Macarthur Rugby League: Round four wrap and 20+ photo gallery
One side reversed the tables with four late tries in an epic comeback, while there was a serious injury as two rivals faced off. Full wrap from round 4 of Macarthur RL, 20+ photo gallery.
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One side reversed the tables with four late tries in an epic comeback, while a title contender finally got on the board.
Macarthur RL round four wrap.
RELATED CONTENT: MACARTHUR RL SEASON PREVIEW
GOANNAS BURN JETS WITH LATE BLITZ
After throwing stones for the best part of an hour, South West coach Luke Deller watched his side stage a Sunday miracle, overcoming a 22-point deficit to sink Narellan 36-34.
Coming off several strong performances, Narellan seemed destined to score their first victory when backrower Mark Aiatia pounced on a fumbled kick to make it 34-12 with just on 25 minutes to play.
Up until that point, it looked like the Goannas of old as the Jets dictated terms with six tries including a double to menacing centre Salesa Tavui who proved unstoppable on the right edge.
In his first season in the Macarthur competition, Cohen Benson led South West’s revival. The teenage fullback was everywhere as his side surged to their second win in three starts with four unanswered tries.
After helping Shaun Va’alepu over for a double, Benson added his name to the scoresheet and was on hand to score the winning try from a Brad Takairangi bomb.
In a game of inches, Takairangi’s perfect six from six from the kicking tee proved the difference.
“The boys on the bench couldn’t believe it,” Deller said.
“They had every right to give up, but they decided to stick at it. We’re still building as a group and we’ll continue to improve as everyone becomes more familiar with their role in the team.”
While Benson pulled all the right strings, Dellar praised sup-sub Lockyer Pickering-Ratu and North Sydney pathways rep, Soteila Fatui.
“Lockyer adds strike from dummy half, and we kept him off for a long as we could,” he said. “The message was for him to run, and he got the boys going forward when he came on.
“Soteila was great at centre too. He scored our first try and showed why he’s on track for higher honours.”
Ecstatic with his side’s stunning comeback, Deller also offered words of sympathy to Jets coach Jake Tonitto.
“I felt for Jake, they’ve been in most matches they’ve played this year,” he said.
“Last year that wasn’t the case, and a win can’t be far away if they stick at it.”
TIGERS OF OLD
It’s been a month in the making but The Oaks are finally up and running after a clinical 42-12 win over Thirlmere.
Coming off the bye and two losses to start the season, Mitchell Brasington’s side hit the road and showed glimpses of the form that took them to within an inch of claiming last year’s title.
Joseph Ualesi set the tone in the opening set, and the big prop struck the first blow several minutes later when he crashed over next to the posts.
Riding high behind a dominant pack, Daniel Payne returned to his scheming best. The quick-stepping No.7 danced his way across twice as The Oaks headed to the sheds with a slender 18-12 advantage.
Toby Hilyard burrowed over for Thirlmere, and they drew level in the 30th minute when Tim Simona raced clear following clever work on the left edge from Curtis Scott and winger Marika Tuilau.
But any chance of a comeback quickly evaporated when the visitors piled on four unanswered tries in a whirlwind 20 minutes.
Nathan Rumsby bagged a double after halftime, and was quickly followed over the stripe by Brasington and fullback Daniel Smith.
“We played a lot better this week,” said Brasington. “Once the forwards got rolling we were able to play some good footy.”
“Payney was among our best, and in the pack I thought Kohan Lewis, Neil Begovich and Ragan Gilbert played well.”
In a surprise selection, Matthew Brasington took the field alongside his brother at centre.
“We had a few injuries and Matt got the late call up on Thursday night,” Mitchell said. “He hasn’t played for a couple of years but he’s in the mix to play first grade on a regular basis.”
SERIOUS INJURY OVERSHADOWS CITY WIN
Campbelltown City continued its revival with a 28-14 derby victory over East Campbelltown at Waminda Oval.
In a dominant performance, City were never headed and locked in back-to-back victories with six tries inside the opening hour to lead 28-6.
After a slow start, the Eagles finished strong and wrapped up the scoring with tries to Kimball Liufau and centre Gene Wighton.
In a major blow, the Kangaroos lost Michael Taute to a serious knee injury midway through the opening half when the in-form fullback took an awkward fall following a kick return.
The score was 6-all at the time of the injury, but with four-pointers to centre Amosa Manu and a scintillating solo effort to pathways hooker Lorima Cosgrave, City shot clear to lead 14-6 at halftime.
After the break, Manu added another on the left edge, and was quickly followed over the stripe by prop Junior Moors and former Eagle Michael Stevens, who struck from a well placed bomb.
Providing an update on the injury, City assistant coach Nathan Wilson painted a bleak picture for his star fullback.
“We are waiting on the results of scans to determine the extent of ligament damage but it doesn’t look good for him,” Wilson said on Monday afternoon.
“He dislocated his knee and a small avulsion fracture was confirmed yesterday.”
RAMS SURVIVE LATE COLLIES CHARGE
In a weekend of comebacks, Camden were left staring down the barrel of a stunning Collies revival until Bailey Dickinson stormed over late in a thrilling 36-28 victory at Bradbury.
Buoyed by the return of skipper Brad Speechley and prop Danny Fualalo, Camden piled on four tries – including a double to Jackson Willis – to lead 24-0 after as many minutes.
After strong performances in the opening three rounds, Collies’ season unraveled is spectacular fashion until winger Ray Mu broke the cycle with a try on the stroke of halftime.
Tries were traded after break, but it was the genius of Tyrone Harding who orchestrated a heart-stopping finish.
Trailing 30-10, the Collies No.7 sensed an opportunity when he tricked Rams backrower Tukaha Kyriacou into passing him the ball. After accepting the pass, he raced away to score the first of three consecutive four-pointers for the home side.
Fullback Ken Sio scored the second, and when Harding steamed onto a Jokatama Dokonivalu pass in the 70th minute, Collies were suddenly with touching distance at 30-28.
It remained that way until Camden loaded up on repeat sets, securing a fourth straight win when Dickinson thundered across for the matchwinning play.
PICTON’S TRIPLE TREAT
Picton made it three straight after the Magpies overcame a halftime deficit before going on with job to sink Mittagong 34-18 at Victoria Park.
In a tit for tat first half, Mittagong jumped ahead 18-12 through Liam Cassidy when the second-rower backed up winger Mitchell Barbuto to score just before halftime.
From there, it was all Picton as the Magpies lifted a vocal crowd with four unanswered second half tries.
In his best performance since arriving during the off-season, Charlie Woolford turned in a blinder. Picking his moments, the hooker struck twice from dummy-half and found himself on the end of a late tackle, that saw Lions playmaker Jake Steadman sent to the sin bin in the 60th minute.
At the time, Picton held a four-point lead and it quickly became 10 when rising prop James Folaumoetui muscled across for the circuit breaker.
PHOTO GALLERY
Thirlmere v The Oaks
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