Central Coast Rugby League: Wrap, results, talking points from the rescheduled round two
Some former NRL players have helped one side break through for a drought-breaking win, while the premiers have found themselves struggling to click into gear in 2024.
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After two consecutive weeks of washouts, the Central Coast Rugby League competition resumed over the weekend to replay the postponed round two fixtures.
With Erina and Woy Woy having completed their match back in late April, three games went ahead in the shortened round.
While the grounds might have been heavy, there was still plenty of action, with one team reaffirming its status as a competition contender and another breaking a long drought.
Catch up with some of the main talking points and a wrap of the action below.
LONG TIME BETWEEN FOOTY
It was pleasing to simply see footy being played over the weekend as the senior competition resumed with the rescheduled round two.
After two consecutive washouts, most teams returned to the field after a three-week break, with the rain-enforced hiatus throwing plenty of players out of whack.
“I woke up during Saturday night and had completely forgotten that I was meant to be playing football on Sunday. It just didn’t feel right,” said Toukley captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick.
“The worst thing for us is that against The Entrance we played the worst game since we came together four years ago (lost 30-4). We were diabolical and all we wanted to do was just get out there and fix it, but we’ve had to wait three weeks to do it.”
The situation will be even more dramatic for Woy Woy, who had a round three bye and managed to play its round two clash on the original weekend back in April. When the Roosters return to the field this Sunday against The Entrance, it will have been a whopping 36 days – five weeks and one day – since their last clash with Erina.
PREMIERS ‘IN A RUT’
Toukley returned to the winner’s circle over the weekend with a 20-10 victory over new boys Dora Creek.
And while the result was a big improvement on the Hawks last-start hammering at the hands of The Entrance, captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick said the side is still far from its best.
“We’re in a bit of a rut at the moment with the footy. We’re not clicking and I don’t know why, things just aren’t going to plan,” he said.
“But defensively we were very strong. We were very strong in round one and then against The Entrance we just had to do too much defending because we couldn’t hold the footy.
“So we’re in a bit of a rut with the ball but defensively our efforts were outstanding. On two occasions we had to defend six or seven sets on our line but we just kept turning up – it was sort of Toukley’s defence again, if that makes sense. But with the footy, very disappointing.”
The premiers’ struggles with the ball were perhaps best exemplified by the fact that back-rower Jakob Giles was held up over the line three times in the 10-point win over the Swampies.
“On any other day no one holds that big bastard up, but it’s just sort of the luck we’re having with the footy at the moment. We’re just not able to find the line at times,” said Fitzpatrick.
“But I’d rather be having the rut now because when we’re out of that rut, all those effort areas are there, so once we click with the footy, all our effort in defence is there. So we’ve just got to keep working hard to come out of it.”
BIG-NAME RECRUITS BOLSTER COLTS
It was a big weekend for Kincumber, who recorded its first A-grade victory for 329 days when it defeated Terrigal 32-18 at Duffys Oval.
It was the Colts’ first win since June 25 last year when the team defeated Berkeley Vale 24-12 in round 11 of the 2023 season.
And while his side has just one win to its name, coach Brad Bennett said he can see significant improvement in its performances.
“Big time. The side from this year to last year has a few changes and a couple of new boys have arrived, so it’s always going to take a bit of time to gel, but the hardest thing in those first two games was that we didn’t give ourselves a chance to be in the game.
“We defended our hardest, worked hard for each other and our effort areas were there, but it was just our execution, completion rates and field position that were the things that sort of killed us.”
In particular, the Colts have been bolstered by the singing of former Sydney Roosters pair Ben Marschke and Ben Thomas.
Hooker Marschke, 26, who played 13 games for the Chooks in 2021, has taken on co-coaching roles with Bennett, while front-rower Thomas, who played seven games for the Tricolours between 2021 and 2023, is a Kincumber junior who returned to the club this season.
“They’ve had a massive impact. Me and Benny Marschke work well together in coaching the side and helping each other out in that way. But just with the young boys around training: they’re always the first ones there doing extra warm-ups themselves, focusing on little skills. So just to see these players who’ve played at the highest level still doing that is great and it rubs off on the other boys, that’s for sure.”
In addition to their quality and sense of professionalism they bring, Bennett said the pair have added plenty of fresh ideas to the club.
“Just some of the words they use in counting numbers and doing things like that. Some of the boys when they first heard it asked ‘What’s that mean?’ But it’s great just to listen to them as much as possible whenever they speak. It’s been awesome and the energy they bring to training, you can’t coach it.”
SHARKS, ROOS STRUGGLING TO GET GOING
While they were celebrating in Kincumber, the weekend’s action compounded an already difficult start to the season for Terrigal and Wyong, who remain the only two clubs without a win in 2024.
The Sharks slumped to their third defeat against the Colts, which came on the back of losses to Dora Creek (20-12) and Erina (38-8), while it was even harder to watch for Wyong fans as the Roos were hammered 52-0 by a very impressive The Entrance team. The loss was Wyong’s third in as many starts after narrow defeats to Berkeley Vale (20-14) and Toukley (12-4).
The fact that the sides are rooted to the bottom of the table is somewhat surprising given that both Terrigal and Wyong qualified for the finals last year, with the Roos falling to premiers Toukley in the preliminary final.
The Sharks will look to get their season back on track this weekend against Berkeley Vale while it will be another tough one for the Roos, who host an unbeaten Erina side at Morry Breen Oval.
ROUND TWO WRAP
Three games went ahead in the rescheduled round two of the Central Coast Rugby League, with Terrigal hosting Kincumber, Wyong taking on The Entrance and Dora Creek meeting Toukley.
Erina and Woy Woy’s clash was played on the original date of April 20, with the Eagles prevailing 16-4.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
KINCUMBER BREAKS 330-DAY DROUGHT
Kincumber has broken an 11-month drought after defeating Terrigal 32-18 at Duffys Oval.
A dominant second half, which included two tries while reduced to 12 men, helped the Colts to what is their first win in the top grade since round 11 last year, when the side defeated Berkeley Vale 24-12.
“It’s been a long time coming. All of these stop-start games start to build a bit of pressure, so it’s great to get the win,” said coach Brad Bennett.
In what was a clash between two of the competition’s winless sides, the contest was fairly even in the early stages, with Kincumber taking the lead in the 11th minute through Samuel Paul before Saimone Lasalo hit back for the Sharks to lock things up at 6-all.
The game was going end to end, with a penalty giving Kincumber good field position and allowing prop Ben Thomas to charge over to put his side up again.
However a dropped ball from Kincumber late in the half fell straight into the hands of Terrigal skipper Dylan McKeown, who showed some impressive speed to shoot through the line, palm off a defender and run 40m to level things up at 12-all at the break.
In a game in which both teams dropped plenty of ball, Terrigal was made to pay for its errors just three minutes into the second half when Kincumber winger Tyrone Dorrell dived over in the corner.
Meanwhile another unforced error from the Sharks once again gave the Colts great field position, with Dorrell crossing for his second untouched on the wing to put his side up 20-12 midway through the second half.
The Colts appeared to be cruising until Kaituu Kaufana was sent off with 10 minutes to go for a high short on Terrigal centre Caydn Rosemeyer.
The Sharks took full advantage as Connor McCabe crashed over under the sticks in the very next set to bring things back to 20-18 and set up a grandstand finish with nine minutes to go.
Ball handling had been an issue for the Sharks all day and came back to haunt them once again in the final minutes. Despite holding the extra man, Terrigal spilled a Kincumber kick, with the rebound bouncing nicely into the arms of Colts winger Tyson Potger, who pushed off a couple of defenders to score under the sticks and seal the game.
Kincumber forward Damon Brady then charged over at the death to cap off the 32-18 win.
While pleased with the victory, Colts coach Bennett said his team have plenty of room for improvement.
“Our completion rate was 63 per cent, so in stages it’s not high-quality footy. But then in those stages where we finally build a bit of pressure with back-to-back sets on their line, we scored. So it’s good for our confidence in that way when we know we can build pressure and score points, but on the other hand, we’ve got to be better so we can build more pressure earlier.”
Kincumber 32 def Terrigal 18
RAMPAGING TIGERS HAMMER WYONG
The Entrance has continued its scintillating start to the season with an utterly comprehensive 52-0 thumping of Wyong at Morry Breen Oval.
Winger Taine Peterson scored a hat-trick while Matthew Gentles, Cade Mellon and Haydan Ritchie all bagged doubles as the Tigers ran in 10 tries to zero to keep their 100 per cent record alive.
In a game in which the points flowed, it took The Entrance 12 minutes to get going, with Peterson showing plenty of strength and speed to palm away his opposite number before burning down the touchline to open the scoring.
The try seem to open the floodgates, with some fantastic second-phase play and a simple spread to the right giving Peterson his second four minutes later and another shift to the wing ensuring that the winger had a hat-trick within just 23 minutes.
The Roos could barely get their hands on the ball as The Entrance marched up field at will. In what was a remarkable little period, the Tigers scored seven tries in a 25-minute blitz to take a 32-0 lead into halftime.
The Entrance saved its best for the end of the first half, with the team putting the ball through six sets of hands and kicking it twice before Mellon leapt high to catch a cross field bomb to score.
While the rate of tries may have slowed a little after the break it was still more or less the same story, with the Tigers piling on another four in the second half to run out 52-0 winners.
It was the side’s third win in a row to kick off the season, with the Tigers having scored an incredible 130 points and conceded just four.
Meanwhile the Roos remain winless at the bottom in what has been a difficult start to 2024.
The Entrance 52 def Wyong 0
TOUKLEY BOUNCES BACK AGAINST DORA CREEK
Toukley has bounced back from a last-start defeat to down new boys Dora Creek 20-10 at Dora Creek Workers Club Oval.
On the back of an excellent defensive display, the Hawks pulled away in the second half to secure the two points for the side’s second win of the season.
And despite seeing off the Swampies on a heavy track, Toukley captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick said there is still plenty of room for improvement for his side.
“We’re in a bit of a rut at the moment with the footy. We’re not clicking and I don’t know why, things just aren’t going to plan,” he said.
“But defensively we were very strong… On two occasions we had to defend six or seven sets on our line but we just kept turning up – it was sort of Toukley’s defence again, if that makes sense.”
In what was the Swampies’ first grade team’s first home game since joining the Central Coast division this season, the home side got off to a positive start with skipper Royce Geoffrey crossing for the opener after about 15 minutes.
Kiran Page then hit back for the defending premiers on 25 minutes to ensure things were locked up at 6-all at the break.
Sam Grose extended the Hawks’ lead shortly after halftime as Toukley carried a six-point lead throughout most of the half.
Toukley back-rower Jakob Giles was held up three times throughout the game as the Hawks struggled to put the Swampies away, however a penalty goal to Josh Kessler 10 minutes from time and a late try to Ben Neville pushed the side out to a 20-6 lead, before Dora Creek jagged a consolation at the death to ensure things finished at 20-10.
Toukley 20 def Dora Creek 10
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