Northern Rivers regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Wrap, results, standouts from round two
There were blistering starts and a grandstand finish as a huge final play sealed a very impressive early season win in the NRRRL.
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There were some huge results in round two of the NRRRL as one side knocked off the defending premiers in a huge result, while one of the cellar dwellers of recent seasons continued their incredible start to the year.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
RAIDERS PIP SEAGULLS IN TWEED CLASH
The Tweed Coast Raiders have broken through for their first win of the season after seeing off local rivals the Tweed Heads Seagulls 24-18 at Les Burger Field.
Goalkicking proved to the difference in the end as both sides crossed for four tries each, with a blistering 10-minute spell late in the first half proving ultimately crucial for the Raiders.
The Seagulls gave themselves an early opportunity when centre Kiefer Randl pulled off a one-on-one strip while the Raiders were coming out of their own end. A couple of plays later the team shifted the ball right where fullback Trae Saunders went over on the edge for the first try of the game after just five minutes.
Despite going down early, the Raiders were finding success through the middle, with a brilliant ball back on the inside from Owen Fredericks putting fullback Oliver Blood through a gap. With just his opposite number to beat, Blood pinned the ears back but was brilliantly dragged into touch with a trysaving tackle by Tashahn Cora.
That proved to be an early warning shot as the home side went over after 25 minutes.
While the Seagulls had the ball in their opponents’ half, a knock-on from halfback Tom Neale was pounced on by Raiders’ playmaker Riley Lack, who charged up field before passing to his centre Liam Foster to level things up at 4-all.
It was the beginning of a decisive 10-minute spell for the Raiders, who went over through centre Dominic Murray on the right edge before a clever dummy and step from five-eighth Stevie O’Connor set up Lennox Dunn to give the Raiders a 16-4 lead at the break.
After a tough end to the first half, the Seagulls needed a fast start to get back in the game and that’s exactly what happened when the team took advantage of an overlap to put winger Keegan Pace over in the corner just five minutes after the restart.
The Seagulls were enjoying some success down the right and a couple of minutes later they were in again when Neale put Pace into space with a nice cut-out ball before Randl finished it off on the inside for the team’s third try of the day.
Unfortunately for the visitors, they had missed all three of their conversions and the Raiders remained in front 16-12 with half an hour to play, despite both sides having scored three tries each.
The Seagulls had all the momentum but the Raiders were able to stem the flow of points and hold the side at bay.
Then with 15 minutes remaining the home side stretched further ahead. A powerful run from Murray got the team on a roll before some more nice footwork and ball-playing from O’Connor put Darcy Earle over to push the Raiders 10 points ahead.
A penalty goal made it 24-12 before the Seagulls hit back through Bobby Smith to slash the deficit to just six with just five minutes remaining and set up a thrilling finish.
And while the Seagulls threw the kitchen sink at their rivals in the final stages, the Raiders held on for a narrow win.
Tweed Coast 24 (Foster, Murray, Dunn, Earle tries; Lack four goals) defeated Tweed Seagulls 18 (Saunders, Pace, Randl, Smith tries; Pace one goal)
KYOGLE RUN RAMPANT WITH SECOND-HALF ROUT
Kyogle has continued its outstanding start to the season after a second-half blitz helped the Turkeys to a dominant 40-18 win over Northern United at Crozier Field.
Just one week after breaking an eight-year opening round hoodoo by defeating Lower Clarence, Kyogle backed it up with another excellent performance to go two from two at the start of the season.
Coming into the game on a high, Kyogle started brightly and crossed just three minutes in when Kyogle halfback Tahne Robinson rolled a beautiful grubber into the path of centre James Torrens for the opener.
However Northern hit back on the quarter-hour mark with a classic Dirawongs try.
With the ball centre field on the halfway line, five-eighth William James put in a clever chip kick for a flying Hezekiah McKenzie, who gathered the ball and then shot around the oncoming defender to score under the sticks and put his side up 6-4.
In what was a game of tit for tat early on, Kyogle regained the lead in the 24th minute when centre Layne Hardy did well to stand up his opposite number and go over before Northern United backrower Theo Hippi showed his strength by brushing off several defenders to give the Dirawongs a 12-10 lead at the break.
Northern then extended its lead seven minutes after the break with an excellent bit of free-flowing footy.
It all started deep in its own end when the team did well to take a bomb and put McKenzie into space down the left-hand touchline. After he was brought down 40m out from the line, the Dirawongs put the ball through the hands to the right for winger Alistair Faulkner to score.
McKenzie then slotted the conversion from out wide to make it 18-10.
Northern United were looking good and nearly went in with the very next set as the team travelled the length of the field, only for a grubber to just go dead in goal before the chasing attackers could plant it down.
However the game shifted again almost immediately as Kyogle marched up field. With a repeat set on the Dirawongs’ line, Robinson once again showed his class with a clever grubber in behind for fullback Juwaan Terekia to score.
Having slashed the deficit to two points, the Turkeys surged into the lead just a couple of minutes later when Hardy once again got the better of his opponent for his second. Robinson put the conversion over as Kyogle led 22-18 with 20 minutes remaining.
What followed was a stunning final quarter that saw the Turkeys completely run away with the game.
A clever one-on-one strip from Will Ingleby gave the side the ball in dangerous field position, with a nice offload from Blake Davies putting five-eighth Hakeem Torrens through to put the visitors up by 10.
Halfback Robinson had been outstanding for Kyogle and he sealed the game with a brilliant run that saw him slice through the line before putting on a nice step and dummy to evade the fullback and score under the sticks.
The Turkeys then put the icing on the cake late on as Torrens stepped his way through for his second try of the day and the team’s fifth in succession to cap off a brilliant win and put an exclamation mark on its start to the season.
After having won just two games in the past three seasons, Kyogle has now kicked off 2025 with consecutive wins in what is a huge turnaround for the club.
Kyogle 40 (Hardy 2, H Torrens 2, J Torrens, Terekia, Robinson tries; Robinson six goals) defeated Northern United 18 (McKenzie, Hippi, Faulkner tries; McKenzie three goals)
12-MAN BILAMBIL DOWN EVANS IN FIERY CLASH
Bilambil has continued its strong start to the season with a gutsy 24-12 victory over Evans Head at Stan Payne Oval.
After jumping out to a narrow lead at the break, the Jets were forced to play the majority of the second half with 12 men after Thomas Biddle was sent off, and in fact outscored the Bombers while down a man to wrap up an impressive win.
“Evans are a good side so it’s not an easy trip,” said Bilambil captain-coach Hayden Hansen. “We’re definitely proud of the group to come away with that win.”
Coming up against one of the strongest packs in the competition, Hansen was particularly pleased with how his side stuck with Evans Head after going down a man down.
“We’re not the biggest pack but I think we’ve got a really strong pack too, so you’re fighting fire with fire in that situation and we love it.
“If teams want to play into that, we’re here for it. We just dug our heels in, tried to match it in the middle and didn’t really give them much of an opportunity to go wide.
“Keep in mind, it was quite wet so there was a lot of dropped ball in that patch. It was pretty hard for either team to spread it wide and fortunately we’d kicked away a little bit earlier in the game and we were able to hold that lead.”
In a clash between two round one winners, the Jets got off to a flyer as they capitalised on good early field position to put winger Blake Graham over on the left edge for the opening try in the fourth minute.
The Bombers started to get a foothold in the game and on 16 minutes they hit back when prop Aidan Kennedy barrelled over the top of the Bilambil goal line defence to level things up at 6-all.
In what was an arm-wrestle between two strong teams, both sides jumped at the chance of points, with Evans Head’s David Gibbons and Bilambil’s Kai Smallwood trading penalty goals late in the half to lock things up at 8-all.
However it was the Jets who went into the sheds in front after some clever footwork from Harry Fitzhugh put hooker Tom Rowles over on the stroke of halftime for a 14-8 lead at the break.
The grind continued in the second half as both sides battled it out for field position.
There was a bit off feeling in the contest and after some push and shove Bilambil’s Thomas Biddle was sent off.
Neither side was able to add to its score for the opening 20 minutes of the half until a piece of individual brilliance cracked the game open.
Carting the ball up in his own half, five-eighth Aaron Hill managed to find a gap through the Bombers’ defence before passing on to centre Lachlan Hallard to score an excellent try out wide.
Now trailing by 10, the Bombers needed an answer and it came after forcing an error out of the Jets deep in their own end.
Two plays later they shifted the ball left, with some nice work from fullback Kiedan Hartley helping to put winger Zach Roberts over in the corner.
This brought the scoreline back to 18-12 with 13 minutes remaining. And while the Bombers were now within striking distance, a late try to Bilambil five-eighth Hill sealed a gutsy win for the Jets.
Bilambil 24 defeated Evans Head 12
MULLUM SHINES WITH SECOND-HALF BLITZ
Mullumbimby has made it two from two to kick off the season after defeating Casino 36-10 at Les Donnelly Field.
Skipper Cody Nelson bagged a hat-trick as the Giants piled on 24 unanswered points in the second half to run away with the game.
After a sharp start with repeat sets in dangerous areas, Casino broke through for the first try of the match 10 minutes in when winger Gairo Kapana charged over the top of the Mullum defence to score out wide.
However the Giants hit back shortly after when star halfback Jacob Miller put Kyson Freer through a gap on the left edge, with the fullback passing on to centre Chanse Perham to put his side up 6-4.
A couple of minutes later Mullum extended its lead when Nelson charged over from close range to make it 12-4.
After a slow start the home side had done well to control large parts of the contest, however a miscued kick late in the half gave the Cougars a chance to hit back just before the break.
A nice offload from Jacob Mayer and some quick hands from Waylon Caldwell and Eddie Walker-Williams put Luke Barnett over to bring the scoreline back to 12-10 at the break.
Despite conceding late in the half, Mullum was given an early opportunity straight after the break when five-eighth Jack Murphy was taken out while kicking the ball.
From the ensuing set the Giants shifted the ball left, with some fast hands from Miller putting Nelson over for his second just two minutes after the restart.
The home side had a crucial eight-point lead as the game developed into a grind.
And while Casino stayed within striking distance for the next 20 minutes, Nelson popped up for his third midway through the second half to give his side a healthy 24-10 lead.
From here the Giants really rammed home their advantage as Freer pounced on a Casino error to go over before Tommas Gibson made it 24 unanswered points in the second half with a dart from dummy-half to cap off an impressive win.
Mullumbimby 36 (Nelson 3, Perham, Freer, Gibson tries; Davies six goals) defeated Casino 10 (Kapana, Barnett tries; Walker-Williams one goal)
CUDGEN DOWNS LOWER IN TRYFEST
Cudgen has maintained its undefeated start to the season, putting on a dominant second half performance to defeat Lower Clarence 44-22 at the Yamba Sporting Complex.
Blake Raymond and Jackson Owen both bagged doubles for the victors while Magpies hooker Callan Hollis scored an impressive hat-trick for the losing side in the 12-try pointsfest.
The scoring started just three minutes when a nice offload from Cudgen lock Owen put hooker Raymond over.
Lower then hit back 15 minutes in when Hollis darted over from dummy-half to make it 6-4.
The game went back and forth in the early stages, with some excellent hands putting Owen over to extend Cudgen’s lead before Hollis once again showed how deadly he can be close to the line with another weaving run to make it 12-10 after half an hour.
A couple of minutes later the Magpies took the lead for the first time when a deflected Vincent Williams grubber landed perfectly in the path of Jacob Cameron-Clarke to score.
The home side looked like it would take a lead into the break, however the Hornets struck with a quick double-punch just before halftime.
With a set on Lower’s line, Cudgen’s Caleb Ziebell took advantage of some tired defenders to charge over underneath the sticks before backrower Ethan Schultz showed brute strength to brush off four Magpies defenders to plant the ball down and give the Hornets a 22-16 lead at the break.
After a strong finish to the first half Cudgen continued the momentum after the restart to put the team in a commanding position.
With the ball on the last, the Hornets had their kick charged down by the oncoming Lower defenders. The ball fortuitously landed at the feet of Cudgen prop Connor Ziebell, who busted through the defensive line with a powerful run before charging up field and finding Raymond in support to score under the sticks and put the side up by 12.
And while Hollis deceived the Hornets for a third time to complete his dummy-half hat-trick to make it 28-22 with 25 minutes to play, Cudgen took control of the final quarter to run away with the game.
It was triggered by a midfield kick from Caleb Ziebell that took a wicked bounce away from the Lower back three and into the arms of a charging Harvey Moase, who in turn fired the ball over to centre Cooper Cambey to score.
Once again down by 12, the Magpies were chancing their arm.
However as the team launched at attack down the right-hand side, Cudgen winger Malachi Dumas plucked a cut-out ball out of the air and ran towards the tryline. With the cover defence coming across, Dumas put the ball on his toe before speeding past the oncoming Magpies, regathering the ball and dramatically planting it down just centimetres inside the dead-ball to seal the match with a stunning try.
The Hornets then put the cherry on top with another lovely piece of footy at the death, going through five sets of hands to put Owen over for his second of the day to cap off the win.
The victory sees Cudgen go two from two to kick off the season while Lower is still looking for its first win of the campaign.
Cudgen 44 (Owen 2, Raymond 2, Ziebell, Schultz, Cambey, Dumas tries; Speed six goals) defeated Lower Clarence 22 (Hollis 3, Cameron-Clarke tries; Byers three goals)
MARIST DOWNS BALLINA IN EARLY-SEASON SCALP
Marist Brothers have kicked off their season in the most impressive fashion after defeating Ballina 26-20 at Kingsford Smith Park.
A bright start and a devastating 10-minute blitz at the beginning of the second half proved to be enough for the Rams, who held off the fast-finishing Seagulls to down last year’s premiers and take home the Denis Meany Shield.
In what was the first game of the season for both sides after respective round one washouts, things started disastrously for Marist as the side put the kick-off out on the full.
And while Ballina fullback Liam Green came very close to opening the scoring after a weaving run, he was held short by some desperate defence.
Then within a blink of an eye Marist went over at the other end with a slice of luck.
With the ball on the last, halfback Shallin Fuller’s kick was charged down by the Ballina defence, only for the ball to land perfectly at Fuller’s feet. He used the opportunity to skip through the defensive line and then showed enough pace to outrun Green to score the opening try of the game after 11 minutes.
Errors were hurting Ballina and the Rams took full advantage shortly after when Fuller put centre Mitchell Krause through a gap to make it 12-0 after 20 minutes.
After a tough start the Seagulls started to work their way into the game. After earning back-to-back sets they put the ball through the hands where winger Fred Pitt went over in the corner nine minutes before the break.
Some feeling started to creep into the game and some push and shove broke out on the stroke of halftime as the Rams took a 12-4 lead into halftime.
Marist Brothers had been impressive in the first half and they continued this momentum directly after the break.
After receiving back-to-back penalties with their first use of the ball, the visitors then earned a repeat set and another penalty before brushing off some soft defence to score just two minutes after the restart to make it 18-4.
The Rams were on a roll and after yet another penalty they marched up field again where skipper Mitchell Krause finished off a nice spread to the left to put the side in a commanding position at 22-4.
It was all falling apart for Ballina as another penalty for taking out the kicker late allowed Fuller to try and stretch the lead out to 20. However fortunately for the home side he put his attempt wide.
Remarkably, it had taken 12 minutes and two tries before Ballina actually got its hands on the football in the second half.
However once they did they made it count, with star recruit Tyrone Roberts putting skipper Anthony Colman through a gap on the edge to pull one back for the Seagulls.
From here, Marist had two big chances to re-establish its lead.
Firstly, Fuller put winger Damon Coldwell over in the corner, only for the final pass to be ruled forward, while Ballina fullback Green pulled off a brilliant trysaving tackle to deny Krause, who appeared destined to score in the corner.
The big play changed the course of the match as just two minutes later Ballina reduced the deficit to eight when Oliver Regan intercepted a Fuller pass and then ran through to make it 22-14 with 15 minutes to play.
While the Seagulls had opened the door, a penalty once again cost the team, with Marist marching up field and a beautiful cut-out ball from Jye Davis putting Coldwell over in the corner to stretch the lead out to 12.
While Marist was looking comfortable, there was one more late twist as Ballina’s Michael Dwane burrowed over from dummy-half to bring the scoreline back to 26-20 and set up a grandstand finish with just two and a half minutes remaining.
A penalty just after the kick-off then helped the Seagulls up field and gave them one last chance to pull off a great escape.
With a fresh set on the Rams’ line, Ballina shifted the ball from side to side in the hope of finding an opening. Some clever work from Roberts and Anthony Colman opened up half a gap, with Jess Perry looking odds on to score before a dramatic trysaving tackle from Marist lock Nathan Stewart knocked the ball loose over the tryline and the Rams held on for a thrilling victory.
Marist Brothers 26 (Krause 2, Fuller, Stewart, Coldwell tries; Fuller two goals) defeated Ballina 22 (Pitt, Colman, Regan, Dwane; Roberts two goals)
In the other round two match, Murwillumbah defeated Byron Bay 44-28.
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