Macarthur Rugby League: Round four wrap, talking points, PHOTO GALLERY
There was plenty of fire and brimstone on an epic weekend of footy, and a couple of dangerous tackles have been punished. Macarthur Rugby League, round four talking points, PHOTO GALLERY.
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It was a big weekend of local footy in the Macarthur Rugby League as fans flocked to Picton for the Thirlmere derby.
That was on Saturday night, while over the mountain at Camden, South West and Collies went to the wire in an end-to-end classic.
There were plenty of fireworks on Sunday. At Narellan, the Jets met Oakdale head-on, while a dashing centre made a miracle return for East Campbelltown.
With four rounds in the books, here’s what’s making news.
FANS REVEL IN RIVALRY
It didn’t matter that Picton were struggling or that ex-NRL playmaker Corey Norman had joined a star-studded Thirlmere. Fans just revel in the atmosphere of an old-fashioned rivalry.
The Roosters got away to a flyer. But Victoria Park was soon rocking when Curtis Scott joined Harrison Coskerie in the sin bin, and the old rickety venue almost took flight when Steven Dengate edged the Magpies four points closer.
In the wash up, the comeback was dashed but the endless stream of smiles was proof the faithful had been suitably entertained.
LIFTING BLITZ
There were a couple of nasty lifting tackles that went on report in round four, but no player was sent off.
Thirlmere backrower Harrison Coskerie was dismissed for 10 minutes against Picton, while at Narellan, no player spent time on the sidelines after Oakdale forward Emmitt Carlile was up-ended.
The judiciary subsequently suspended Coskerie for six weeks for his tackle, but with a clean record and early guilty plea, the sentence has been reduced to three. Following a review of the Carlile tackle, Narellan forward Josiah Tamasi received a four week suspension.
With the cat now out of the bag, don’t be surprised if round five sees an on-field crackdown.
BEGINNERS LUCK
East Campbelltown centre Alex Mataia hadn’t strapped on the boots for a good two years until he arrived at Fullwood Reserve last Sunday.
Parked on the left edge, he could scarcely believe his good fortune when Nathan Gardner sent him flying across the line in the first minute of play.
UPFRONT TIGERS GRUNT
It’s been a big week under the hood at The Oaks. Following a brief retirement, veteran prop Evrett Vaurasi returned to the engine room against Camden.
At the other end of the scale, the Tigers welcomed a couple of young tearaways from the Wests Magpies junior reps. With their SG Ball season over, rising middles Kohan Lewis and Ryan Polsen jumped straight into senior footy.
COLLIES BREAKTHROUGH
With a narrow win over South West, Collegians celebrated their first victory of the season.
In an unusual contest, Collies bolted clear at the beginning of each half and looked to have done enough to win two games. However, fitness looks like being their Achilles heel, but with a touch more resilience they might just give City a fright or two at Bradbury Oval on Sunday.
ILL-DISCIPLINE COSTING NARELLAN
Narellan have been slow out of the gates this season, but with Levi Dodd back running the show against a formidable Oakdale combination, the Jets showed plenty of promise.
They played some decent footy to mow down a double-digit lead. But with the contest up for grabs, the Jets lost control of their emotions and any chance of a breakthrough win.
They host Mittagong this week, and should be desperate to take the next step.
TRY-MACHINES
Camden are unbeaten with four wins at the top of the ladder, and they also occupy the top four spots on the try scoring list.
New recruit Eddie Aiono leads the way with seven. Fullback Aiden Menzies has five, while centres Atini Gafa and Jack Miller have four each.
Dig a little deeper, and you’ll see Lindsay Munro has them all covered. Returning to the Rams after a stint with Parramatta, the slippery speedster has two in first grade to go with another nine he bagged in reggies.
ROUND FIVE (20-21 APRIL)
MEN’S FIRST GRADE
Narellan v Mittagong, Narellan Sports Ground
East Campbelltown v The Oaks, Waminda Oval
Collegians v Campbelltown City, Bradbury Oval
Oakdale v Camden, Sid Sharpe Memorial Oval
Thirlmere v South West, Thirlmere Sports Ground
WOMEN’S OPEN AGE: FIRST GRADE
Collegians v Campbelltown City, Bradbury Oval
Minto v Glenquarie, Benham Reserve
Warragamba v The Oaks, Warragamba Sports Ground
Thirlmere v Camden, Thirlmere Sports Ground
ROUND FOUR WRAP
Macarthur Rugby League returned with a bang on Saturday night.
After rain ravaged round three, Picton kicked off proceedings with Thirlmere in a no holds barred derby at a packed Victoria Park, while at Camden, South West staged an epic comeback against Collegians.
With another three games to close out the round, the action continued on Sunday and included an absolute try-fest at Fullwood Reserve.
Round four wrap, all the action and feedback.
THIRLMERE OUTCLASS RIVALS
When it comes to rivalry in Sydney’s southwest, former Queensland State of Origin playmaker Corey Norman quickly found out it’s sheep stations or bust between Picton and Thirlmere.
A recent addition to a Thirlmere Roosters squad flush with ex-NRL talent, Norman, who finished his NRL career with the Dragons in 2021, made his bush footy debut in enemy territory alongside teammates including Curtis Scott, Tim Simona and former Newcastle winger Ken Sio.
Despite the Magpies’ winless start to the Macarthur season, Picton fans crammed into Victoria Park on Saturday night. And it was heaving in the sixth minute when their big man Alec Susino crashed over to open the scoring.
Harrison Coskerie replied with a sizzling counter-attack for Thirlmere, and things continued to sour for the locals as Scott and Sio’s class kept the scoreboard ticking.
Already restless, the Magpies faithful where howling on halftime when a questionable put-down by Simona opened a healthy 26-12 advantage.
Things only got worse for the home side when Roosters skipper Kye Madden sliced through centrefield, extending the margin to 20 in the 51st minute.
But thoughts of a miracle Picton comeback soon escalated.
Coskerie was sin binned for a lifting tackle, and in the blink of an eye, Thirlmere were down to 11 when Scott joined the backrower for his own stint in the naughty chair.
A try to Steven Dengate narrowed the gap to 32-18. Although the margin didn’t get any closer as an 11-man Roosters struck with two of their own, before Harry Greene crossed from a Norman chip kick to round out a comfortable 46-18 victory.
“I haven’t played for about six months,” said Norman, who returned to Sydney last December following two seasons in France and England.
“There was a bit of rust. The first time I touched a footy was at training on Thursday, so it’s been a while but it was good.”
Norman kicked three goals and showed glimpses of the class that saw him make more than 200 NRL appearances.
“It was pretty physical, the boys were up for it,” he said of a night punctuated by three sin binnings and several colossal collisions.
“It’s a big rivalry, I worked that out pretty quick. The supporters were giving it to me from the sidelines – letting me know how rubbish I was, so good on them.”
WORKERS PREVAIL IN ‘FRUSTRATING’ CLASH
Narellan were on target to cause a major boilover against Oakdale, but in a spiteful second half the wheels came off as niggle and mayhem reigned supreme.
Trailing 18-6 just after halftime, Narellan clicked into gear with two quick tries. Prop Josh Campbell barged over for the first, and when and winger Tuakana Tunupopo crossed out wide the Jets were back within two and dominating the match.
But when Campbell was sin binned for a high tackle, the Jets’ day took a turn for the worse.
In the next set, Luke Williams scored under the posts and halfback Jacob McKinnon converted to give Oakdale a handy 24-16 buffer.
They turned out to be the final points of the contest, and from there, as a spectacle it was all down hill.
Among a host of stoppages and reported incidents, Workers backrower Emmitt Carlile was up-ended in a dangerous tackle and Narellan prop Felix Smith was sin binned for striking.
Adding to Oakdale’s misery, McKinnon was stretchered from the field with a leg injury.
“A win is a win,” said Oakdale prop and coach Kyle Fraser on Monday morning.
“It was one of the most frustrating games I’ve played in. This comp is tough enough as it is, there was some terrible incidents missed yesterday.
“It must be frustrating for Narellan, because up until Campbell was binned the Jets were playing good footy.”
The win extends Oakdale’s unbeaten start to three, but they’ll have to continue their campaign with a new No.7.
“Jacob suffered a horrible break to his leg, he had an operation on Monday morning,” Fraser said.
CAMDEN OUTRUN UNDERDONE TIGERS
Camden recorded its fourth straight win after holding off a plucky Tigers 22-4 at Dudley Chesham on Sunday afternoon.
The Oaks looked to have made a perfect start when winger Casey Timmer cleaned up a Mitchell Brasington bomb to cross in the opening set of the match.
The try was overruled, and after an end-to-end first half the sides looked like heading to the sheds without a point on the scoreboard.
But it was the Rams who struck first in the shadows of halftime through Josh Goulton, after the winger latched onto a Brad Speechley cut-out pass to score in the right corner.
The Rams jumped 10 points clear when Eddie Aiono scored from a fumbled bomb, and the points kept mounting when Trent Peoples assisted in tries to fullback Aiden Menzies and hooker John Martin.
Persistence paid off for The Oaks in the dying stages when Cody Ral pounced on a loose ball to score their only points.
“It was a tough game for 40 to 55 minutes,” said Tigers captain-coach Mitchell Brasington.
“We were out of gas in the last part, and they were just too fit and classy. It was our first game in a month and we struggled for match fitness.”
Peoples picked up the award as Camden’s best, while for the Tigers, Brasington was happy with his sides effort all across the park.
“Ragen Gilbert won the players’ player, he was well supported by our other centre Challis Tupuola and we were well served in the middle too.”
EAGLES MAKE A STATEMENT
A clinical East Campbelltown have sounded a warning shot to the rest of the competition, racing in 11 tries during a comprehensive 64-24 demolition of cross town rivals Campbelltown City.
On paper it shaped as an intriguing battle between two evenly matched outfits. But from the moment Wade Zreika’s kick-off sailed out on the full, the Eagles didn’t let up.
Nathan Gardner put centre Alex Mataia over the stripe in the opening set, and by halftime fellow centre Salesa Tavui had bagged the first of his double in a scoreline that read 34-6.
Ramses Ah-Chong scored the first of three City tries after the break, but the Eagles added another five with Gardner running off Mataia for his second in the 75th minute.
After a 2-1 start to the season, coach Jake Tonitto likes how his new side is coming together.
“Our first half was really good, we completed 14 of 17 sets,” said Tonitto.
“It meant we could generate ruck speed and put into practice the shapes we work on at training.
“We’re happy with our start to the season, but we can still improve some of our decision making, particularly in the second half of games.”
While Nathan Gardner was outstanding and halfback Sean Connor finished with 24 points, Tonitto singled out prop Kilifi Tia-Kilifi.
“Kilifi started the match, but it was his second stint that impressed me the most. He came back on and got us going forward and we were able to increase the tempo again.”
GOANNAS ALMOST CATCH COLLIES
Campbelltown Collegians have opened their season account with a heart stopping 34-30 win over South West at Onslow Oval.
After threatening to put on a cricket score, Collies were run down twice by a persistent Goannas, who crossed for the final three tries and looked set for another before the final siren sounded.
Ray Mu opened the scoring for Collies, and it was 16-0 when five-eighth Hosea Leuea stepped through to score after 25 minutes. Eddie Faalua barged over for South West just before the break, and with another to Fatiauma, the Goannas trailed 16-12.
In a repeat of the first half, Collies hit the ground running and looked unbeatable when Mu raced the length of the field to make it 34-12.
But they were soon running on empty, and when Wyll Baker won the race to a Brad Takairangi grubber, the comeback was on.
Winger Verbanel Moemoe added another following a magic tap-on from centre Moeahu-Leota, and they crossed again when hooker Joel Etherington sped clear from a clever Takairangi short-ball.
PHOTO GALLERY
First Grade: Picton v Thirlmere
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