Central Coast Rugby League: Gallery, wrap, results, standouts from round one
There was a sense of round one deja vu for a couple of sides, while some the competition’s new recruits didn’t take long to make an impact as the Central Coast RL kicked off over the weekend.
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After a big summer, the Central Coast Rugby League season kicked off over the weekend with round one action across the Coast.
Some of the big guns confirmed that they’ll once again be hard to beat in 2024, while a couple of teams made serious statements of intent to kick off the season.
In a round that had some former NRL stars go face to face, there was also some exciting football and interesting results from the lower grades.
Catch up with a wrap of the action, a photo gallery and some of the biggest talking points from round one below.
ROUND ONE DEJA VU
While the new season kicked off on Saturday, in some respects it felt like a replay of last year all over again.
Kicking off the season at Darren Kennedy Oval, Toukley defeated Wyong 12-4 – the exact same scoreline as the opening game of the 2023 season – to retain the Ken Moir Cup.
And while his team might have dropped some ball and bombed some opportunities in attack, Toukley captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick said he was thrilled to get a win to start the season.
“We haven’t played since August last year, which is grand final day,” he said. “Whenever you’re coming up against Wyong in round one, when you haven’t played in nearly eight months and to compete the way we did and play the way we did, I couldn’t be prouder of the effort and the attitude.”
DEFENCE RULES EARLY ON
Indeed, with teams dropping plenty of ball so early in the season, defence was key for the victorious sides in round one.
Toukley was once again rock-solid as it restricted Wyong to just one try, and although The Entrance, Erina and Woy Woy all racked up plenty of points in their respective wins, it was what the teams did without the ball that impressed their coaches.
“We’ve made a real mentality out of defence this year,” said The Entrance coach Jarod Hamer after his side’s 48-0 win. “We haven’t been a strong defensive side for the last four or five years, and I think keeping Berkeley Vale to zero in the first round was a massive point for us.”
It was a similar sentiment from Woy Woy Blake McLean after the Roosters ran over the top of Kincumber to win 30-6.
“I was very happy with our defence, we just kept turning up. We did turn over cheap ball, as expected in round one, but defensively I can’t knock them. They were really good,” he said.
NEW RECRUITS SHINE
It was a good day for some of the competition’s new recruits as they made an impact on debut for their new teams.
After switching from Erina in the off-season, The Entrance playmaker Nick Newman scored a hat-trick and kicked five goals in his 22-point haul.
Elsewhere, Erina winger Alifereti Joji bagged a hat-trick as the Eagles defeated Terrigal 38-8, while fullback Mason Ward and five-eighth Hemi Knebel were excellent in Woy Woy’s win over Kincumber.
“Hemi Knebel was great for us. Defensively he was really strong and took every opportunity he had in attack as well,” said coach Blake McLean.
MIXED START FOR NEW KIDS
Moving around the grades, it was a mixed bag for some of the division’s new and returning clubs in round one.
The Budgewoi Bulldogs, who joined the division from the New and Hunter C Grade competition, chalked up a 24-12 win over Umina in open grade, while in the same competition the returning Northern Lakes warriors – who had also been playing in Newcastle in recent years – played out a 12-all draw with St Edwards.
It was a much tougher start for Dora Creek’s lower grades, with the Swampies losing to Ourimbah 32-6 in reserve grade and 60-0 in opens.
DORA CREEK KICK OFF AGAINST CHAMPS
Speaking of Dora Creek, the club’s first grade team will get its first taste of CCRL action this weekend when the Swampies host back-to-back premiers Toukley.
It’ll be a case of the unknown for both sides as the Swampies and Hawks face off for the first time.
“We’re expecting it to be a lot quicker, more skilful and more professionally run,” said Swampies first grade coach Dave Hoban in our CCRL season preview. “In terms of what we’re going to be playing against, I suppose we won’t really know until we have our first game. But we’ve had a great preparation and everyone’s really excited with where we’re at.”
It was a similar sentiment from Hawks captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick.
“It’s a tough one as a coach because you don’t know what they’ve got, I’ve never seen them play. All I know is that they have signed pretty well, but you don’t really know what they’ve got or who they’ve got or what they’re going to play like – it’s a bit of the unknown.”
GF REVENGE IN WOMEN’S TACKLE
Revenge was on the order in the women’s tackle competition, with The Entrance making up for losing last year’s grand final by knocking off defending premiers Berkeley Vale 20-0 in a huge statement to start the season.
Centre Sharni Waters bagged a hat-trick and five-eighth Teisha Saunders scored another as the Tigers shut out the Panthers at Ted Doyle Oval.
It was a very good day for The Entrance’s women’s sides, with the league tag team running riot in a 60-0 thrashing over Berkeley Vale.
TIGHT WINS FOR CC SIDES IN DENTON CUP
Both Central Coast sides might have kicked off with wins in the Denton Cup, but not without a scare after a dramatic opening round.
Played as part of the Newcastle Rugby League’s Magic Round at No.2 Sportsground, The Entrance got off to a flyer against Lakes United in the opening game of the day, racing out to a 22-0 lead at halftime before the Seagulls came storming home as the game finished 28-24.
Former Canberra five-eighth Blake Austin showed his class with a try and an assist in his first game for the club.
Meanwhile in the very next game Wyong survived an almighty scare to beat Kurri 25-24 on the bell.
Coming up against former Origin and Kangaroos outside back Blake Ferguson in the Kurri line-up, Wyong looked gone until a late Kye Tukupua try and Bayden Searle field goal on the bell snatched the two points for the Roos.
The two Central Coast sides will clash in a Denton Cup local derby this Saturday at Morry Breen Oval.
ROUND ONE WRAP
Some of the competition’s big guns flexed their muscles as they made statements of intent at the beginning of the season.
Meanwhile, there were some high-profile drawcards in action as former NRL stars faced off in the opening round.
Catch up with a wrap of the action and some of the best shots from Saturday’s games at Erina and Kincumber below.
Toukley shut out Wyong in local derby
Toukley has kicked off its quest to defend the club’s back-to-back titles in perfect fashion after a 12-4 victory over local rivals Wyong at Darren Kennedy Oval.
In what was an exact repeat of last year’s round one result, the Hawks scored first through Brady Barwick, before Wyong’s Cooper Bigeni crossed just before halftime to leave things at 6-4 at the break.
While the match remained in the balance for much of the second half, centre Ben Neville crossed late in the game to seal the win and see Toukley retain the Ken Moir Cup.
After yet another physical encounter against the Roos, Toukley captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick was pleased with his team’s performance.
“We haven’t played since August last year, which is grand final day. Whenever you’re coming up against Wyong in round one, when you haven’t played in nearly eight months and to compete the way we did and play the way we did, I couldn’t be prouder of the effort and the attitude,” he said.
The skipper in particular paid special tribute to his forward pack and the team’s defence.
“We made a lot of silly errors that put us under pressure and the middles kept hanging in there, kept working hard, kept knocking the door down. I can never ever fault our middles, they’re always there, always competing. They did far more work than they should have but they just kept turning up and were faultless.”
And while happy to start the season with two competition points, Fitzpatrick said his side had plenty of room for improvement in what was its first hitout of the year.
“I thought we probably bombed half a dozen tries when I look at them and add them up. I think the game went the way it did because we were pretty clunky.
“I don’t like using ‘no trial games’ as an excuse, but we dropped the ball over the line on one, we got penalised for being off-side on one that we scored, we should have played short for another try, then we threw an intercept pass. Little things like that.”
Toukley 12 defeated Wyong 4
Woy Woy prevails in battle of the NRL recruits
It was a case of former NRL players clashing at MacKillop Oval as Woy Woy carried its impressive form from the back end of last season into the new campaign with a 30-6 victory over Kincumber.
While former Sydney Roosters players Ben Marschke and Ben Thomas lined up for Kincumber, it was former Origin star and Australia representative Andrew Fifita who recorded a win in his first game since retiring from the NRL as Woy Woy proved too strong and ran away with the game in second half.
While the Roosters were the first to score through Joseph Williams after six minutes, Woy Woy certainly didn’t have it all their own way as Kincumber stayed in the contest and equalised through halfback Joel Shereb after half an hour.
Woy Woy’s Kyle McLean then struck just a couple of minutes before the break to give his side a 12-6 lead at halftime, before another three unanswered tries in the second half saw the team record a strong first-up win.
“I was happy with the win,” said Roosters coach Blake McLean. “It was a tight encounter, very much back and forth until about the 60-minute mark. They’re a decent team this year, they’re a lot different to what they were last year. They’re a lot harder to put away.”
And while his team ran in five tries, the coach was particular pleased with his side’s work without the ball.
“I was very happy with our defence, we just kept turning up. We did turn over cheap ball, as expected in round one, but defensively I can’t knock them. They were really good.”
Lock Luke Moore was immense for the Roosters in the middle, while club debutants Mason Ward and Hemi Knebel were also impressive in their first game in the red and white.
Meanwhile, McLean was full of praise for his big-name recruit Fifita, who played his first game of football since retiring from the NRL at the end of the 2022 season.
“He was awesome. He played 80 minutes in the back-row,” he said. “Just his presence out there for the other lads was awesome. His talk in defence was great and in attack too, just getting us to the right points.
“We’ve got a young spine, I think our halves are 20 or 21, and he’s been really good for them. It was a good captain’s knock from Andrew: 80 minutes, a first proper hitout in over 12 months, it was very good.”
Woy Woy 30 defeated Kincumber 6
Erina blow Terrigal away in demolition job
Erina has shown that they will once again likely be one of the teams to beat after a 38-8 victory over Terrigal at Erina Oval.
Back-rower Nathan Dwyer scored a hat-trick and new recruit Alifereti Joji a double as the Eagles ran in seven tries to one in an impressive opening round performance.
Coming up against a Terrigal side featuring three first grade debutants, Erina took total control of the contest and continued with some of the free-flowing footy that took the side to last year’s grand final.
Dwyer was dangerous on the edge and Joji found some success on the wing as the young Eagles showed why they are one of the most exciting teams to watch in the competition.
While the Eagles were flying, it was a disappointing day for Terrigal, who were restricted to just one try and struggled to contain Erina’s attack.
The Sharks will look to bounce back when they take on Kincumber at home this weekend, while Erina face off with Woy Woy in what shapes as one of the matches of the round.
Erina 38 defeated Terrigal 8
The Entrance run riot in Berkeley Vale rout
The Entrance Tigers have kicked off their campaign with a bang, running in nine tries in a 48-0 demolition of Berkeley Vale at Ted Doyle Oval.
Halfback Nick Newman crossed for three and kicked five goals to rack up a personal haul of 22 points in what was his first game for the club.
Fullback Adam McInnes grabbed a double, while Matthew Gentles, Nathan Cooper, Malu Fiu and Tim Nawaqatabu all crossed in the impressive round one result.
“We’re definitely happy with the performance, the boys all played well and gelled well together,” said Tigers coach Jarod Hamer. “We just tried to stick to what we were doing and it worked out well for us.”
Despite bringing together a completely new spine of McInnes, Newman, Cooper and five-eighth Sione Tonga, The Entrance’s attack flowed well, with the coach singling out two of his players for their efforts in round one.
“You need your spine all to gel, and that’s where we’ve got some key players as well. Adam McInnes was outstanding for us at the back, he calls a lot of shape and his defensive reads at the back really helped us out,” he said.
“And then Nathan Cooper being an experienced nine got our middles to where they need to be, which took the pressure off Nick and Sione.”
Newman also enjoyed a positive start to his Tigers career by bagging a hat-trick.
“It was a good start from him, being in the right place at the right time, doing his job,” said Hamer. “I think two of those tries were from him coming through as a support player and that’s what you want your halves to do, push through on every play.”
And while his team looked sharp by running in nine tries, Hamer said he was perhaps more pleased with his team’s defensive efforts.
“We’ve made a real mentality out of defence this year. We haven’t been a strong defensive side for the last four or five years, and I think keeping Berkeley Vale to zero in the first round was a massive point for us.”
On the flip side, it was a disappointing start to the season for the Panthers, who have sought to turn their fortunes around with a string of new recruits. And while the squad hasn’t had the chance to play and train together too often during the pre-season, Berkeley Vale will be hoping for a much better performance when it takes on Wyong in a fortnight.
The Entrance 48 defeated Berkeley Vale 0
PHOTO GALLERY
Erina Eagles v Terrigal Sharks at Erina Oval
Kincumber v Woy Woy at MacKillop Oval
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