern Region side.
Favouring the right wing, the Titans scored two tries through speedy centre Ryder Nelson, as well as one through their right-side winger Tye Hogan-Collins.
Underlining their impressive set-plays, the Titans scored twice directly from scrums, one of which came through winger Tyron Hickling-McGrady. Hooker Rory McInnes capped things off with team’s fifth try scorer in a strong day out for the Titans.
Casey Milton and Will Foley got on the scoresheet for the Tigers, but it wasn’t enough to get them a first win of the season.
LAURIE DALEY CUP
TIGERS PIP TITANS IN EPIC CLASH
The Northern Tigers have extended their unbeaten run to four games after a dramatic 34-30 victory over the Northern Rivers Titans at Frank McGuren Field in Grafton.
In what was truly a tale of two halves, the Tigers raced out to a thumping 34-6 lead before the Titans staged a stirring comeback to set up a grandstand finish.
Coming into the game equal top of the Northern Conference, the Tigers were sharp out of the blocks and lead 12-0 inside 10 minutes thanks to tries to Reece Josephson and Oscar Atkin.
An excellent flick pass from Northern Rivers’ backrower Reuben Tamariki and some quick hands put Ricco Waititi over to get the Titans back in the game, however this was just a reprieve as the Tigers took complete control.
The team scored three tries in a blistering nine-minute period as Jordan Hamlin, Samuel Carr and Josephson ran through the leaky Titans defence to put their side up 30-6 at the break.
The pain continued early in the second half as Hamlin crossed for his second just two minutes after the resumption of play as the Tigers jumped out to a 28-point lead.
Just when it looked like a demolition might be in order, the Titans returned serve with a gutsy comeback, with Ayden Byrnes jumping on a Hudson Towell grubber for the team’s second.
While still well behind, it wasn’t until late in the half that the Titans came charging home, with powerful backrower Tamariki scoring a quick-fire double, before Jimmy McCombie crossed to leave the Northern Rivers side just eight points behind.
While some missed conversions kept the team out of reach, the Titans set up a grandstand finish when winger Noah Waldock scored in the corner to make the scoreline 34-30 and give the side a chance with two minutes to go.
With one last roll of the dice, the Titans made a burst from the first hit-up and charged down field. It looked like the team was about to pull off a remarkable comeback until Northern Tigers winger Keandre Johnson-Vale intercepted a pass that ended the attack and helped the Tigers secure a dramatic win.
ROOSTERS EDGE OUT DOGS
The Central Coast Roosters have joined the Tigers at the top of the Northern Conference and in the process kept their unbeaten run alive after a gutsy 10-8 over the North Coast Bulldogs at Morry Breen Oval.
Once again goalkicking proved to be the difference as both sides scored two tries each in the tight clash.
Roosters’ backrower Josiah Fesolai crossed for the first when he charged over in the third minute.
The Dogs hit back when young halfback Toby Batten continued his good form with a lovely short ball to put Sam Watts over.
In what was an even contest, Central Coast backrower Cooper Ausburn did extremely well to get on the outside of his defender and then put Sam Gillespie over in the corner to give the Roosters a 10-4 lead at halftime.
While the fixture might have looked like a mismatch on paper, the improving Dogs continued their strong form of recent weeks and hit back five minutes after the break when Batten once again produced a moment of brilliance with an excellent cut-out ball put winger Brayth Ledger over in the corner.
In what proved to be a pivotal moment, Batten’s kick fell just away to the left-hand side of the posts to leave his side trailing 10-8.
Both sides gave their all in the wet conditions as they sought to edge ahead in the contest. The Roosters showed plenty of ticker to defend repeat sets and turn away some dangerous Bulldogs attacks on their line to secure the two points and continue their march through the competition.
COLTS SOUND WARNING WITH UPSET WIN
The Monaro Colts pulled out one of the best performances of the season and in the process broke one of the competition’s longest winning streaks by downing the Macarthur Wests Tigers 32-16 in Canberra.
The Colts were just too strong and skilful for the previously undefeated Macarthur side, running in six tries to two to see the side charge into premiership contention.
While it was an excellent win, the game didn’t start according to plan for Monaro, who had Joey Elton sent to the sin bin after just three minutes for a high shot.
It didn’t seem to affect the side too much though, as prop Jesse Millin capped off his excellent start to the game by crashing over for the first try in the seventh minute.
From here the Tigers showed why they came into the game on top of the ladder, with five-eighth Sonny Edwards-Moeke and halfback Dion Williams scoring a quick-fire double to put the team ahead 10-6.
While Macarthur were on a roll, Monaro’s big boys helped to wrestle back the momentum, with front-rower Alex Hardy burrowing over from close range in the 25th minute.
Then from the next set, interchange forward JJ Mau Pohiva made a huge burst up field, palmed off the Tigers’ fullback and the passed the ball off to Yuri Hromow to score as the team went bang, bang to lead 18-10 at the break.
While the first half was a contest, it was all the home side in the second as the Colts showed their class.
Centre Harry Hudson crossed in the 45th minute and then a great offload from Milin and excellent cut-out ball from halfback Jonah Anderson put winger Brady Smith over in the corner to seal the match.
That Anderson-Smith connection struck again late, with another nice cut-out ball putting the winger over to cap off a brilliant victory for the surging Colts.
KNIGHTS OPEN ACCOUNT AGAINST BULLS
The Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights recorded their first win of the season with a comprehensive 46-18 victory over the Riverina Bulls at Laurie Daley Oval in Junee.
Young playmaker Jack Thompson put on an absolute clinic, scoring an incredible five tries as the Knights attack finally clicked.
Thompson, who had spent the opening few rounds of the season playing for the Knights’ Harold Matthews Cup side, opened the scoring after picking up the scraps from his own bomb.
It was the start of a blistering opening 10 minutes for the Knights, who also crossed through Isaac Robb and Madden Potts to race out to a 16-0 lead.
While the Bulls hit back through a Jesse Watson try in the 15th minute, Thompson then took over with a three-try, 10-minute burst of his own.
He first backed up to finish off a Nate Simpson break down the right wing, then charged over from close range, before putting Robb through a gap and backing up on the inside to score a remarkable four tries in the first half and help give his side a 36-6 lead.
And while the Bulls showed some heart to score twice through Lachlan Breed and Mason Payne in the second half, the day belonged to the young half Thompson, who put the cherry on top of his five-star performance with his fifth try late in the match as the Knights ran out 46-18 winners.
RAMS DOWN DRAGONS TO KEEP FINALS HOPES ALIVE
The Western Rams have kept their slim finals hopes alive after an impressive 28-12 victory over the Illawarra South Coast Dragons at Ron Costello Oval in Shellharbour.
Five-eighth Cooper Black continued his excellent form with a double as he put on 16 points to guide his side home.
Rams prop Beau Hartley got the first when he charged over after 10 minutes, before Ajay Isbester-Boss scored the team’s second after repeated short side attacks to give the side a 10-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Lock Ryan Goodsell then extended the lead to 16 points with some excellent footwork to put the Rams right on top.
The Dragons hit back through tries to Levi Valesini and Letham Manago either side of halftime to drag the deficit back to just four points.
The South Coast side were on a roll and thought they had crossed to level things up, however Lewis Sargent-Wilson was called back for obstruction.
It proved to be a pivotal moment, with Black using his big frame to knock over some Dragons defenders to score just a couple of minutes later.
The five-eighth then put the game to bed 10 minutes from time with his second to give the Rams their second win of the season.
Johns/Daley Cup: Leading tryscorers, points across all grades
Stay up to date with the top tryscorers and pointscorers in the elite rugby league regional competitions of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups.
2025 NSW Oztag Senior State Championships squad tracker
The Oztag Senior State Championships are fast approaching with suqads starting to roll in thick and fast for the showcase of NSW’s best talent. Keep up to date with the latest teams here.