Andrew Johns/Laurie Daley Cup: Wrap, results, standouts from round two
After copping a first-half hammering, one side has pulled off a stunning upset win during round two of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups.
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Some of the competition leaders have started to emerge following round two of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups.
From one-sided blowouts to a thrilling seesawing clash, check out the action from week two of NSW’s premier regional junior rep competitions.
ANDREW JOHNS CUP
FIRST-HALF BLITZ SEALS ROOSTERS’ WIN
The Central Coast Roosters remain one of five unbeaten teams in the Andrew Johns Cup after downing the Western Rams 38-22 at the Tony Luchetti Sportsground in Lithgow.
A dominant opening 20 minutes that saw the Roosters pile on five tries laid the platform for the win as the Chooks keep pace with the competition leaders.
After kicking off to their rivals, the Roosters’ were handed a golden opportunity early as the Rams made a play-the-ball error in the first set of the game. From here, hooker Nate Ross burrowed over from dummy-half to score after just 70 seconds.
Ross was proving to be an expert at catching the markers off guard and he had his second in the eighth minute after capitalising on some sloppy defence.
It was all too easy for the Roosters as the team continued to roll up field, with Ross remarkably racking up a 13-minute hat-trick when he dummied and stepped his way through with his third try from dummy-half to give the side a 12-0 lead.
While the Central Coast had already gone over for three tries, the Chooks were just getting started as centre Allan Lardner got on the end of a clever chip from Tukia Fotu-Moala and Samuel Michie set up prop Cooper Smith to see the team run in three tries in consecutive sets and surge to a 22-0 lead.
After being completely dominated in the opening 20 minutes, Western hit back towards the end of the half as winger Maddox Barton and centre Nate Martin crossed for quick-fire tries to bring things back to 22-12 at the break.
However any thoughts Western might have had about a comeback were snuffed out just three minutes after the restart when Manni Campbell busted through the line on the left edge and gave Ladner his second of the day.
Then in the very next set the Roosters turned on the razzle dazzle, putting the ball through eight sets of hands and keeping play alive with some outstanding second-phase footy for Zac Barton to stretch the scoreline out to 32-10.
And although Western fullback Samuel Hill came up with arguably the moment of the game with a lovely chip over the top before passing onto Martin for his second, it was nowhere near enough as Central Coast prop Hugo L’Estrange benefited from some outstanding lead-up play from teammate Harry Caulkin to score the final try of the game under the sticks.
Central Coast Roosters 38 (Ross 3, Lardner 2, Smith, Barton, L’Estrange tries; Barton two goals, Gencur one goal) defeated Western Rams 22 (Martin 2, Barton, Kent tries; Carter three goals)
DRAGONS RUN RIOT IN RIVERINA DEMOLITION
The Illawarra South Coast Dragons have cemented their place as one of the early competition favourites after demolishing the Riverina Bulls 34-6 at Leeton No.1 Sportsground.
For the second week in a row the Dragons flexed their muscles with some powerful go-forward and enterprising attacking footy as the team ran in seven tries to one.
Coming off a round one loss, Riverina got off to just about the worst possible start by knocking the ball on in the first set of the game.
With a golden opportunity to land the first blow, the Dragons only had to wait a couple of plays as big prop Hunter Fangupo crashed over in the second minute.
A repeat set coming out of their own end helped Illawarra march up field one again, with a nice spread to the left creating an overlap and putting winger Kruz Efaraimo over for his side’s second try inside six minutes.
It was all one-way traffic as a double cut-out ball from halfback Fletcher Couchman put Preston Sager over before a left-side raid saw Efaraimo grab his second to stretch the scoreline out to 18-0.
Illawarra then put an exclamation mark on an excellent half of footy with a clever blindside play for Hunter Berghuis to score the team’s fifth and give it a 22-0 lead at the break.
And while Riverina tightened things up after the break, the game continued in the same direction of travel.
Five-eighth Tyler Lewis put backrower Preston Ruiz over midway through the second half and Fangupo collected his second late in the game to push the scoreline beyond 30.
And while the Bulls did score at the death through Zayd Williams, it was merely a consolation as the Dragons ran out 28-point winners.
Illawarra South Coast Dragons 34 (Fangupo 2, Efaraimo 2, Sager, Berghuis, Ruiz tries; Packer two goals, Coelho one goal) defeated Riverina Bulls 6 (Williams try; Foster one goal)
CLINICAL MACARTHUR SINKS MONARO
The Macarthur Wests Tigers have kept their perfect record alive in the Johns Cup with a comprehensive 36-4 victory over Monaro at the NSWRL HQ in Canberra.
On the back of some excellent attacking footy, the Tigers ran in seven tries to chalk up their second win in as many rounds and keep pace with the competition leaders.
Coming into the fixture on the back of a strong round one win, the Tigers were given an early boost when a Monaro play-the-ball error saw the side hand over ball in dangerous territory.
Macarthur halfback Connor Potts then put up a bomb that was spilled by Monaro under heavy pressure, with winger Sebastian Taylor picking up the scraps to score the opener after four minutes.
The Colts were their own worst enemy in the early stages as a forward pass with the team’s next use of the football gave the Tigers another chance to strike. Just like before, Macarthur made it count, with five-eighth Terowie Golding-Lyons putting fullback Llanden Granger through a gap with a lovely ball before the fullback passed on to Taylor for his second try in the opening eight minutes.
The Tigers were running riot and keeping pace with the clock as forward Thomas Allen crashed over from close range to give the side a 16-0 lead after 16 minutes.
It was starting to look ugly for Monaro until the home side hit back through a try to centre Gabriel Chauvin 21 minutes in.
However Macarthur re-established its lead shortly after with another lovely spread to the right to put centre Sam Francis over and give the side a 22-4 lead at the break.
And while the teams changed ends there was no change of fortunes in the second half as another nice backline move saw Golding-Lyons cross just a couple of minutes after the restart.
The Tigers remained in control of the contest and capped off a dominant win with late tries to Francis and prop Noah Vaotangi to remain unbeaten after the opening two rounds.
Macarthur Wests Tigers 36 (Taylor 2, Francis 2, Allen, Golding-Lyons, Vaotangi tries; Francis four goals) defeated Monaro Colts 4 (Chauvin try)
CLASSY KNIGHTS HAMMER TIGERS
The Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights have emerged as early leaders in the Northern Pool after putting an excellent display of attacking footy to defeat the Northern Tigers 40-10 at Scully Park in Tamworth.
Halves Ty Ennis and Rico Elers were outstanding for the Hunter side, which ran in eight tries to two to chalk up its second win from as many starts to kick off the competition.
The rout started in just the fourth minute when five-eighth Ennis picked up from his outstanding form last week with a pinpoint cross field kick that landed in the arms of winger Chayce Afa for the first try of the game.
Five minutes later the Knights showed how they could turn defence into attack, with a Tigers knock-on in the Newcastle danger zone bouncing into the arms of centre Morgan Carter, who showed impressive speed to see off the chasing Tigers and run 80m to score.
The Knights were well on top and when hooker Chase Firman caught the Tigers napping around the ruck Newcastle had its third to make it 12-0 after 14 minutes.
Some wayward goalkicking had kept the Tigers close and they made that count 24 minutes in when a nice short ball from five-eighth Henry Gilbert put his centre Dustin Hiscock through to slash the lead to eight.
However the Knights had been the better team for much of the half and made it count on the scoreboard when Ennis got on the end of a clever grubber from his halves partner Elers to give the side an 18-4 lead at the break.
It was a tough end to the half for the Tigers and things got worse immediately after the restart when the team put the kick-off out on the full. Cashing in on an early opportunity, Elers had his second assist in quick succession when he put in another dangerous grubber that was planted down by Carter for his second.
A break up field from Firman in the very next set and then a Tigers knock-on from a kick once again put the Knights right on the Northern line, with Ennis putting on a lovely dummy and step for his second to make it 30-4.
The rout continued when winger William Hoffman got on the end of a nice backline move. And while winger Sebastian Stafa pulled one back for the Tigers after getting on the end of an excellent chip kick from halfback Sam Oliver, the Hunter side had the final say when Ennis fed prop Oliver Lawrence through a gap to cap off the impressive 30-point victory.
Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights 40 (Carter 2, Ennis 2, Afa, Firman, Hoffman, Lawrence tries; Ennis four goals) defeated Northern Tigers 10 (Hiscock, Stafa tries; Matthews one goal)
TITANS TURN ON THE MAGIC
The Northern Rivers Titans join the Knights at the top of the Johns Cup with a perfect record after wiping aside the North Coast Bulldogs 42-16 at Geoff King Motors Oval in Coffs Harbour.
In what was another wonderful display of attacking football, fullback Jaylon Russell and lock Jett Prichard both bagged doubles as the side piled on eight tries in the rout.
After an early penalty gave the team good field position, the Titans struck in just the third minute when a lovely backline move that went through six pairs of hands was finished off by winger Julean Woods in the corner.
The Dogs hit back four minutes later when backrower Cooper Bannon ran a great line to slice through the Titans’ defence to go over and put his side up 6-4.
However that was as good as it got for the home side as the Titans took control of the match.
They retook the lead 11 minutes in when Prichard put teammate Clark Armstrong through a gap before backing up on the inside to finish it off. The team then rammed home its advantage with a quickfire double late in the half.
Lovely link-up play from Lex Izzard and Russell put Jess Cooper over before some lightning speed and sharp footwork saw Russell go over himself on the stroke of halftime to stretch the lead out to 20-6 at the break.
Things continued in much the same vein after the restart.
Centre Parker Kemister crossed three minutes in the half after yet another nice backline move before the side went coast to coast directly from the kick-off. Taking the first-up from the restart, Nixon O’Connor put Eden Humphreys into space with a lovely offload. Russell was then backing up on the inside to cap off the 100m effort with his second of the day.
Prichard then made it three tries in three sets after capitalising on a great break up field from interchange hooker Humphreys to make it 36-6.
And although the Bulldogs fought back in the final quarter of the game with tries to Connor Laverty and Kai Sjoberg, Titans’ hooker Cruz Sewell’s late try helped push his side to another impressive scoreline.
Northern Rivers Titans 42 (Russell 2, Prichard 2, Woods, Cooper, Kemister, Cruz Sewell tries; Izzard five goals) defeated North Coast Bulldogs 16 (Bannon, Laverty, Sjoberg tries; Clarke one goal, Bedwell one goal)
LAURIE DALEY CUP
ROOSTERS PIP RAMS IN STUNNING COMEBACK
For the second week in a row the Central Coast Roosters have shown they have what it takes to win tight games after edging out the Western Rams 30-28 in a nailbiting clash in Lithgow.
Trailing by 10 points with 10 minutes remaining, the Roosters remarkably scored three tries in the dying stages – including with the final play of the game – to seal the stunning come-from-behind win.
Central Coast winger Bodie Jeffreys and Western halfback Jace Baker were the stars of the show with four tries each in the seesawing contest that saw the Chooks outscored the Rams six tries to five.
There was a sign of things to come just seven minutes in when an overlap allowed Jeffreys to stroll over for the first of the game.
However five minutes later the Rams hit back when a nice dummy saw lock Jonah Moss dive in under the sticks.
The teams were going tit for tat as tries to Central Coast five-eighth Brok Elliott and an excellent chip-and-chase solo effort from Western young gun Baker tied things up at 12-all at the break.
The Rams then continued their momentum after the restart. A towering bomb from five-eighth Jayden Inness proved too hot to handle for the Central Coast defence, which allowed Baker to stream through, acrobatically pick up the scraps and grab his second just 70 seconds into the half.
Shortly after Baker had his third and the Rams shot out to a 10-point lead after he pounced on his own deflected grubber to plant the ball down.
The teams then went back and forth again, with Elliott scoring an excellent second try for the Central Coast and Baker capitalising on yet another deflected grubber to grab a remarkable fourth try for his team.
Leading 28-18 with 10 minutes remaining, Western looked in control of the contest. However the Central Coast pulled off a miraculous finish to the game to seal the points with three late tries.
The comeback started on the back of a Rams’ error, with halfback Isaac Fotu-Moala scooping up a Western knock-on and firing the ball out wide for Jeffreys, who showed all his athleticism with a brilliant put-down in the corner.
A couple of minutes late the Chooks went to the left again, with Jeffreys once again showing his excellent finishing skills with a one-handed put-down to pull the scoreline back to 28-26 with just three minutes remaining.
What followed was a wonderful display of last-gasp footy.
With his team starting deep in its own end, Fotu-Moala once again showed off his explosive step and speed to slice through the defensive line and get his team up field.
The young half then came up with the deciding play.
Just 10m out from the Rams’ line, Fotu-Moala put in a dangerous chip over to his winger.
Finding green space in the in-goal area, the ball took a fortuitous bounce that evaded the Western defenders and landed right in the arms of Jeffreys, who planted the ball down for his fourth of the game to seal the win and in the process send the Central Coast players and travelling fans into raptures.
It proved to be the final play of the game and ensures that both Central Coast sides remain undefeated heading into round three.
Central Coast Roosters 30 (Jeffreys 4, Elliott 2 tries; Bayley three goals) defeated Western Rams 28 (Baker 4, Moss tries; Innes four goals)
DRAGONS CRACK HALF-CENTURY IN RIVERINA ROUT
The Illawarra South Dragons have sounded yet another warning to the Daley Cup competition after putting on a clinic to defeat the Riverina Bulls 52-12 in Leeton.
Five-eighth Beau Baldock crossed for a hat-trick in the nine-tries-to-two rout as the Dragons became the first side to crack the half-century in either regional rep comp this season.
Given the flurry of points, perhaps the only surprise is that it took the Dragons eight minutes to get on the scoreboard, with a lovely bit of play on the left edge between twins Lexin and Rhys O’Dea putting fullback Jack Talbott through for the opener.
A couple of minutes later Illawarra was over again as five-eighth Baldock palmed off two defenders and then stepped past another two to set up a 12-0 lead.
Riverina was struggling to get out of its own end, but an excellent 40/20 from Caydan Hillier sent the team up field. Directly from the tap, prop Kai Stanmore sliced through some flimsy defence to halve the lead.
However that was the closest the Bulls were going to get as Illawarra centre Archie Wheeler and backrower Rhys O’Dea went over in quick succession to put the team well in front.
The Dragons then capped off an excellent first half when an excellent backline move and some determined ball-running from Wheeler set up Baldock his second on the stroke of halftime to give the visitors a commanding 28-6 lead.
The Illawarra side was too big, too powerful and too skilful for Riverina, and this translated into more points shortly after the break as winger Jack Koster crossed in the corner.
The points continued to flow as the O’Dea brothers combined again for Rhys to score before lock Cruz King muscled his way over in the very next set to make it 46-6.
The Bulls did pull one back with Stanmore’s second, however the Dragons had the last say as some nice work down the right edge from Baldock and Wheeler set the former up for his hat-trick.
In what looks to be an ominous sign to the rest of the competition, the 52 points scored is a record for any team in either regional representative competition so far this season, with the 40-point deficit also the largest of the current campaign.
Illawarra South Coast Dragons 52 (Baldock 3, R O’Dea 2, Talbott, Wheeler, Koster, King tries; L O’Dea eight goals) defeated Riverina 12 (Stanmore 2 tries; Broekman two goals)
STUNNING SECOND HALF SEALS MACARTHUR COMEBACK
A stunning second half turnaround has seen the Macarthur Wests Tigers pull off an outstanding comeback victory to defeat the Monaro Colts 30-22 in a nailbiting clash in Canberra.
Trailing 22-6 at halftime after being outplayed by their rivals, the Tigers flicked a switch after the break with five unanswered tries to surge past the Colts and run out eight-point winners.
And while their rivals finished fast, it was the Colts who came out of the blocks firing.
Charging onto the ball 40m out from the Tigers’ line, backrower Samuel Green ran a great line to burst through the defence and pass off to halfback Troy Codey to open the scoring after just five minutes.
Monaro then went the distance to score again in the very next set on the back of some excellent second-phase footy.
After a couple of offloads helped the team up field and stretched the Macarthur defence, Codey put on a nice step to slice through for his second in three minutes.
On the quarter-hour mark the Tigers hit back through five-eighth Tyson Walker after a couple of nice offloads themselves, however the home side reasserted its dominance when powerful prop Thomas Handsaker carried four defenders over the line.
A few minutes later Monaro had its fourth when centre Jaylan May crashed over from a short-side play to give the side a 22-6 lead.
Tensions boiled over on the stroke of halftime as some push and shove broke out among the teams, with Macarthur centre Glassie Glassie and Monaro’s Green both sent to the sin bin for their troubles.
After going into the sheds shell-shocked, the Tigers decided they were going to get back into the game by chancing their arm.
With the ball on halfway, Macarthur put it through five sets of hands in a spread to the left before second-rower Teancam Epati put on the afterburners to brush aside two defenders to score.
The Tigers were continuing to apply the pressure to Monaro and they turned the game into a right contest 10 minutes after halftime when winger Aidan Richards got on the end of a pinpoint cross-field kick from Walker to slash the lead to eight points.
Walker’s boot was made of gold as the five-eighth backed up his try assist with a 40/20 directly after the kick-off to put his side on the attack again. The Tigers didn’t have to wait long to make it count as powerful forward Anapapa Faapoi brushed aside four Colts players and almost took down the post as he scored under the sticks to make it 22-20 with 20 minutes remaining.
While they were on the ropes in the first half, the Tigers were now rolling up field and took the lead with 15 to play when interchange hooker Ryan Mackander took advantage of some tired marker defenders to barge over from close range to give Macarthur a four-point lead.
All the defending had taken its toll on Monaro, who struggled to get up field and spilled the ball coming out of its own end. From here Macarthur went wide, with Glassie showing too much strength for his opposite number to charge over and cap off Macarthur’s stunning comeback.
Macarthur Wests Tigers 30 (Walker, Epati, Richards, Faapoi, Mackander, Glassie tries; Richards three goals) defeated Monaro Colts 22 (Codey 2, Handsaker, May tries; Milne three goals)
KNIGHTS THRASH TIGERS IN CLINIC
The Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights capped off a successful trip to Tamworth with a 42-16 thumping of the Northern Tigers in the Daley Cup.
Led by an outstanding performance from hooker Diesel Hagan, the Knights raced out to a 38-0 lead on the back of a close to flawless first half and played some excellent football in the eight-tries-to-three thrashing.
In what was a sign of things to come, the Knights came out of the blocks firing and found themselves in excellent field position after Hagan kicked a 40/20 from dummy-half in the second set of the game.
Just 10m out from the Tigers’ line, the team put on an attacking masterpiece that featured decoy runs, short balls, a wonderful offload and six pairs of hands to put centre Liam Richards over in just the third minute.
The Knights were at it again five minutes later when backrower Bailey Haggerty crashed over.
And when the Tigers were offside from the kick-off, Newcastle had its third try inside 11 minutes when prop Jace Cox went over to put his side up 18-0.
The Knights were on fire and they put on a clinic with a brilliant 60m effort. Taking a hit-up in his own half, backrower Roy Simpson put Richards into space with a nice offload. The centre then showed plenty of speed to outrun the Northern chasers before finding Hagan in support to score.
Newcastle was outscoring the clock and continued this trend when five-eighth Ryder Crosswell went over, while a nice blind side play remarkably gave the Knights their sixth try of the first half when Nate Simpson crossed in the corner to put the side up 32-0 at halftime.
It had been utter domination in the first half and this continued straight after the break when front-rower Cox charged over for his second just four minutes after the restart.
Down 38-0, the Tigers were at risk of letting things get very ugly, however the team rallied late in the game.
On the back of improved field position, Toby Jamieson went over for the team’s first midway through the second half.
And while Newcastle winger Ronan Hill added another try for his team, Nate Rothall and Jayden Seckold scored the final two tries for the Tigers to add some respectability to the scoreline.
Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights 42 (Cox 2, Richards, Haggerty, Hagan, Crosswell, N Simpson, Hill tries; Hagan five goals) defeated Northern Tigers 16 (Jamieson, Rothall, Seckold tries; Adamthwaite two goals)
BULLDOGS DOWN TITANS IN 11-TRY MADNESS
The North Coast Bulldogs have continued their excellent start to the Daley Cup season after defeating the Northern Rivers Titans 40-24 in an entertaining, seesawing contest in Coffs Harbour.
Halves Toby Batten and Rielly Batten were the stars for the home side, which raced out to a 28-0 lead before fighting off a spirited Titans comeback that at one stage threatened to pull off a highly unlikely victory.
In a game where 64 points were scored it was a surprisingly cagey opening as both sides kept things tight in the opening quarter of an hour.
The first points came 17 minutes in when Laverty put backrower Samuel Eggins through a gap before he offloaded to centre Zayne Shutes to stretch out and plant the ball down.
This triggered a stunning turn of events that saw the Dogs cross for three tries in three consecutive sets.
From the kick-off, the North Coast side then got some wonderful go-forward, travelling the length of the field in the next set before prop Gus Single crashed over for the team’s second.
From here things unravelled for the Titans, with Jimmy McCombie’s kick-off going out on the full and Bulldogs halfback Toby Batten muscling his way over four plays later to give the home side a 16-0 lead in the blink of an eye.
North Coast maintained the intensity and struck again late in the half, with Laverty shrugging off two defenders and this time going on his own to score an impressive solo try.
It had been an excellent half for the Dogs and on the stroke of halftime they went to their lethal left edge again, with Eggins cruising through for the team’s fifth try of the half to give it a commanding 28-0 lead at the break.
The Titans needed something fast if they were any chance of getting back into the contest and they got exactly that just three minutes after the restart when Luke Barnett crashed over for a try.
After conceding multiple tries in consecutive sets in the first half, the Titans gave the Bulldogs a bit of their own medicine with their next use of the football as a cross field kick, some off-the-cuff footy and a deflected grubber allowed Zane Farrell to score the team’s second in quick succession.
The Titans had brought an improved intensity into the second half and that translated directly into more points.
With his team defending in its own half, backrower Jett Flatley shot out of the line and put a huge hit on Bulldogs interchange forward Timothy Broderick. This jolted the ball loose and eventually found its way into the hands of Northern Rivers winger Tye Hogan-Collins, who showed a clean pair of heels to scoot 50m down the touchline to score and make it 28-18.
With three tries in 13 minutes, the Titans had made the game interesting again.
Now with all the momentum, the visitors turned the contest into a real thriller as big prop Kwinn Wolf charged over from close range to make it 28-24 with 13 minutes remaining.
With the Bulldogs shell-shocked, the Titans had all the running and looked like running away with the game until a pivotal moment changed the nature of the contest.
Preparing to take the kick-off, Titans’ five-eighth Lynton Close knocked the ball on, giving the Dogs the ball 10m out from the line.
With a fresh set of six, Laverty wasted no time making it count, brushing aside five defenders on the first play to muscle his way over for his second and give North Coast a crucial 10-point lead.
The try settled the Bulldogs, who then went on to seal the game late when Batten combined with Samuel Schilt to slice through the middle for his second to put an exclamation mark on an entertaining game of football.
North Coast Bulldogs 40 (Batten 2, Laverty 2, Shutes, Single, Eggins tries; Batten four goals, Single one goal, Eggins one goal) defeated Northern Rivers Titans 24 (Barnett, Farrell, Hogan-Collins, Wolff tries; Close four goals)
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