Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Wrap, results, standouts from round five
The defending premiers have helped get their shaky start to the season back on track with an emphatic victory during round five of the NRRRL.
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Ballina has snapped a two-game losing streak to return to the winner’s circle after comfortably accounting for Byron Bay 38-0 at Red Devil Park.
Star halfback Tyrone Roberts put on a playmaking clinic as the Seagulls ran in seven tries while keeping the home side scoreless in an impressive performance.
Fresh from a last-start loss to Cudgen, Ballina came out of the blocks firing as fullback Liam Green broke the line and sent the team up field with just the third play of the game.
A penalty gave the Seagulls a fresh set and Roberts converted that into points with a dummy and palm to score the first of the match after just 80 seconds.
Despite the early setback, Byron enjoyed repeat sets in the Ballina red zone. However the Red Devils just couldn’t break through, with Toby Marks held up over the line and Keaton White stopped just short.
After weathering some pressure, Ballina charged up field courtesy of a break from Oliver Regan before a penalty gave the team another opportunity.
With a fresh set in the Byron 20, Roberts was pulling the strings as the defending premiers went over again 17 minutes in when he put in a perfectly weighted chip for a flying Anthony Colman to surge through for his team’s second and make it 12-0.
Things got worse for the Red Devils on the half-hour mark as centre Dan Gibson was sent to the sin bin for what looked like a playful trip on his former teammate Fred Pitt in backplay.
Former NRL star Roberts had been a class above and with another set on the Byron line he capped off his clutch first half with a pinpoint cross-field kick for Pitt to plant the ball down in the corner and give the Seagulls a 16-nil lead at the break.
It had been a dominant first 40 for the Seagulls and things continued in a similar vein after the break when hooker Caleb Kinna crashed over from close range five minutes after the restart.
A short time later Ballina was in again after Regan pounced on the scraps from a Roberts kick to put the visitors up 26-nil with half an hour to play.
The Red Devils had struggled to threaten the Ballina line for much of the match and the Seagulls compounded the pain late on as young lock Charlie Strong crashed over with a powerful run close to the line before going over for his second shortly after to cap off the big win.
The victory snaps a two-game losing streak in what has been an uncharacteristically difficult start to the season for the defending premiers, who now have a record of two wins and three losses for 2025.
Meanwhile Byron remains rooted to the bottom of the table as the team remains on the hunt for its first win of the season.
Ballina 38 (Strong 2, Roberts, Colman, Pitt, Kinna, Regan tries; Regan five goals) defeated Byron Bay 0
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