Andrew Johns/Laurie Daley Cup: Wrap, results, standouts from round one
From a 26-second try to an early contender for comeback of the season, the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup competitions kicked off in style.
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After a summer full of running up sandhills and training drills, NSW’s next generation of regional rugby league stars were in action as the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup competitions kicked off across the state.
In warm conditions across the board, there were some stunning individual performances and an early contender for comeback of the season in what are country under-16s and under-18s tournaments.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
ANDREW JOHNS CUP
FREE-FLOWING TITANS HAMMER MONARO
The Northern Rivers Titans have exploded into the 2025 junior rep season after demolishing the Monaro Colts 30-6 at the NSWRL HQ in Canberra.
On the back of the free-flowing attacking football, the Titans piled on six tries to one to make a big statement in round one.
While the team did throw the ball around nicely, the Titans’ first try came through the middle when a hit and spin saw prop Charlie Wood crash over.
Ten minutes later pure determination helped the side extend its lead as centre Jesse Cooper came flying through to plant a Lex Izzard kick down just centimetres inside the dead-ball line after it looked destined to go out.
Already down 10-0 at halftime, the Colts got off to a nightmare start to the second half when a knock-on coming out from their own end in the very first set gave the Titans great field position.
From the ensuing scrum the visitors went to the blind side and put a charging Jay Walpole over to stretch the lead out to 14 points.
Things got better for the Northern Rivers side five minutes later when halfback Dallas Russell fed centre Parker Kemister through some flimsy defence to run 55m to score his team’s fourth of the day.
With the team trailing by 20, things started getting ugly for Monaro as some nice shape to the left put winger Walpole over for his second before hooker Cruz Sewell scooted through to push the side to 30.
Monaro back-rower Marlowe Young got a lucky bounce from an attacking kick to get the Colts on the board for a late consolation, however it was the Titans’ day, with the team kicking off its season in impressive fashion.
Northern Rivers Titans 30 (Walpole 2, Wood, Cooper Kemister, Sewell tries; Kemister one goal, Russell two goals) defeated Monaro Colts 6 (Young try; Young goal)
MACARTHUR SHUTS OUT RIVERINA
A dominant first half has helped the Macarthur Wests Tigers record their first win of the season after a defeating Riverina 26-12 at Kirkham Oval in Camden.
The home side ran in four unanswered tries in the opening 30 minutes to set up the victory, which was capped off by a stunning individual effort at the death.
The scoring started in the 14th minute when a nice spread to the left put winger Cooper Butler over in the corner.
The Tigers then extended their lead 20 minutes when a nice decoy run helped five-eighth Terowie Golding-Lyons shoot through to score under the sticks. 10-0
Macarthur was on fire and in the very next set the team was in again with an impressive long-range effort. Coming out of his own end, Golding-Lyons put centre Sam Francis through a gap on the edge before backing up on the inside to score his second try in two minutes.
The game was getting away from Riverina and Macarthur more or less sealed the result on the stroke of halftime when fullback Llanden Granger went over, giving the Tigers a commanding 20-0 lead at the break.
Riverina had been dominated in the first half but the team showed plenty of fight after the resumption of play in what was a much more competitive half an hour of football.
A nice shift to the right put Nate Breust over out wide, while Archie Webb also crossed for a try to reduce the deficit to eight.
However the Tigers had been by far the better team and saved their best try for last.
Receiving the ball 10m out from his own line, winger Sebastian Taylor put on a great step and palm to slice through the Riverina defence. He then showed plenty of speed and another great palm to fend off the chasing Bulls players and go all the way with a brilliant 90m effort.
Macarthur Wests Tigers 26 (Golding-Lyons 2, Butler, Granger, Taylor tries; Francis three goals) defeated Riverina 12 (Breust, Webb tries; Foster two goals)
DRAGONS FIRE UP AGAINST WESTERN
The Illawarra South Coast Dragons have made a very impressive start to their season after easily accounting for the Western Rams 38-10 at Ron Costello Oval in Shellharbour.
With a dominant pack and some nice attacking moves, the Dragons ran riot with seven tries to two to chalk up the biggest win of the weekend in the Andrew Johns Cup.
In a round with plenty of blistering openings, the home side got off to the perfect start with a try inside the first minute.
Kicking off, Illawarra fullback Darcy Farquhar managed to find green space about 20m out from the Rams’ line. The ball then took a wicked bounce back towards the chasing Dragons and was regathered by teammate Kahuitara Te Ra Chase. Three plays later lock Callum Cooney crashed over to score after just 26 seconds.
Western hit back six minutes later when a Dragons’ error in cleaning up an attacking kick allowed Archie Black to tie things up at 4-all.
However sadly for Western that was as close as the team came as the Dragons took control with three unanswered tries.
It started in the 10th minute when some quick hands from Cooney put prop Hunter Fangupo through a gap to score, before a clever grubber from five-eighth Tyler Lewis bounced perfectly into the hands of back-rower Preston Ruiz to crash over.
The Dragons’ pack was rolling through the middle with ease and when fullback Darcy Farquhar finished off a short-side play, the home side took a 20-4 lead into the break.
The Rams needed something to get back into the game and they were offered a lifeline with a slice of deja vu early in the second half. In attempting to catch a Western bomb, two Dragons players collided, with Rams five-eighth Riley Carter picking up the scraps to make it a 10-point ball game.
However just like in the first half, the Dragons took control of the contest and piled on three more tries.
A simple overlap saw winger Preston Sager stroll over, an intercept from Cale Parr pushed the home side beyond 30 before a quick play-the-ball and some nice hands in the middle saw Fletcher Couchman cap off the impressive win with a try of his own.
Illawarra South Coast Dragons 38 (Cooney, Fangupo, Ruiz, Farquhar, Sager, Parr, Couchman tries; Packer five goals) defeated Western Rams 10 (Black, Carter tries, Black one goal)
KNIGHTS TOO GOOD FOR BULLDOGS
The Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights have kicked off their season in style with a 20-8 victory over the North Coast Bulldogs at the Kurri Kurri Sportsground.
Five-eighth Ty Ennis was the standout for the home side with a hand in all four tries as the Knights chalked up their first win of the campaign.
The team set the tone eight minutes in with a brilliant long-range try. With a scrum 30m out from his team’s own line, Ennis dummied and made a half a break before offloading on his outside. The ball made its way to centre Tyler Donaldson, who showed impressive speed to shoot through a gap and run 55m to score under the sticks.
Ten minutes later the home side was in again after Ennis took centre stage with another excellent try from distance. Receiving the ball 40m out from the Bulldogs’ line, the five-eighth put in a perfectly weighted kick in the right-hand corner for winger Chayce Afa, who outgunned his rival to plant the ball down and give the Knights a 12-0 lead.
Ennis was in everything and capped off a brilliant first half by going down the short side from an attacking scrum to crash over for his team’s third late in the half to give the Knights a 16-0 lead at the break.
The Dogs needed to start well in the second half and that’s exactly what they did when winger Logan Clarke showed good speed and strength to crash over from dummy-half five minutes after the resumption of play.
Then midway through the Dogs went over again, with the team putting the ball through the hands and creating an overlap for Noah Langdon to go over in the corner.
With back-to-back tries the Bulldogs were back in the game at 16-8, however the Knights’ turned to their big guns to put the game to bed with seven to play. Ennis finished with his third assist when he put a long ball over the top for Afa, who showed some fast feet to step past the Bulldogs defenders to seal the match.
Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights 20 (Afa 2, Donaldson, Ennis tries; Ennis two goals) defeated North Coast Bulldogs 8 (Clarke, Langdon tries)
ROOSTERS FLEX THEIR MUSCLES AGAINST TIGERS
The Central Coast Roosters have sounded an early warning shot to the competition with a comprehensive 34-12 victory over the Northern Tigers at Scully Park in Tamworth.
Centre Allan Lardner picked up the first hat-trick of the season as the Chooks chased down an early deficit before running in seven tries to three to take the two points.
In a sign of things to come, it was Lardner who crossed for the first of the match in the eighth minute when he showed impressive speed to shoot through a gap to cap off a nice spread from the Central Coast.
However from here it all went the Tigers’ way, with fullback Kobhan Nean scoring a try and then helping to set up teammate Cohen Matthews with a lovely double cut-out ball in the next set to put his side in front.
The home side had all the running and ensured it went into the break with a healthy lead after hooker Eamon Gleeson burrowed over from close range to put it up 12-4 at halftime.
After conceding three quicks tries the Roosters needed a quick start and that’s exactly what they got when lock Samuel Michie showed plenty of strength to charge over just four minutes after the resumption of play.
Then a couple of minutes later the Chooks were in front. With impressive power and footwork, Central Coast five-eighth Tukia Fotu-Moala brushed off and stepped past five Tigers defenders before offloading for Lardner to barge over for his second of the day to make it 16-12.
The Roosters then made it three tries for the half and two in two sets when Michie sliced through a gap and passed on to Manni Campbell to give the side a 10-point lead.
With the game played in hot conditions in Tamworth, momentum was crucial and the Central Coast took full advantage with their third try in as many sets. Starting off 40m out from the Tigers’ line, the Roosters put the ball through nine sets of hands as they went from touchline to touchline before winger Zac Barton put the ball down in the left-hand corner to give the side a commanding 26-12 lead with 15 minutes remaining.
The Chooks then put an exclamation mark on the victory with a late try to Semi Wara and Lardner’s third to cap off the 34-12 win.
Central Coast Roosters 34 (Lardner 3, Michie, Campbell, Wara, Barton tries; Wara three goals) defeated Northern Tigers 12 (Nean, Matthews, Gleeson tries)
LAURIE DALEY CUP
TITANS COMPLETE MONARO DOUBLE
The Northern Rivers Titans’ road trip south finished as an unmitigated success as the Laurie Daley Cup side easily accounted for the Monaro Colts 34-12 in Canberra.
After the Andrew Johns Cup team did the business with a very similar result in the earlier fixture, the Titans made an early statement as they ran in six tries to two in an impressive opening round performance.
The points started with a Monaro mistake, with Titans winger Ryder Nelson scooping up the loose ball after a Colts knock-on before putting on the afterburners to shoot down the line and score in just the fifth minute.
Within a blink of an eye the team was over again as impressive halfback Jimmy McCombie showed his strength and class by stepping past and palming off four defenders before offloading to Kai Saric to barge over the line.
The Titans were trying to keep pace with the clock in the early stages and when hooker Noah Vakararawa darted over from close range, the team went 18-0 up after 20 minutes.
It was a dominant all-round performance for the Northern Rivers side, whose forwards were marching up field and laying the platform for their playmakers. The team then caped off a golden first half with a lovely shift to the left to put winger Tye Hogan-Collins over in the corner and give the side a 24-0 lead at the break.
And while Monaro got on the board through forward Thomas Handsaker early in the second half, there was never any chance of a comeback, with the sides crossing for two tries a piece.
The highlight came on the 40-minute mark when Saric finished off an excellent 90m effort that saw the Titans show plenty of razzle dazzle by shifting the ball wide while coming out of their own end and going coast to coast to cap off an excellent victory.
Northern Rivers Titans 34 (Saric 2, Nelson, Vakararawa, Hogan-Collins, Whittick tries; Close five goals) defeated Monaro Colts 12 (Handsaker, Tafili tries; Milne two goals)
MACARTHUR ISSUE WARNING WITH TOTAL LOCKOUT
The Macarthur Wests Tigers have made an early statement in the Laurie Daley Cup with a thumping 38-0 thrashing of Riverina at Camden.
With too much power in the middle and class in the outside backs, the Tigers ran in seven tries to none in what was the biggest win of the opening round of either regional rep competition.
Macarthur’s forwards laid an excellent foundation for their halves in the early stages and this translated into points nine minutes in when a nice spread put winger Tyler Volcov over in the corner.
Five minutes later the team went to the right edge again as centre Glassie Glassie crashed over to make it 10-0.
The Bulls were struggling to get a foothold in the game and when an error coming out from their own end handed Macarthur the ball in dangerous territory, Tigers lock Lorima Cosgrave barged over for his team’s third of the half to give the side a 16-0 lead at the break.
Unfortunately for Riverina the change of ends didn’t change the momentum of the match, with Macarthur’s Aaron Paea adding to the lead five minutes after the restart.
The Tigers were having plenty of success on the edges and it proved fruitful on the left in the second half as centre William Jenkins crossed for a double before some sharp footwork from five-eighth Tyson Walker put the cherry on top with a try at the death.
Macarthur Wests Tigers 38 (Jenkins 2, Volcov, Glassie, Cosgrave, Paea, Walker tries; Richards five goals) defeated Riverina 0
RUTHLESS DRAGONS HAMMER RAMS
The Illawarra South Coast Dragons capped off a perfect start to the regional rep season after the Laurie Daley Cup team wiped away the Western Rams 34-8 in Shellharbour.
In a game with plenty of parallels to the clubs’ Andrew Johns Cup clash earlier in the day, the Dragons had the game in control from start to finish and played some slick football as they ran in seven tries to two in the rout.
Just like in the earlier fixture, the home side crossed after just one minute of play, with the Rams unable to deal with the first-set bomb and Illawarra lock Cruz King swooping on the scraps and scoring after just 62 seconds.
Western pulled one back nine minutes in when winger Jack Colley finished off a nice attacking move, however from here it was all one-way traffic as the Dragons flexed their muscles.
A highlight came in the 24th minute when twin brothers Lexin and Rhys O’Dea combined with a play straight out of backyard footy.
Attacking down the left edge, halfback Lexin found his brother with a nice short ball before wrapping around the outside to collect the offload and score.
Lexin was in the thick of the action as he fed Thomas Eirth through a gap to score shortly after, before a break from Archie Wheeler deep in his own half led to a try for five-eighth Luke Butler to give the side a 20-4 lead at the break.
It was a similar story in the second half as Rhys O’Dea got on the scoreboard with a try just two minutes after the resumption of play.
With the forwards laying an excellent foundation, the Dragons’ playmakers had plenty of time and space. A nice backline move put winger Jack Koster over in the corner for another before hooker Flynn O’Mara caught some tired defenders napping and scored from dummy-half.
And while Jayden Innes crossed for a late consolation for Western, it was well and truly the Dragons’ day as the team ran out 26-point winners.
Illawarra South Coast Dragons 34 (King, L O’Dea, Eirth, Butler, R O’Dea, Koster, O’Mara tries; Talbott three goals) defeated Western 10 (Colley, Innes tries)
BULLDOGS, KNIGHTS IN 10-TRY THRILLER
The North Coast Bulldogs have put in an early contender for comeback of the season after overcoming an 18-point halftime deficit to defeat the Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights 30-28 in a 10-try thriller at the Kurri Kurri Sportsground.
In what was a classic game of two halves, Knights’ young guns Kyran Blair and Talen Balcombe struck up a deadly combination to put the home side well clear before North Coast five-eighth Rielly Laverty put on a second-half masterclass to get his side home in a round one classic.
In what proved to be a sign of things to come, the action kicked off early as Bulldogs’ lock Rave Brazier pulled off an excellent chargedown in the first set of the game to give his side the ball on the Knights’ line. In the next play the ball found its way out to halfback Toby Batten, who powered his way over for the first try of the match after just 70 seconds.
Despite the early hiccup, it only took the Knights four minutes to hit back when winger Balcombe did well to take a chip from five-eight Blair to level things at 6-all.
From here the Knights started to take control. Hooker Lochlan Clenton barged over in the 14th minute before some lovely ball-playing from halfback Lachlan Hails helped set up Austyn Ah Toon-Hotene to score under the sticks.
The home side then took a commanding lead into the break after some impressive play once again from Blair and Balcombe. Not for the first time in the match, the five-eighth put in a pinpoint kick for his winger, who did brilliantly well to collect the ball, stay in touch and then offload to centre partner Ronan Hill to put the Knights up 24-6 at the break.
In need of something early, the Bulldogs got back in the game when prop Koby Toomey brushed off some soft defence to charge over.
However the joy was short lived. The Blair-Balcombe combination was proving absolutely deadly and the Knights were over again just three minutes after the break following another excellent kick and take gave the winger his second.
Leading 28-12 on the back of four consecutive tries, the game looked sewn up for the home side before the Bulldogs launched a stunning comeback.
It started in the 42nd minute when centre Zayne Shutes got on the end of a clever grubber from Laverty to score.
Five minutes later Shutes repaid the favour when he offloaded to Laverty to barge over. Batten then slotted the conversion from out wide to suddenly make it a four-point ball game.
While under the pump for most of the first half, the Bulldogs now had all the momentum and they made it count with nine remaining when Laverty showed a great step and palm to break through the line and hold off a couple of defenders to score next to the sticks. Batten added the extras to put the North Coast side up by 30-28.
In a seesawing game full of twists and turns, there was more to come in the dying stages as the Knights threw the kitchen sink at their rivals.
With a couple of minutes remaining impressive back-rower Bailey Haggerty made a break down the left edge. With just the fullback to beat, the Knights looked destined to score, however Haggerty failed to see teammate Clenton – with just fresh air and the line begging – backing up on the inside, which allowed the Bulldogs to scramble, halt the attack and hold on for a dramatic win.
North Coast Bulldogs 30 (Laverty 2, Batten Toomey, Shutes; Batten five goals) defeated the Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights 28 (Balcombe 2, Clenton, Ah Toon-Hotene, Hill tries; Blair four goals)
ROOSTERS OUTGUN TIGERS IN TRYFEST
The Central Coast Roosters made it a perfect start to the season after the Laurie Daley Cup side held off a stubborn Northern Tigers team to prevail 30-26 in Tamworth.
A couple of Tigers’ errors late in the first half ultimately proved crucial in the seesawing contest that saw the teams cross for 11 tries.
The hot conditions seemed to be taking their toll as the points flowed early on in the contest.
Tigers hooker Jayden Seckold caught the Chooks’ defence napping when he crashed over after three minutes before some nice work from Central Coast halfback Brok Elliott and a clever cross-field kick from his halves partner Isaac Fotu-Moala put winger Tali Kolofale over in the corner to level things at up 4-all.
The Central Coast halves were in the thick of it again five minutes later when a Fotu-Moala chip took a wicked bounce away from the Tigers’ defenders and into the arms of a charging Elliott to score under the sticks.
But the Tigers hit back shortly after when Seckold burrowed over from close range for his second of the day to level the scores again.
While the game was in the balance, two Tigers errors – a dropped bomb and an intercept pass – in quick succession allowed the Chooks to score two quick tries to take a crucial 20-10 lead into the break.
From here things once again went back and forth, with Seckold continuing his excellent game by putting teammate Toby Jamieson over early in the second half, only for Max Taylor to charge over to restore the Roosters’ 10-point lead.
Rampaging centre Ryan Schafer then hit a hole to get the Northern Region team back within four, before some clever blindside play and a nice grubber from Central Coast centre Bayley put Ryan Tukapua over to push the lead out to eight.
And while Tigers’ winger Luke Jeffrey capitalised on an error to score late and cut the deficit to just four, it proved to be too little too late as the Roosters held on for a narrow win.
Central Coast Roosters 30 (Kolofale, Elliott, Field, Bayley, Taylor, Tukapua tries; defeated Northern Tigers 26 (Seckold 2, Jamieson, Schafer, Jeffrey tries; Davidson three goals)
Following matches to come
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