Andrew Johns/Laurie Daley Cup: Wrap, results, standouts from the semi-finals
There were clutch moments, playmaking masterclasses and a comeback for the ages. Find out who won through to the grand final in the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup.
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The grand finalists have been decided after a blockbuster round of semi-finals in the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup.
With everything on the line, there were clutch moments, playmaking masterclasses and a comeback for the ages as the top four teams in each grade battled it out for a spot in the big dance.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
ANDREW JOHNS CUP
ROOSTERS GO BANG, BANG TO BOOK GF SPOT
The Central Coast Roosters have overcome a player sent to the sin bin and the competition’s most lethal attacking side to win their way into the Andrew Johns Cup grand final after a hard-fought 18-10 victory over the Western Rams at Woy Woy Oval.
A dominant period late in the first half and then a brilliant try from one of the competition’s most explosive players was enough to see the side home and give the club a chance to go back to back in the competition.
After finishing first in the Southern Pool, the Rams came out of the blocks firing in the early stages, with fullback Taj Jordan in particular proving hard to handle. In just the seventh minute he made a stunning break from his own end, and with teammate Ravai Tulevu in support, the team looked odds on to score until Roosters custodian Zaylen Ekepati saved a certain try by knocking down the pass.
Western hooker Jock Selwood also came close just a couple of minutes later but was denied by the stoic Central Coast goal-line defence.
And while his team were forced to defend early, Roosters’ captain Alexander Stephenson opened the scoring after a nice offload created space for the lock forward to barge his way in the 24th minute.
The Chooks then went bang, bang, with back-rower Tulsyn McCulloch throwing a dummy and slicing through on the left edge four minutes later to suddenly give the Central Coast a 12-0 lead at halftime.
After the Roosters dominated the back end of the first half, the Rams knew they had to come out firing and that’s exactly what they did, with fullback Taj Jordan timing his run and jump perfectly to take a well-weighted chip kick from Triston Ross before stretching out to put the ball down and get the Rams on the scoreboard just three minutes after the break.
Western were on fire and made a break up field in the first set after the kick-off. After making a crucial tackle, Roosters fullback Ekepati was penalised for slowing down the ruck and subsequently sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.
Just like the Chooks had done, the Rams struck again almost immediately with the team taking full advantage of the extra man with a nice spread to the left that was finished off by Jordan in the corner to make it 12-10.
Just as Jordan lit up the game, the competition’s other tryscoring extraordinaire, the Central Coast’s Semi Leweniqila, showed he wasn’t to be outdone with a brilliant jump to pluck an Owen Knowles cross-field kick out of the air to put his side ahead by eight with 12 minutes to go.
And while the Rams pushed for another the Roosters’ defence held firm, with the team going on to win 18-10 and book a spot in the grand final.
STEELY DEFENCE SENDS MACARTHUR INTO DECIDER
An excellent defensive display has helped the Macarthur Wests Tigers into the grand final of the Andrew Johns Cup after a 14-6 victory over the Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights at Pirtek Park in Singleton.
Two first-half tries and then another midway through the second was enough for the Tigers, who were immense without the ball as they held out the free-scoring Knights until three minutes from time.
After a scrappy opening that saw both sides drop plenty of ball and give away their fair share of penalties, it took 19 minutes for either team to get on the scoreboard, with Macarthur striking first. Attacking the Knights’ line, the Tigers decided to run it in the last, and after some second-phase play halfback Curtis Lakeman found centre Elijah Sefo coming back across the grain to break the defensive line and score.
After going behind, the Knights sought to hit back straight, with lock Cody Baker held up over the line by some desperate last-ditch defence by the Tigers.
Successful in holding Newcastle out, Macarthur then delivered a hammer blow just before halftime to put the side well in front in the contest. With the Tigers spreading the ball to the right once again, the Knights defence were lining up Sefo, however Lakeman went short for second-rower Andrew Sio who crashed over to put his side up 8-0.
While the Knights had scored points for fun throughout the course of the season they were consistently left frustrated by the Tigers’ defensive wall, with Macarthur turning the Hunter side away time and time again in an impressive display.
The Tigers then built on their defence with their third of the match.
After another strong charge Sio was caught just short of the line. With the Knights’ defensive line looking like Swiss cheese dummy-half Tyran McLean did well to scoot out and find a charging Jermayne Faafiu who crashed over next to the sticks to earn a 14-point lead and put one foot in the decider.
The Knights’ attack had been fluent all season but the team struggled to break the excellent Macarthur defensive line, who turned them away time and again and forced Newcastle into some errors.
The Hunter team’s lethal left edge finally clicked into gear when Lewis Jones crashed over with two to go. Sadly for the Hunter side it was too little, too late and the Tigers prevailed 14-6 to book a spot in the decider where they will take on the Central Coast Roosters.
LAURIE DALEY CUP
SILKY COLTS BLOW ROOSTERS AWAY
A brilliant playmaking performance from Monaro halfback Jonah Anderson has seen the Colts charge into the grand final after a 26-18 victory over the Central Coast Roosters at Woy Woy Oval.
The victory reversed the round one result between the two sides and gives Monaro the chance to avenge last year’s narrow loss in the Laurie Daley Cup.
The young playmaker has been a standout all season for the Colts and it took less than five minutes for the Roosters to see just what an attacking threat he posed, with the halfback darting down the short side and putting winger Lachlan Cunanan over for a try in the corner.
While Monaro’s young gun fired early, the Central Coast’s own star playmaker hit back on 11 minutes when five-eighth Chaice Bayley picked out a lovely ball to put centre Zahn McKay over to see the side take a 6-4 lead.
However Anderson had another chance to show off his skills shortly after with a set-play scrum 10m out from the Roosters’ line. Receiving the ball at first receiver, he helped put James Croker on the outside of his opposite defender as the fullback slid over for his side’s second.
The Colts were knocking on the door and with five to go in the half Yuri Hromow showed too much power and speed as he crashed over next to the posts to make it 14-6.
And then with just two minutes to go that man Anderson was into the action again, putting in a perfectly weighted grubber for back-rower Joseph Elton to score and put the Colts 20-6 up at halftime.
With three assists and his team already 14 points up, Anderson then put an exclamation mark on the performance with a step, dummy and dive to score a try of his own 10 minutes into the second half to put the game almost out of reach with a 26-6 lead.
Down by 20, the Roosters needed points fast and the team delivered, with a lovely spread to the left going through five sets of hands before outside back Samisoni Talakai found his way over.
And while the Colts were able to shut out the final quarter of the match without too much trouble, the Roosters kept fighting and were rewarded with arguably the try of the match in the dying stages.
On the attack around 40m out from the Colts’ line, a nice inside ball from halfback Brooklyn Rosemeyer put fullback Sean Bullen through a gap, who then pulled off a perfectly weighted flick pass for Bayley to score a consolation try.
The victory will pit the Colts against the Northern Tigers in a grand final blockbuster at Cessnock Sportsground.
NORTHERN PREVAILS IN BATTLE OF THE TIGERS
The Northern Tigers have pulled off one of the comebacks of the season to defeat the Macarthur Wests Tigers to charge through to the grand final of the Laurie Daley Cup in front of a home crowd at Pirtek Park in Singleton.
Down 16-0 at halftime, the Northern Region side put in a stirring second-half performance, crossing for five unanswered tries to blow Macarthur away and keep their undefeated season intact.
While they came home like a steam train, Northern started sluggishly as Macarthur took control of the early exchanges.
After a nice offload and some deft hands, Macarthur five-eighth Jayden Innes crossed for the game’s opening try after 10 minutes.
They were at it again just three minutes later when a cross-field kick from halfback Dion Williams was allowed to bounce. The ball took a wicked turn and Macarthur prop Lucas Rossi was judged to have won the race to the ball, with the referee awarding the try to put the team up 10-0.
Macarthur were on a roll and it soon became 16-0 when hooker Dylan Smith found a barnstorming Henare Reti to score under the sticks.
Seemingly stunned by their rivals, Northern were in deep trouble at the break and needed a quick response. Fortunately that’s exactly what they got, with five-eighth Jackson Smith finding his halves partner Jordan Hamlin with a beautiful delayed pass to put him through a gap to score just three minutes into the second half.
In what was somewhat of a trend over the weekend, Northern struck again almost straight away, with that man Smith once again turning provider with a lovely grubber in behind the defensive line for back-rower Dylan Keane to score and make it 16-12.
The Tigers were suddenly back in the game and they hit the front within 15 minutes of the break after Smith once again found Keane on the left edge. The back-rower bounced off one defender and held off two others to get his second, before slotting the conversion to remarkably put his side up 18-16.
It was all Northern at this stage and skipper Hamlin put his side eight in front with 10 to go after a nice dummy and step for his second try of the day.
Then, with what proved to be the final play of the game, Smith capped off his three assists with a try of his own as he dummied and sliced through the defence to put the game to bed and see the Tigers into the grand final with a brilliant second-half performance.
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