Andrew Johns/Laurie Daley Cup: Wrap, results, standouts from the semi-finals
A stunning solo try at the death has booked one side a spot in the decider after a thrilling weekend of semi-final action in the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups.
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Spots in the grand final were on the line as the semi-finals of the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup competitions took place over the weekend.
With everything on the line there were some incredible performances, with opening blitzes and stunning comebacks lighting up the competition.
Check out a wrap of the action below.
ANDREW JOHNS CUP
TITANS PIP DRAGONS IN JUNIOR REP CLASSIC
The Northern Rivers Titans have ensured that it will be an all-Northern Pool grand final in the Johns Cup after upsetting the previously undefeated Illawarra South Coast Dragons 20-14 in a dramatic semi-final to progress through to the decider.
A stunning late try to prop Nixon O’Connor proved to be the decisive moment at the Collegians Sporting Complex in Wollongong, as the Titans came back from a horror opening period to seal a thrilling win.
Fresh from watching their Daley Cup colleagues book a spot in the decider, the Dragons got off to a flyer as a penalty in the third set of the game gave the side a piggy back up field.
From here Illawarra showed all its class with a beautiful spread to the left that put winger Cruz Efaraimo over in the corner inside three minutes.
It was just a sign of things to come in the early stages as the Dragons enjoyed repeat sets on the Titans’ line, with centre Jeremy Packer going agonisingly close to crashing over for the team’s second.
Illawarra didn’t have to wait long though, with a clever chip kick from five-eighth Tyler Lewis and wicked bounce landing in the arms of backrower Preston Ruiz to put the side up 10-0 after 12 minutes.
After being blown away in the opening stages the Titans slowly worked their way into the contest.
Then 18 minutes in they finally got a reward when second-rower Max Palmer took advantage of some sloppy marker work to go over from dummy-half.
From here the Titans enjoyed the better of the field position and almost went in again five minutes later when winger Julean Woods batted a clever chip kick back to his centre partner Parker Kemister to plant the ball down. The ball was ruled to have gone forward but the Titans received a penalty as Woods was tackled while in the air.
However the Northern Rivers side couldn’t take advantage of its opportunity and the Dragons took a 10-4 lead into the break.
After conceding two early tries the Titans had been well in the contest and eight minutes into the second half they were level when a wonderful offload form backrower Manoa Scott found fullback Jaylon Russell, who showed plenty of speed and nice footwork to go over and bring things back to 10-all.
Everything was going the Titans’ way and five minutes later they were in front for the first time when yet another nice offload from Scott unlocked a blindside play that saw Woods acrobatically score in the corner to put his side in front 14-10 with 16 minutes to play.
The tide was going against the Dragons, however in all good games there is a twist and a Titans knock-on coming out of their own end gave the home side a chance to strike back.
After earning a repeat set Illawarra made the pressure count as winger Cale Parr muscled his way over to lock things up at 14-all.
With scores level with 11 minutes to play, the game was set up for a grandstand finish.
The Dragons thought they had gone ahead again when fullback Preston Sager charged over, only for the team to be penalised for obstruction.
There was more drama with six minutes remaining when Illawarra’s Ruiz was lifted into a dangerous position and received a penalty. Lining up 12m in from touch and 20m out, Ryland Coelho had the chance to give his side the lead once again but pushed his attempt across the face of goal.
The Titans recovered to kick the ball up field, and when the Dragons spilled the ball coming out of their own end, the visitors suddenly had a golden chance to win the game.
Charging at the Illawarra defence, Titans’ prop Nixon O’Connor then put on a remarkable display of strength, bumping off defender after defender as he brushed past six Dragons players to crash over the line and score with just two minutes remaining.
Dallas Russell added the extras to make things 20-14, giving the Dragons 35 seconds to conjure up something special.
After remarkably regathering the ball from the kick-off, Illawarra had one last roll of the dice – and what followed was a thrilling passage of footy that involved nine sets of hands and two kicks before Titans’ five-eighth Eden Humphreys intercepted the ball to finally put the nailbiting clash to bed.
The Titans will go on to take on Newcastle in the final, while it was a bitter ending for the Dragons, who blitzed the regular season as the only undefeated team before ultimately falling short of the decider.
Northern Rivers Titans 20 (Palmer, J Russell, Woods, O’Connor tries; D Russell two goals) defeated Illawarra South Coast Dragons 14 (Efaraimo, Ruiz, Parr tries; Coelho one goal)
KNIGHTS DEFEAT TIGERS WITH OPENING BLITZ
The Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights will have a chance to win a trophy named after a club legend for the first time after the side progressed to the Andrew Johns Cup final by defeated the Macarthur Wests Tigers 22-18 in the semi-final at Cessnock Sportsground.
A blistering opening that saw the side race out to a 16-0 lead at halftime set the platform for the win before the Knights held off a late Macarthur charge to seal the result.
Playing in front of home fans in Cessnock, the Knights got off to a dream start.
After kicking early in the first set of the game, the home side then put a hit on Tigers’ fullback Llanden Granger that forced the ball loose. Four plays later hooker Chase Firman spotted a huge gap in the goal line defence and ducked over for the first try of the game after just 65 seconds.
Full of energy, the Knights charged up field in the next set, making 65m in just four carries. Halfback Ty Ennis then put up a towering bomb that was knocked on by the Tigers, giving the home side a fresh set on the Macarthur line.
They only needed a few plays to make it count as a spread to the right put fullback Rico Elers over for the Knights’ second try inside five minutes.
Newcastle had taken a 10-0 lead before Macarthur had even had the chance to play the ball, and the deficit looked like it was about to grow on the quarter-hour mark when Ennis dived over, only for the referee to pull play back and rule that he knocked the ball on while attempting to ground the ball.
Although the Tigers had a few attacking sets of their own, the knock-on call only proved to be a momentary reprieve as they dropped the ball coming out of their own end.
A couple of plays later Firman once again showed his nous and strength to charge over from dummy-half for his second of the game.
And while Newcastle came close to going over again late in the half, the Tigers held on to keep the scores at 16-0 at halftime.
After a lopsided first half Macarthur needed early points if they were any chance of getting back into the game and that’s just what they got when the team put on a stunning backline move that saw Granger score in the corner just four minutes after the restart.
However any momentum was lost midway through the half when Granger failed to clean up an Ennis grubber and backrower Koby Harvey pounced on the scraps to re-establish the Knights’ 16-point lead.
The game appeared to be cruising towards the finish line before a moment of magic triggered a Macarthur comeback.
With the Tigers defending their own line, winger Sebastian Taylor came up with an all-or-nothing play, intercepting a Morgan Carter cut-out ball before showing enough toe to outrun the chasing Knights’ defenders to score a brilliant 95m try.
The try brought the scoreline back to 22-12 with eight minutes remaining and gave the Tigers a spring in their step.
The clock was ticking down, but when Noah Vaotangi crashed over next to the posts Macarthur was in striking distance. Sam Francis hurried the conversion over, which left the scoreline at 22-18 with just 14 seconds remaining.
And while the Tigers had one last play to try and conjure up a miracle, the Knights snuffed out the attack to hold on and book their spot in the grand final.
Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights 22 (Firman 2, Elers, Harvey tries; Ennis three goals) defeated Macarthur West Tigers 18 (Granger, Taylor, Vaotangi tries; Francis three goals)
LAURIE DALEY CUP
MACARTHUR DOWNS BULLDOGS IN FIERY SEMI
The Macarthur Wests Tigers bounced back from last week’s thrashing at the hands of the North Coast Bulldogs to record a nailbiting 18-12 win over the Dogs in a fiery semi-final at the Port Macquarie Regional Stadium.
In an impressive display of wet weather football, the Tigers got off to a bright start before coming from behind to win late reversing the 44-6 loss the team suffered just seven days ago.
In a game played in driving rain, Macarthur was the first side to take advantage of the conditions as halfback Stirling Faumui put up a bomb that deceived North Coast fullback Karl Turner, with backrower Teancam Epati doing very well to collect the scraps to score in just the fourth minute.
Attacking kicks were proving to be a key weapon in the conditions and the Tigers thought they went over again shortly after with another kick, however five-eighth Tyson Walker was penalised for being in front of the kicker.
The Bulldogs had struggled with handling in the opening stages, however once they started finishing their sets they showed how dangerous they can be, with five-eighth Rielly Laverty earning a repeat set for his side before stepping and going over himself to make it 6-4 after 14 minutes.
There was water all over the ground and puddles evident with every footstep, however that didn’t stop the players from an impact, with North Coast winger Wesley LeRougetel and Macarthur hooker Brooklyn Milford both making dangerous breaks up field for their sides.
The Tigers’ kicking game was proving dangerous and they almost went in for a second on the back of a Tyson Walker grubber, only for Bulldogs fullback Turner to save the day by knocking the ball dead.
Despite the wet conditions there was plenty of spice in the game, with some push and shove breaking out late in the half.
In the next set North Coast forward Koby Toomey was sent to the sin bin for laying in the ruck. However some excellent Bulldogs’ defence denied Macarthur as the Tigers took a 6-4 lead into the break.
The greasy conditions meant the ball felt like it was covered in soap and ball handling continued to be an issue early in the second half.
Despite being a man down the Bulldogs had successfully held the Tigers out and they made the visitors pay 12 minutes into the half when some nice work from Turner created an overlap and winger Aidan Langham scored in the corner. Toby Batten slotted the conversion to put his side up 10-6.
The Bulldogs were on a roll, and when the team received a penalty at the end of the next set, Batten stepped up to kick the penalty goal and make it 12-6.
Another penalty two minutes later gave the Dogs a chance to go eight clear, however Batten pushed his attempt wide and the scoreline remained unchanged.
While the home side had the run of things, another Bulldogs’ knock-on from a kick gifted Macarthur a fresh set on the North Coast line. And this time they didn’t let the opportunity slip as winger Aidan Richards dived over in the corner.
Richards then drained the conversion from the sideline to lock things up at 12-all with 15 minutes remaining.
With everything to play for, both sides pulled off some huge shots in defence. However the Bulldogs’ ball-handling issues persisted, and yet another knock-on deep in their own end presented Macarthur will another golden opportunity.
The Tigers then went to the left again, where centre Patrick Toomalatai crashed over to put the side up 18-12 with eight minutes to play.
And while the Bulldogs pushed hard to level things up again, errors and some stoic Macarthur defence stood in their way and the Tigers held on for a hard-fought six-point win.
The Tigers move through to the decider, while the loss marks a disappointing exit for the Bulldogs, who were incredibly impressive in going through the regular season undefeated.
Macarthur Wests Tigers 18 (Epati, Richards, Toomalatai tries; Richards three goals) defeated North Coast Bulldogs 12 (Laverty, Langham tries; Batten two goals)
CLINICAL DRAGONS PUT KNIGHTS TO THE SWORD
The Illawarra South Coast Dragons have the chance to win the Laurie Daley Cup for an unprecedented fourth time after defeating the Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights 31-18 in the semi-final in Wollongong.
The home side put on a short kicking masterclass as the ruthless Dragons took full advantage of some Newcastle errors to run out comfortable winners.
Coming into the final on the back of a two-match losing streak, the Dragons were sharp out of the blocks and opened the scoring 11 minutes in when a clever grubber from five-eighth Beau Baldock found centre Archie Wheeler.
The Knights went close to hitting back shortly after when winger Talen Balcombe appeared to catch an attacking kick from halfback Lachlan Hails, only to drop the ball over the line.
An impressive 40/20 out of dummy-half from Diesel Hagan gave the Knights another great chance, but the team was forcing things in attack, with a flick pass going out over the touchline.
Up the other end, the Dragons showed how lethal they are when Talbott put a perfectly weighted grubber through for winger Jack Koster to put the home side up 12-0 after 25 minutes.
Stung by conceding two tries, Newcastle marched up field and pulled one back when Hagan fed lock Fletcher O’Doherty through a gap close to the line.
It was the first of a quick double-punch from the Knights who, after receiving a penalty a couple of plays after the kick-off, made great yardage up field before forward Ethan Jarmain powered his way over to suddenly lock things up at 12-all going into the break.
The Knights had taken all the momentum into halftime but just six minutes after the restart the Dragons were in again thanks to one of the smallest players on the field.
Attacking the Newcastle line, Talbott charged into the defence and appeared to be wrapped up by four defenders. However the fullback kept pumping his legs and found a way through the tacklers to put Illawarra up 18-12.
It proved to be a turning point as the Dragons gave the Knights a taste of their own medicine with a quickfire double of their own.
After forcing an error out of Newcastle fullback Archie McIlwain deep in his own end, Illawarra received a penalty. From here, Baldock spotted some sloppy Knights defence and went straight over from the tap for the softest of tries of put his side 12 points ahead.
Errors and lapses in concentration had cost the Knights dearly and another mistake put the game to bed.
A mix up under the high ball between Newcastle’s Balcombe and McIlwain resulted in a knock-on, with Wheeler scooting through to toe the ball forward and score to make it 30-12 with 13 minutes remaining.
Then Knights pulled one back through centre Kyran Blair, however the Dragons had the last say when Talbott popped over a field goal from 20m out to seal the 13-point victory.
Illawarra South Coast Dragons 31 (Wheeler 2, Koster, Talbott, Baldock tries; Talbott four goals, O’Dea one goal; Talbott one field goal) defeated Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights 18 (O’Doherty, Jarmain, Blair tries; Hagan three goals)
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