Group 2 Rugby League: Wrap, results, standouts from round two

One frontrunner put on a tryscoring clinic while the defending premiers were given a baptism of fire during round two of Group 2 Rugby League.

Sawtell has continued its strong start to the season. Picture: D Wigley

After a rain-affected opening round, local footy was back in full flight during round two of the Group 2 Rugby League competition.

Although the fields were still wet there was plenty of fire as one team has emerged as an early frontrunner with a very impressive performance.

Elsewhere, the premiers were forced to dig deep in their first game of 2025.

Catch up with a wrap of the action below.

SLICK SAWTELL HAMMERS MACKSVILLE

Mikaere Beattie starred for Sawtell in the big win. Picture: D Wigley

Sawtell has continued its strong start to the season after hammering Macksville 46-14 at Allan Gillett Oval.

In a game played in wet conditions the Panthers showed plenty of flair in attack, running in eight tries to three to make it two from two to kick off the season.

“It was a good result. I thought we played a lot better than last week,” said Sawtell captain-coach Sam Johnstone.

“The conditions were still very trying, it was a wet paddock down there. We knew Macksville were going to come out, especially in that first 20, and make it tough, which they did. We were down 6-0 early and then sort of got into our groove,” he added.

“It was pretty tough up to halftime. I thought our defence was better this week, which is something we worked on, and our defence started to fire on the edges as well, so that was great.”

Playing in just his second game for the club, new halfback Mikaere Beattie was outstanding with a hat-trick and personal haul of 26 points as he continues to build a connection with his halves partner and fellow new recruit Zac Cross.

“‘Maks’ is settling in really well, the boys all love him,” said Johnstone. “He’s a pretty good goalkicker too, so it’s handy to have when you go up by sixes instead of fours.

“He’s building that new combination with Crossy at five-eighth. That was only his (Cross’) second game of rugby league after coming across from union. With a new halves pairing there was always going to be a few hiccups but I think they’ve clicked pretty early and I’m pretty excited for the season,” the skipper added.

“We had a slow start last week and then got into our groove in the second half. We were a lot better this week but we’ve still got a lot of improvement to go.

“But to start the season 2-0 is really positive and the boys played some really good footy.”

Macksville struggled after scoring an early try. Picture: D Wigley

Indeed, after a tight opening that the saw the Sea Eagles take an early lead through centre Joe Borg, Sawtell worked its way into the contest and took control of the game.

Robert Brilley scored a somewhat fortuitous long-range try before his left side wing partner Kalani Morris got on the end of a cross field kick from Beattie to give the side a 10-0 lead midway through the half.

The halfback then showed off his running skills with a first half double to give the Panthers a 22-6 lead at the break.

Sawtell’s momentum continued after the restart when centre Jayden O’Shannessy scored a stunning 80m solo try, only for the flyer to back that up with an outstanding display of footwork that saw his beat five players for his second to stretch the scoreline out to 34-6.

And while Macksville’s Wezley Brown and Sam Shields hit back with two quick tries to reduce the deficit to 20, the Panthers had the last laugh as Beattie stepped his way through for his hat-trick and Darcy Collins crossed at the end to put a cherry on top of the big win.

Sawtell 46 (Beattie 3, O’Shannessy 2, Brilley, Morris, Collins tries; Beattie seven goals) defeated Macksville 14 (Borg, Brown, Shields tries; Doolan one goal)

12-MAN NAMBUCCA KICKS OFF TITLE DEFENCE

Tyreece Sines was excellent in Nambucca’s first-up win. Picture: Leigh Jensen.

Both their trial games were washed out, the season was delayed by a fortnight and they were forced to sit out the opening round of the season with a bye, but the Nambucca Roosters have kicked off their title defence on the right foot after defeating the Grafton Ghosts 24-10 at Frank McGuren Field.

In a tight contest that remained scoreless for the first half an hour, the Roosters had to fight off a late Ghosts comeback with just 12 men after a second half send-off before prevailing 14-point winners.

“I’m pleased to get a win in an away game like this,” said Nambucca coach Warwick Jones. “It was our first game for the year because we didn’t get any trials in and I’m very happy that after a little bit of time we got the rust out of our game and started clicking well.”

He added: “We spoke before the game about how it’s going to be pretty clunky early on, all first game are, but especially with no trials. So we knew not to get frustrated and that we’d click into gear.”

The defending premiers were also forced to test out their defensive mettle after captain Tyronne Robert-Davis was sent off midway through the second half for a dangerous tackle, forcing the team to play the last 20 minutes with just 12 men.

Despite leading 18-0 at the time, Grafton put on two quick tries to slash the deficit to eight and set up an exciting finish, however Nambucca rallied and sealed the match with a late four-pointer.

Logan Jones crossed for a try in the 14-point win. Picture: Nambucca Heads Roosters RLFC

“That was just another thing. We had a few guys out this week and to fight with our backs against the wall first up, I was very happy that the boys stuck in there and got the job done,” said Jones.

“We knew that they’d get a bit of momentum from it but I was pretty confident we’d hold them out and it was good to get that try at the end to finish it off.”

In a contest that was Nambucca’s first since last September’s grand final and just Grafton’s second competitive hitout for 2025, both teams showed signs of early season rustiness as neither side troubled the scoreboard in the opening 30 minutes.

The Roosters went close five minutes in when winger Liam Cuffe did extremely well to bat back a Logan Jones grubber into the in-goal area, only for centre Dane Saunders to knock the ball on as he sought to plant it on the ground.

Grafton had chances of its own, with centre Jay Olsen held up over the line in the first half after a powerful run.

In a game that featured some handling errors early on, the Roosters were the first to cross half an hour in when five-eighth Tyreece Sines fired off a nice ball to centre Jake Saunders, who ran a great line to crash over and give his side a 6-0 lead at the break.

The premiers carried that momentum into the second half with a quick-fire double that put them well on top.

It began just a couple of minutes after the restart when Sines made a break up the right to give the side good field position, before lock Jay Melrose pulled off a clever one-on-one strip just 10m out from the Ghosts’ line.

Two plays later hooker Jacob Welsh stepped and dummied through some flimsy goal line defence to score.

Shortly after a strong carry and quick play-the-ball from Dane Saunders put the Roosters on a roll, with Melrose feeding Jones through a gap for the team’s third and an 18-0 lead.

It seemed like Nambucca was cruising until Roberts-Davis was given his marching orders.

The Ghosts suffered their second straight loss to start the season. Picture: D Wigley

With a numerical advantage the Ghosts wasted no time making it count as backrower Jake Vickery did well to break through the line to get them on the board.

The home side suddenly had all the momentum and was camped in the Roosters’ half.

After shifting the ball left on an attacking play the Ghosts looked like they were going to be bundled into touch until Olsen managed to throw the ball back inside for Jake Martin to scoop it up off the ground and score a somewhat fortuitous try that brought things back to 18-10 with 12 minutes to play.

It was game on as Grafton was coming home strong, however Nambucca dug deep and muscled up in defence.

Then with the clock ticking down the visitors sealed the match as prop Zachery Johnson ran a nice inside line to crash over and cap off a successful start to the season.

Meanwhile the Ghosts are still searching for their first points after a narrow four-point loss to Sawtell in round one.

Nambucca Heads 24 (J Saunders, Welsh, Jones, Johnson tries; Roberts-Davis three goals, Sines one goal) defeated Grafton Ghosts 10 (J Vickery, Martin tries; T Vickery one goal)

In the other round two clash, Woolgoolga scored a first-up win with a 20-10 victory over Coffs Harbour.