Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League: wrap, results, standouts, takeaways from round 10
The frontrunners are locked at the top, others made charges towards the finals spots, while one club created history during a massive round 10 of the NRRRL.
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Two of the competition frontrunners battled it out in what many believe could be a grand final dress rehearsal, while a string of others made a charge to the finals during an action-packed round 10 of the NRRRL.
Elsewhere, one side piled on the tries for fun in a season record, while one club put in a five-star performance in what was truly was a remarkable performance across all grades.
Catch up with a wrap of the action and major talking points below with the NRRRL Seven-tackle Set.
1) A grand final rehearsal?
NRRRL fans were treated to a heavyweight blockbuster on Sunday with Bilambil beating Ballina 24-22 in a thrilling top-of-the-table clash at the Bilambil East Sports Field.
The visitors took an early lead through Jordan Lee, before Bilambil hit back to take an 18-10 lead into the break.
The home side stretched this out to 24-10 early in the second half before two tries to Ballina set up a tight finish.
The loss was the Seagulls’ first of the season in a game where goalkicking ultimately decided the result.
With both teams having swept aside much of the competition with ease so far this season, the clash put into stark contrast the quality of the sides and the evenly matched nature of the contest.
As they sit in first and second place on the competition ladder respectively, could the game have been a dress rehearsal for the grand final in September?
2) Three’s a party at the top
The weekend’s results mean that there is a three-way tie at the top of the table, with Ballina, Bilambil and Northern United all locked on 18 points following round 10, six points clear of their nearest rivals Evans Head and Tweed Coast on 12.
The Seagulls remain top with their superior goal difference of 252, the Jets stay second with a for-and-against of 202, while Northern United are in third with a points differential of 132.
While Ballina and Bilambil have generated most of the headlines so far this season, Northern United have undoubtedly been the competition’s biggest improvers, rising from an eight-place finish last season to be challenging for the title in 2023. If any team is going to upset a potential Seagulls v Jets grand final, no side looks more likely than the Dirawongs at this stage.
3) Bombers click into gear
Evans Head appears to be hitting its straps after the team’s comprehensive 46-22 victory over Lower Clarence on Saturday.
After a slow start to the season that saw the team win just one of its first four games, the Bombers have now won three straight, a feat they only managed to achieve once last year.
The team’s attack has gelled well in recent weeks, putting on 64 against Marist Brothers and then another 46 on the Magpies. This has been made all the more impressive considering the Bombers have been without their captain-coach and chief playmaker Trevor Bolt.
Fortunately they have more than a capable replacement to fill the void, with former NRL player and NRRRL veteran Roy Bell more than ably stepping in at halfback.
4) Mustangs saddle up
Another team that has clicked into gear over the past couple of weeks is Murwillumbah, who chalked up the equal biggest victory of the season on Sunday with their 66-6 demolition of Casino.
The result was the same as Ballina’s round seven victory over Kyogle, and comes one week after the Mustangs put 52 on the Turkeys while shutting them out to zero.
While those big wins were against teams towards the bottom of the ladder, it’s no surprise that Murwillumbah’s uptick in form has coincided with the return of key playmaker Aaron Booth, who bagged a hat-trick on the weekend.
The results have also kept their finals chances alive. After three straight losses between rounds six and eight, the last fortnight has seen last year’s minor premiers jump from lowly 11th place on the ladder to eighth, with big games against competition frontrunners Ballina and Bilambil over the next two weeks.
5) Red Devils make a charge
It has also been an important fortnight for Byron Bay, with the Red Devils making a charge up the ladder on the back on two straight wins.
After edging out local rivals Mullumbimby 26-24 last week in a nailbiting local derby, the Red Devils held out a fast-finishing Kyogle 28-22.
They now sit in sixth place, up three spots from the ninth position they held at the mid-season break.
6) Turkeys show plenty of fight
They might not have come away with the two points, but Kyogle showed plenty of ticker and fight in their narrow loss to Byron Bay on Sunday.
Down 24-6 early in the second half, the Turkeys launched a spirited comeback, scoring through Clayton Guiney and Layne Hardy to bring the scores back to 24-18 with 25 minutes to play.
While Byron Bay scored again to extend their lead, the Turkeys didn’t go away, with Brock Westerman crossing to bring the margin back to six with 10 minutes remaining.
The team may still be searching for its first win of the season in first grade, however coach Michael Woods has been pleased with his side’s resilience throughout the season.
“We’ve been able to be more competitive, more consistent and we’ve had periods where we’ve been able to put on points compared to the last couple of years,” he said.
7) Raiders create history
While some teams put in some big performances to climb up the ladder, there were some clubs who capped off perfect days by clean sweeping their rivals in all grades.
The top performance of the weekend went to the Tweed Coast Raiders, who remarkably won five from five in front of their home fans at Les Burger Field.
The day kicked off with the league tag side knocking off Mullumbimby 44-6, which was backed up by a 20-10 win in the under-18s and a 66-6 thumping in reserve grade.
The Raiders’ women’s tackle team continued their strong form with a 22-14 victory over Northern United, before the men’s first grade team put the cherry on top with a 20-10 win over the Giants.
It was a great slice of history for the club, as it was the first time the Raiders have taken out all five grades on one day.
It wasn’t the only clean sweep of the weekend, with Bilambil remarkably winning four from four against Ballina and Murwillumbah winning firsts, under-18s and league tag against Casino, with the reserve grade fixture called off.
ROUND 10 WRAP
Two of the competition heavyweights went toe to toe in an absolute thriller, while another side ran riot as it piled on the points for the biggest victory of the season in what was an action-packed round 10 of the NRRRL.
Elsewhere, another side consolidated its top-four spot with a solid win, while others continued their climb up the ladder.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
Bombers take down the Magpies
Evans Head has consolidated its spot in the top four with a comprehensive 46-22 victory over Lower Clarence at Stan Payne Oval.
Aidan Kennedy and Tashahn Cora both bagged doubles as the Bombers ran in eight tries to four to seal their third win in a row.
With a big crowd on show to watch, it was actually the visitors who had the perfect start, with Jacob Essex intercepting a pass from Evans Head centre Torben Milton before running in to score under the posts in just the fourth minute.
Despite the early hiccup, the Bombers gained control over the game, scoring six straight tries to run away with the game.
It started in the ninth minute when Micah Leaupepe Perkins used some nice footwork to score in the corner after a nice Roy Bell cut-out ball.
Aiden Kennedy was the next to score when brother Kyle turned provider with a nice short ball close to the line, before hooker Matthew Toole barged over from dummy half.
Kennedy completed his double on the stroke of half-time to give the Bombers a 24-6 lead at the break.
The pain continued early in the second half for the Magpies, with Torben Milton latching onto a Roy Bell grubber to score and Tashahn Cora crossing in the corner to put Evans Head ahead 34-6.
And while Lower scored three tries to two in the last 20 minutes, the damage had well and truly been done, with the Bombers running out comfortable winners.
Evans Head 46 (A Kennedy 2, Cora 2, Leaupepe Perkins 2, Toole, Milton tries; Bell seven goals) def Lower Clarence 22 (J Essex, T Essex, Williams 2 tries; Williams two goals, Cameron-Clarke one goal)
Byron hold off the Turkeys
Byron Bay won its second game in a row with a hard-fought 28-22 victory over Kyogle at Red Devil Park.
Centre Joel Stocks scored a hat-trick as the Red Devils were forced to hold off a late Kyogle fightback to claim the two points.
The action fittingly started with Stocks, who crossed for the first try in the match four minutes in after the home side created an overlap on the left edge.
The Turkeys hit back in the 16th minute with hooker Damien Wilson showing too much strength to score from dummy half to lock things up at 6-6.
However from here Byron asserted their dominance, crossing for three more tries before half time – through Stocks, Blake Leary and Michael Thomas – to give the side a 20-6 lead at the break.
The momentum continued in the first minute of the second half, when Joel Whitby crashed over to put the home side 24-6 ahead.
Just when it looked like Byron Bay were going to run away with it, the Turkeys launched a comeback, crossing through Clayton Guiney and Layne Hardy to bring the scores back to 24-18 with 25 minutes to play.
The Red Devils once again extended the lead to 10 with 15 minutes to play after some nice work from Todd Carney put Stocks over for his hat-trick, however the Turkeys weren’t quite finished, with Brock Westerman crossing with 10 to go to set up a grandstand finish.
Despite the Turkeys knocking on the door with several sets of six on the Red Devils’ line, the home side – who were reduced to 12 in the final stages after Kolbi Wood was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul – held on for a tight six-point win.
Byron Bay 28 (Stocks 3, Leary, Thomas, Whitby tries; Carney two goals) def Kyogle 22 (Wilson, Guiney, Hardy, Westerman tries; Loose-Morris three goals)
Jets edge out Seagulls in thriller
Balimbil has handed Ballina its first defeat of the season with a nailbiting 24-22 victory over the Seagulls in a top-of-the-table clash at the Bilambil East Sports Field.
Both teams led throughout the seesawing clash, with goalkicking ultimately proving the difference as the sides scored four tries a piece.
In a battle between competition heavyweights, the leaders were the first to score in the 16th minute when Ballina backrower Jordan Lee crossed after some nice second-phase play from Tim Cassidy and Rowan Mansfield.
The Seagulls didn’t remain in the lead for long though, with the Jets hitting back just three minutes later with a charging Brenton Daley-Holten finishing off a nice backline move to burst through the Ballina defence to score and levels things up at 6-all.
Bilambil then went back to back two minutes later with an excellent 60-metre effort down the other flank.
Centre Caleb Nicholls put his winger Blake Graham into space down the left wing, before the ball was turned back inside to Lachlan Garner and then Oliver Regan in support to score and take a 12-6 lead.
Both sides were throwing everything at each other and Ballina hit back once again with just over 10 minutes left in the first half, with winger Fred Pitt finishing of a spread to the left to score in the corner. Hamish McClintock kicked just wide with his conversion to leave the scores 12-10 in favour of Bilambil.
The Jets kept the pressure on the competition leaders and extended their lead just before the break when former Seagull Jack Durheim showed some excellent footwork and plenty of strength to charge over and give his side an 18-10 lead into the break.
The momentum was all with the Jets and they capitalised again five minutes after half-time, with a great offload from Jacob Hind finding Tom Rowles, who then put backrower Tyson Donnelly over to give the side a 24-10 lead.
While the Jets were on top the Seagulls certainly weren’t finished, with hooker Michael Dwane stepping and burrowing his way over from dummy half to cut the lead back to eight with half an hour to play.
With both teams going at it in a high-intensity game, emotions spilled over with seven minutes to go, with Ballina’s Ethan Roberts and Bilambil’s Hayden Hansen both sent to the sin bin for a scuffle that broke out after a high tackle on Seagulls fullback Zac Beecher.
The visitors kept pushing and set up an exciting finish when Michael Dwane crossed for his second try to make the score 24-22.
The Seagulls had 40 seconds to try and finish a match-winner after the kick-off, however the Jets’ defence held firm to seal a massive victory.
Bilambil 24 (Daley-Holten, Regan, Durheim, Donnelly tries: Regan four goals) def Ballina 22 (Lee, Pitt, M Dwane 2 tries; McClintock four goals)
Mustangs hammer the Cougars
Murwillumbah has recorded its second resounding victory in as many weeks after a 66-6 hammering of Casino.
Playmaker Aaron Booth scored a hat-trick, while Danyon Wise, Wade Ayres and Matt Bollard all picked up doubles as the home side ran in an incredible 13 tries to one.
The rout started in the fourth minute when Bollard crossed on the right edge. The team then scored in the 12th, 15th, 25th and 28th minutes through Booth, Brandon Ewing, Ayres and Bollard to go 28-0 up before Casino hit back with a try to Thomas Walker to make things 28-6 at the break.
If things were bad for Casino at half-time, then they only got worse after the break, with Murwillumbah running in another six tries in the second half to record a huge victory. The win is the equal largest of the season, equalling Ballina’s 66-6 win over Kyogle in round seven.
While there was plenty of action, the highlight came in the finals stages of the match when Murwillumbah went coast to coast with a 100-metre effort.
Picking the ball up on his own goal line, winger Blake Marrison showed nice footwork to step around his opposing number and ash up the sideline. He found Bollard supporting on the inside, who then passed it on another support player for an excellent try.
Murwillumbah 66 (Booth 2, Ayres 2, Bollard 2, Wise 2, Ewing, Marrison, Peisley tries; Ayres three goals, Peisley four goals) def Casino 6 (T Walker try; Walker-Williams goal)
Raiders down Giants at home
Tweed Coast has returned to the winner’s circle after a 20-10 victory over Mullumbimby at Les Burger Field.
Coming off a narrow two-point loss in the Byron Shire derby last weekend, the Giants came out of the blocks quicker and scored in the fourth minute when Tommas Gibson found some space on the right edge to take a 6-0 lead.
However the home side hit back on 16 minutes when some excellent offloads from Raiders forwards put five-eighth Josh Bowden over to bring things back to 6-4.
In what was a tight opening half the Raiders took the lead with the last play of the half, with Bowden diving on loose ball that had been batted back after Giants fullback Corey Morris tried to shield the ball over the dead-ball line.
Brayden Evans then slotted the conversion to give his side a 10-6 lead into the break.
Winger Javahn Te Whaiti then extended the lead midway through the second half after picking up a loose pass and crashing over in the corner, while Raiders fullback Juwaan Terekia then sealed the match with eight to go with an excellent solo effort that saw him beat four defenders and outrun a couple of others to score under the sticks.
With a couple of minutes to go Mullum winger Thomas Sowerby came up with the highlight of the match, leaping high to catch a Wayde Kelly cross-field bomb to score a consolation try in the corner.
Tweed Coast 20 (Bowden 2, Te Whaiti, Terekia tries; Evans two goals) def Mullumbimby 10 (Gibson, Sowerby tries; Kelly-Wirth one goal)
Dirawongs too strong for Hornets
Northern United has moved to equal first on the competition ladder after a 28-10 victory over Cudgen at Ned Byrne Oval.
A strong opening half helped set up the win for the Dirawongs, who scored five tries to two to claim the competition points.
As they have done so often this season, Northern United started strongly with halfback William James using his footwork to break the Cudgen defensive line and score after just six minutes.
They doubled their lead eight minutes later when Theo Hippi ran a great line to score on the right edge.
The strong opening to the game was then capped off on the half-hour mark when Hippi pounced on a Hezekiah McKenzie grubber to put his side 16-nil up.
While Cudgen hit back a couple of minutes later through Jordan Kempnich, the Dirawongs took a healthy 16-6 lead into the break.
The Hornets were working themselves into the contest and made it a four-point contest eight minutes after the break with an excellent team try. It started with a barnstorming run from forward Connor Ziebell, who then offloaded to Kempnich, who then put it through the hands for centre Luke Dumas to score.
While Cudgen were within striking distance, Northern United out the game to bed midway through the second half with a couple of tries in quick succession.
The first was through a charging Anthony Thompson, while the second was scored by his front row partner Jirra Breckenridge, who crashed over from close distance to seal the win.
Northern United 28 (Hippi 2, James, Thompson, Breckenridge tries; McKenzie two goals, Ferguson two goals) def Cudgen 10 (Kempnich, Dumas tries; Moase one goal)
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