Central Coast Rugby League: the major talking points from round two

The premiers made a huge statement, some young guns made dream debuts while there was another emotional return during round two of the Central Coast Rugby League.

After the season kicked off last weekend, the competition continued with a Good Friday quadruple-header across the Coast.

Defending champions Toukley hosted Erina at Darren Kennedy Oval in the match of the round, The Entrance and Wyong met at EDSACC Oval, Woy Woy hosted Berkeley Vale and Kincumber took on Terrigal at MacKillop Oval.

ROUND ONE: all the action and talking points

Catch up on all the major talking points and action from an exciting round two below.

1) Hawks setting the pace

Toukley Hawks' captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick is happy with his team’s start to the season. Photo: supplied

We might only be two rounds in, but Toukley have well and truly firmed as the team to beat after an excellent start to the season.

On Friday the Hawks overcame Erina 18-10 in a rematch of last year’s grand final. This came after Toukley ground out an incredibly physical 12-4 victory over Wyong – their preliminary final opponents last season – in round one.

Starting the season with arguably the toughest draw, the Hawks sit at the top of the table after two rounds.

Ahead of the season Toukley captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick said that despite the wealth of talent on offer, his team’s attitude and resilience would be its strength as they attempt to go back to back.

“I’ve been around footy for 26 years and I’ve never been in a group where the attitude has been so good. To beat our side you need to beat us in the 80th minute,” he said.

And two rounds in, no opponent has got that far yet.

2) Young guns in winning debuts

Young centre Amyn Hamilton had a winning debut for Terrigal. Photo: Jodie Ward.

Another positive story out of Darren Kennedy Oval was the first grade debuts of Hawks players Harrison Packham and Hayden Allen.

In a baptism of fire, the pair took on last year’s minor premiers in a grand final rematch, and will no doubt have plenty of good memories from their first game in the top grade.

They weren’t the only young players to make a winning debut in the top grade over the weekend, with Terrigal’s Amyn Hamilton making his debut in the Sharks’ tight 12-10 victory over Kincumber.

In a great example of the Terrigal production line, the young centre first played for the club in the minis, then progressed through the junior divisions before making his debut the top grade.

3) Fresh teams prevail

Josh Moffitt scores a try for the Terrigal-Wamberal Sharks against Kincumber. Photo: Jodie Ward.

While Terrigal and Woy Woy were no doubt disappointed that their round one fixture was washed out last weekend, there was perhaps a silver lining to the delayed start to the season as both teams recorded wins in first grade.

Woy Woy looked sharp as they demolished Berkeley Vale 54-6 at home, while Terrigal got over the line 12-10 in a tight one against Kincumber.

With a short turnaround on account of the round two games being played on Good Friday, the extra week off and fresh legs perhaps gave both sides a minor advantage as they kicked off their seasons on the right foot.

4) The draw raises eyebrows

One issue that drew plenty of discussion over the Easter weekend was the nature of the draw, with several clubs split up around different venues on Friday.

For example, just two games – first grade and league tag – took place at Darren Kennedy Oval, as Toukley’s reserve grade and open age teams had the bye. This meant that the Erina’s reserves, opens and under 19s were over at EDSACC Oval.

It was a similar situation for Terrigal, whose first grade and league tag side played against Kincumber at MacKillop Oval while the reserves and pen grade teams were out at Bill Sohier Park.

While some have raised concerns that the nature of the draw could lead to lower crowds at first grade games, the fact that not all teams have five grades means that it won’t be last time this happens this year.

5) Great day out at Tiger Park

While there were plenty of clubs split up all over the Coast, The Entrance enjoyed a blockbuster home day with six home games taking place at the EDSACC Oval complex on Friday.

The Tigers’ league tag, 19s, opens, reserve and first grade teams played at EDSACC South, while the club’s Denton Engineering Cup side, which plays in the Newcastle competition, headlined the day out on the north field.

While the gates were no doubt impressive, it was a pretty good day for the Tigers with the footy in hand as well, with four wins, a draw and a loss across the six grades.

This included the Denton Cup side’s 34-16 win over Lakes United and The Entrance’s CCRL first grade side making it two from two with an impressive 26-6 victory over Wyong.

6) Magpies back in senior men’s football

Matt Wakefield (R) & Dylan Lund (L) played for the Magpies in the first grade in the 2020 season. (AAP IMAGE / Troy Snook)

Last week we wrote about the return of the Umina Beach Bunnies to senior football in the open grade competition, and this week we saw another team come back to senior men’s football in the Ourimbah Wyoming Magpies.

After going from having a team in all grades in 2021 to only fielding a league tag side last season, the Magpies have added a team in this year’s reserve grade competition.

Last week’s washout at Duffys Road put Magpies’ return party on ice for a week, with Ourimbah kicking off their season against Terrigal at home.

And although they went down 14-8 (and lost 26-0 to Berkeley Vale in the league tag), it’s great to see the Magpies back in senior men’s footy and crowds back at Bill Sohier Park.

Round two wrap

It was a Good Friday quadruple-header in round two as four games took place on Friday afternoon across the Coast.

The highlight was undoubtedly the grand final rematch between Toukley and Erina at Darren Kennedy Oval, while The Entrance hosted Wyong at EDSACC Oval in what was one of a monster six-game match day for the Tigers.

Catch a wrap of the games below.

Toukley win grand final rematch

Toukley’s Blake Carter crossed for theHawks in the grand final victory over Erina. Photo: supplied

Toukley has laid down its claim as the team to beat this season after defeating Erina 18-10 in a hard-fought grand final replay at Darren Kennedy Oval.

After knocking over last year’s preliminary final rivals Wyong in round one, the defending premiers made it an impressive two from two to kick off the season.

The Hawks were the first to cross after a tight opening period, with winger Kiran Page scoring after 20 minutes.

Toukley extended the lead to 10 points after forward Blake Carter crossed for a four-pointer, before the Eagles pulled one back through Jack Carlisle just before half-time to leave the scores at 10-4.

The Hawks stretched their lead out to six points once again shortly after half-time when winger Aaron Heaven crossed. However Erina didn’t go away, with the Eagles hitting back with another try of their own five minutes later to bring the scores to 14-10 and set up a grandstand finish.

In a tight final period, Hawks halfback Josh Kessler slotted two penalty goals in the final seven minutes to see Toukley home 18-10 and keep their unbeaten run for the season alive.

The Tigers keep pace at the top

The Entrance remain the only other team to be two from two after the second round following an impressive 26-6 victory over Wyong.

After a tight 20-14 victory over Berkeley Vale in round one, coach Kyle Whiteford said his team had plenty of improvement in them, and the Tigers certainly stepped it up a level in the five-tries-to-one victory.

Winger Logan Sipple bagged a double, while Dominic Ayoub, Aaron Hill and Toby Key all crossed the stripe. Isaac Akuoko scored the Roos’ only try.

While The Entrance are sitting pretty on four points, the disappointing result marks the second-straight loss for the Roos, who went down 12-4 in an incredibly physical contest against defending premiers Toukley last week.

Woy Woy off to a flyer

They might have had to wait an extra week to get going, but Woy Woy have kicked off their 2023 season in the best possible fashion with a thumping 54-6 victory over Berkeley Vale.

After last week’s match with Terrigal was called off due to the rain, the Roosters came into their clash against the Panthers fresh and it certainly showed – with Woy Woy scoring 10 tries in the 48-point thumping.

Jeremy Gow, Wade Hannell and Ashton Carroll all crossed doubles as the Roosters look to improve on their disappointing seventh-place finish last season.

Captain-coach Toby Marks placed an emphasis on increasing the depth in key positions during the off-season and will be pleased with the team’s first-up result.

As for the Panthers, after pushing The Entrance all the way last week, the performance was somewhat of a step backwards, with the young Berkeley Vale team looking to bounce back against Terrigal next weekend.

Sharks open account in thriller

Terrigal opened its season with a tight win over Kincumber. Photo: Jodie Ward.

Terrigal has also notched up a win in its opening game of the season, holding on to defeat Kincumber 12-10 in a thriller at MacKillop Oval.

Goalkicking was ultimately the difference in the clash between the local rivals, with both sides scoring two tries in a tight affair.

Ben Mooney and new recruit Josh Moffitt crossed for the Sharks, while Josh Starling and Samuel Paul scored for the Colts, with Moffitt’s perfect record with the boot enough to get the Sharks home and open their season on a positive note.

It was an unfortunate result for Kincumber, who are still looking for their first win after going down to Erina in round one.