Andrew Johns/Laurie Daley Cup: wrap, results, standouts from round three
There were cancelled flights, stunning tries and an after-the-siren thriller. Catch up with all the action from round three of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups.
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There was plenty of action and drama as round three of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup competitions took place over the weekend.
Much of the drama surrounded the Northern Rivers Titans-Illawarra South Coast Dragons fixtures in Murwillumbah, which were postponed until a further date after the Dragons’ flights were cancelled at the last minute.
The clubs and NSWRL will come now together to find an alternative time and date for the clashes.
On the field there was plenty of excitement, with an after-the-siren shot at goal deciding one game, a second-half blitz highlighting another, while some of the competition favourites continued to flex their muscles ahead of the final two rounds.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
ANDREW JOHNS CUP
ROOSTERS REMAIN FLAWLESS
A strong second half showing from the Central Coast Roosters helped them to their third-straight win the Andrew Johns Cup, defeating the Northern Tigers 28-6.
The Roosters came out of the blocks firing, showing their proficiency from both sides of the park, with Chase Kapua opening the scoring on the left, before Semi Leweniqila scored his sixth try of the season from the right.
The Tigers bounced back though through their halfback Jack Shankley to reduce the margin to four points going into the break, however it was all the visiting side in the second, with the Roosters running in three second-half tries to blow the margin out.
Blessing Foini, Isaac Phillips and Cooper Gibbs piled on tries against a weary Tigers defence, and in the process kept their undefeated season alive while keeping the Tigers winless.
KNIGHTS PILE ON TRIES AGAINST BULLDOGS
It was another case of the rich getting richer as the Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights picked up a 38-14 win over the North Coast Bulldogs.
The Knights join the Roosters on three wins from three, while the Bulldogs fell short for the second week in a row.
While the Dogs came out firing with a try inside the opening two minutes to Karl Turner, the Knights quickly found their rhythm and started finding holes in the Bulldogs defence as they ran in four unanswered tries.
The Bulldogs managed to stay in the contest by scoring two excellent tries via attacking kicks in the second half to reduce the margin to eight points.
However, the lethal Knights ran away with it, scoring three more tries in the final 12 minutes to seal the confortable win.
Chase Butler was a creative standout for the Knights from five-eighth with two tries, while winger Kade Paton and second-rower Curtis Mulherin both picked up doubles for the try-hungry Knights.
TRY-FEST AS TIGERS GO THREE FROM THREE
The Macarthur Wests Tigers dispatched of the Riverina Bulls 32-14 at home in Camden to remain with the competition frontrunners on three wins from three.
In the nine-try thriller, the Bulls put up a good fight and refused to let the Tigers get away with the contest for the bulk of the match.
The usual try-scoring suspects were at it for the Tigers, with Mawin Tema Soaai and Elijah Sefo both finding the line down the dangerous right flank, joined on the scoresheet by Kye Penfold and Benjamin Hodsdon in the productive first half.
Trailing by 16 at the break, the Bulls fought their way back into the contest with a couple of magical tries, with none more memorable this season than prop forward Vula Wate turning defence into attack and running 90m to score an incredible four-pointer.
Bulls centre Isaiah Pulleine followed this up with a 50m effort of his own down the right sideline to restore hope for Riverina.
However the Tigers showed their class to put the game to bed, with Jake Gaffney and Drake Ayers crossing late on to seal the win.
RUTHLESS RAMS BLITZ COLTS
It was another tough afternoon for the Monaro Colts, but a fruitful one for the Western Rams who picked up back-to-back wins after a 36-6 romping.
The game was in the balance in the first half, with the Rams putting just two tries on the board, courtesy of two dummy-half bursts from Riley Durrant and Bryson Reed.
Winger Sebastian Jones reduced the margin with a try for the Colts to get his team back into the contest.
From here though, the ruthless Rams ran away with the match, laying on five unanswered tries.
Triston Ross and Taj Jordan both kept their streaks going of scoring in every game of the season.
They were joined on the scoresheet by both wingers William Giovas and Jai Ashby, as well as centre Sonny MacGregor.
LAURIE DALEY CUP
POINTS SHARED IN AFTER-THE-BELL THRILLER
A penalty goal after the siren has ensured that the Northern Tigers and Central Coast Roosters shared the points in a thrilling 26-all draw in Tamworth.
Tigers’ goalkicker Dylan Keane showed nerves of steel to slot a penalty goal 20m out and 15m in from touch after halfback Jordan Hamlin was caught high with just 30 seconds remaining on the clock.
The goal capped off an excellent comeback from the home side, who overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to earn a draw in the top-of-the-table clash against the Northern Conference’s two undefeated teams.
While they were forced to come from behind, Northern got off to a brilliant start as the Roosters spilled the ball from the kick-off. This gave the team excellent field position and lock Braydon Allan scored under the sticks after just 80 seconds.
The Chooks hit back through Zahn McKay to lock things up at 6-all after 10 minutes, before the team turned the match firmly in its favour with three tries in a blistering seven-minute period.
It started when a beautiful cut-out ball from Brooklyn Rosemeyer put Sam Gillespie over in the corner, while in the very next set Cooper Ausburn made a break and showed plenty of speed to score under the sticks.
The Central Coast side then made it 22-6 a couple of minutes later when a nice backline spread, capped off by an excellent Josiah Fesolai flick pass, put McKay over for his second in the 30th minute.
Coming out after the break, the Tigers needed a repeat of their excellent start and did exactly that when hooker Jayden Seckold dummied and burrowed over from close range.
The Roosters hit back straight away, with another lovely backline move putting Cooper Dean-Potaka over in the corner to stretch the out to 26-12.
The Central Coast looked like they were doing enough to close out the game until a dropped bomb gave the Tigers prime field position. Fullback Reece Josephson then broke through some sloppy defence to go over in the ensuing set to give the team a sniff.
Then Keandre Johnson-Vale scored in the corner with five to go to set up a grandstand finish. With the pressure on, Keane drained the conversion from the sideline to make it 26-24.
The Tigers were going all-out attack in the final stages, and after putting in an attacking grubber with 30 seconds to go, Hamlin was hit high to earn a penalty for his team.
Perfect with the boot all day, Keane stepped up to the tee and slotted the conversion to earn his side a draw and cap off a thrilling comeback.
BULLDOGS OPEN ACCOUNT AGAINST KNIGHTS
The North Coast Bulldogs have recorded their first win of the Daley Cup season after knocking over the Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights 20-4 at the Port Macquarie Regional Stadium.
In what was a clash between two previously winless teams, the Dogs started the brighter and took the lead after 11 minutes when backrower Sam Watts crashed over after hooker Zeb Hogan made a line break up field.
The Bulldogs were knocking on the door and extended their lead to 12 points just before halftime when lock Patrick Carey used all of his strength to charge over.
A penalty goal to Toby Batten pushed the lead to 14 early in the second half.
And while Nate Wilson gave the Knights a chance by barging over in the 58th minute, outside back Samuel Petch sealed the win for the North Coast side three minutes from time to hand his side a 20-4 victory and record their first competition points for the season.
COLTS GO NUTS IN SECOND-HALF BLITZ
The Monaro Colts have jumped into second place in the Southern Conference after a 40-18 thumping of the Western Rams at Jock Colley Oval in Parkes.
After going into the sheds locked at 10-all, the Colts turned on the fireworks in the second half, piling on five tries after the break to run away with the 22-point win.
It was a tit-for-tat affair in the first half as the Rams raced out to a 10-0 lead after 18 minutes as Nathaniel Robinson and Cooper Black scored, before Lachlan Cunanan and Toby Ferris crossed on the back of excellent kicks to lock things up at the break.
And while Black scored his second early in the second half with a wonderful one-on-one steal to give the Rams a four-point lead, the half belonged to the Colts, who ran riot with some excellent attacking football.
Fullback James Croker showed his nous with a smart quick tap to catch the Rams’ defence napping and score an 80m try, Harry Hudson finished off switch to the right, Joe Elton got on the end of another fantastic kick and prop Alex Hardy crashed over from close range to blow the game away in a 20-minute period and push the Colts out to a 34-14 lead.
And while Tully Howell got one back for the Rams, Jonah Anderson scored on the bell for Monaro to seal the impressive win.
MACARTHUR THUMP RIVERINA TO KEEP STREAK ALIVE
The Macarthur Wests Tigers remain the only team in the Daley Cup with a 100 per cent winning record after thumping the Riverina Bulls 54-16 at Kirkham Oval in Camden.
The Tigers ran in a whopping 10 tries to three in a scintillating performance to record the side’s third win from as many games in the competition.
While Macarthur chalked up another big win, it was in fact the Bulls who crossed first, with lock Isaiah Nauer charging over after nine minutes to give his side the lead.
That was as good as it got for the Bulls, however, with Macarthur hooker Dylan Smith showing plenty of toe to score a quick-fire double, before Saint Fuatimau and Luke Fielding crossed to give the Tigers a 24-6 lead at halftime.
The rout continued after the break, with six different tryscorers crossing for the Tigers as they flexed their muscles against the tiring Riverina side.
And while the Bulls scored two consolation tries, they couldn’t stop Macarthur’s charge to remain at the top of the table.
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