Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League: results, standouts, talking points from round 13

The NRRRL resembled a cricket comp after some huge scores during round 13, with one team pulling off the upset of the season and one star claiming an incredible five-for.

It rained points during round 13 of the NRRRL as teams ran riot in what was an incredible tryfest across the Northern Rivers.

With cricket scores being posted all across the competition, one star recorded a feat that Pat Cummins would be proud of, while another team pulled off arguably the upset of the season.

Elsewhere, one of the competition favourites fired off another warning shot, while some family connections showed their worth over the weekend.

Catch up with a wrap of the action and the major talking points with the NRRRL Seven-Tackle Set.

1) Upset of the season?

Lower Clarence put the competition on notice with an excellent 46-24 victory over high-flying Northern United at Oaks Oval on Saturday.

In what was a clash between two of the competition’s biggest improvers of 2023, the Magpies ran riot in the first half, scoring six unanswered tries to take a 30-0 lead into the break.

To put the win into context, Lower entered the round in eighth position, while the Dirawongs were equal first (third on points difference) with heavyweights Ballina and Bilambil.

Given that it was only Northern’s second loss so far in 2023, the victory is certainly a contender for upset of the season.

2) Cricket scores as points flow

If anyone had taken a side glance at the weekend’s results, you’d almost be excused for assuming that the cricket season had started early.

A whopping 372 points were scored across the six matches in what is a record for the season, ahead of round nine’s 338 and round seven’s 327.

An incredible 70 points fell in both Lower’s 46-24 win over Northern United and Evans Head’s 60-10 demolition of Kyogle, while 68 were scored in Cudgen’s 56-12 victory over Casino.

Breaking this down, a cumulative 274 points were scored by the winners and 98 by the losers, resulting an average score of 46-16 for every game in the round.

3) Bombers star claims five-for!

With cricket scores all around, Evans Head centre Brandon Anderson claimed a rare five-for after crossing for five tries in the team’s big win.

Remarkably, all five were scored in the second half, with Anderson’s final try the pick of the bunch.

Anderson claimed an incredible five-for. Picture: Emma Stockham

After the team put it through four sets of hands in a spread to the right, Anderson found himself in space. With plenty of confidence he feigned to kick and then turned the Kyogle fullback inside out with a brilliant swerving run to go 60 metres untouched and score under the sticks.

The incredible haul sees the outside back extend his lead at the top of the tryscoring charts with 18, four ahead of his nearest rival, Marist Brothers’ Mitchell Krause.

4) Hamstrung Graham goes the distance

Speaking of great tries, Bilambil’s Blake Graham scored one of the NRRRL’s most memorable – if not painful – four-pointers in the Jets’ 34-18 win over Byron Bay.

Ten minutes into the second half and with the team about 30 metres out from its own line, Bilambil halfback Carne Rhodes darted out of dummy half to catch Byron napping and break the line.

With the fullback approaching he found Graham in support, who managed to evade the chasing defenders, only to pull his hamstring 10 metres out from the try line and limp over to plant the ball down in pain.

With the best seat in the house, the referee called it straight away, with the words, “He’s gone, his hammy’s gone”, heard over the stream.

Here’s hoping for a quick recovery.

5) Family affair across the NRRRL

Regional rugby league is generally a family affair, with brothers, sisters, mums, dads and cousins often coming together on match days to play, support and help out their favourite clubs.

However this rang particularly true for a couple of NRRRL clubs over the weekend who featured some strong family connections in the top grade.

Tyson Donnelly skippered the side in his 50th first grade game for the Jets. Photo: Max Ellis

For Bilambil, it was a big day for Tyson Donnelly, who captained the side in what was his 50th first grade game for the club.

And while he lined up in the unfamiliar position of five-eighth, he was partnered in the halves by a very familiar face in brother-in-law Carne Rowles.

Meanwhile at Queen Elizabeth Park two sets of brothers lined up together for Cudgen, with Liam and Darcy Townsend, and Luke and Jarryd Toon all pulling on the green and gold in the same match.

It could well have been a hat-trick of brotherly connections for the Hornets, however Connor Ziebell – whose brother Caleb starred for Cudgen – was called up to play for the Tweed Seagulls in the Q Cup.

6) Seagulls fire warning shots

Ballina fired another warning to the competition that they will be hard to beat this season after thumping Tweed Coast 50-10 at Kingsford Smith Park.

Young five-eighth Hamish McClintock put on a clinic with a direct hand in five tries as the home side dismantled the Raiders, who entered the round in fourth spot on the back of a strong of form that had seen them win six of their past seven games.

Ballina were incredibly impressive in their 50-10 win over Tweed Coast. Picture: Emma Stockham

The win keeps the Seagulls in top spot, equal on points with Bilambil, with a record of 11 wins and one loss so far this season.

In a sign of their dominance, Ballina has scored the most points and conceded the fewest, with an incredible points difference of 338.

7) Finals shootout heats up

With just three rounds to go in the regular season, every week is crucial for teams looking to play finals, and the equation became a little clearer after some key results over the weekend.

Evans Head, Cudgen and Lower Clarence boosted their chances with key wins, Tweed Coast missed out on a chance to consolidate its spot after losing to Ballina, while Byron Bay’s hopes of qualifying were made even more difficult after going down to Bilambil.

As it stands, just three points separates Evans Head in fourth and Byron Bay in eighth, with five teams battling it out for the final three spots in the six-team finals.

With things so tight, things could well come down to points difference as the logjam gets tighter towards the end of the season.

ROUND 13 WRAP

It was a big weekend of football in the NRRRL, with an incredible first-half blitz sealing arguably the upset of the season, while another team broke a three-match losing streak by coming from behind in a twilight thriller during what was an eventful round 13.

Elsewhere, one star claimed an incredible try haul, while there was an absolute tryfest in a couple of blowout games.

Catch up with a wrap of the action below.

Magpies down Dirawongs with first-half blitz

Lower Clarence has pulled off one of the upsets of the season, scoring six unanswered tries in a blistering first half to set up a 46-24 victory over Northern United at Oaks Oval.

Vince Williams, Tyler Essex and skipper Luke Douglas all scored doubles in the win over the Dirawongs, who entered the round equal at the top of the table with Ballina and Bilambil.

The Magpies put on an incredible first-half performance to set up the win. Picture: supplied

In what was very much against the form guide, eighth-placed Lower came firing out of the blocks, opening the scoring in just the fourth minute.

The tries kept coming, with Vincent Williams putting his namesake Caleb Williams over with a short ball after nine minutes, while shortly after he went himself, breaking the line with a step and dummy before showing enough speed to outrun the Northern defenders to make it 14-0 after 15 minutes.

Skipper Douglas got his first midway through the half with some great hole-running on the edges, while Essex showed a clean pair of heels to outrun the chasing Dirawongs defenders to score the team’s length-of-the-field try after Lower defused an attacking grubber from the home side.

The perfect half was capped off two minutes before the break, with Cooper Many swooping on a lost ball, before making half a break and brilliantly offloading to Williams in support to score his second and give the side a 30-0 lead.

After such a brutal opening 40, Northern needed to score first if they were any chance of salvaging something from the game, and they did just that two minutes after the break when Hakeem Torrens showed plenty of speed and skill to dummy his way over.

The Dirawongs were over again in the very next set, with some excellent footwork from forward Jerrod See helping him make a break upfield. Allan McKenzie then barged over from the following play.

Northern were on a roll and made it three in nine minutes when Alwyn Roberts crashed over next to the sticks to bring the scores back to 30-16 with half an hour to play.

The home side closed the gap even further midway through the half when Doman Coldwell scored to make it a 10-0 point ball game.

From being acres ahead at the break, Lower were suddenly holding on to save the match. However with 15 to go Douglas once again showed his class and experience, dummying and palming off his opponent to go over on the right edge and seal the match.

The Magpies then scored another two tries to one in the final 10 minutes to cap off an excellent victory and well and truly keep their finals hopes intact.

Lower Clarence 46 (V Williams 2, Douglas 2, Essex 2, C Williams, Eamens-Gardiner tries; V Williams three goals, Cameron-Clarke two goals) def Northern United 24 (Torrens, McKenzie, Roberts, Coldwell, Gordon tries; Ferguson two goals)

Krause magic helps Rams sink Giants

Mitchell Krause scored a brilliant hat-trick for the Rams in their come-from-behind win. Picture: Elise Derwin.

Marist Brothers have broken a three-match losing streak by coming from behind to defeat Mullumbimby 28-24 in a seesawing Saturday night thriller at Les Donnelly Field.

Centre Mitchell Krause was the star for the Rams, scoring a hat-trick to help his side to just its fourth win of the year.

Things started well for the visitors, who scored under the sticks in the eighth minute after a grubber from close range.

Mullum then returned the favour midway through the half when Cody Nelson charged out of dummy half from nine metres out and crashed his way over to level things up at six-all.

In what was an even first half, the Giants struck just before half time, with halfback Dean Rooney dummying and stepping his way through the Rams’ goal line defence to give his side a 12-6 lead.

With just seconds on the clock, Marist Brothers came up with one of the tries of the season.

Marist Brothers notched up their fourth win of the season. Picture: Elise Derwin.

Catching Mullum napping from the kick-off, the Rams grubbered the ball forward and regathered, before throwing it through five sets of hands for Mitchell Krause to score one of the more remarkable efforts in the corner. Will Hawkins then added the extra to leave things locked at 12-all at the break.

The Rams carried that momentum into the second half, with Krause claiming his second just four minutes after the break following a spread to the left.

However the seesawing nature of the contest saw Mullum first draw level through Thomas Sowerby before pulling ahead with 25 to go, when Marist Brothers were unable to defuse a Giants’ bomb and Tommas Gibson picked up the scraps to score under sticks to give his side a 24-18 lead, much to the delight of the big home crowd.

Man-of-the-match Krause showed his worth by completing his hat-trick midway through the half. With a penalty 10 metres out from the Giants’ line, Krause showed too much footwork and strength to charge over and close the gap to 24-22.

Both teams were knocking on the door, and with five minutes remaining Marist Brothers – attacking Mullumbimby’s line – spread the ball left, caught out the Giants’ defence and allowed Walter Kelly to score what would ultimately be the winner.

Marist Brothers 28 (Krause 3, Kelly tries; Hawkins four goals) def Mullumbimby 24 (Nelson, Rooney, Sowerby, Gibson tries; Kelly four goals) 

Bombers hammer the Turkeys

Evans Head has surged back into the top four with a thumping 60-10 victory over Kyogle at New Park.

Centre Brandon Anderson scored an incredible five tries in what was a devastating display of attacking football from the Bombers, who ran in 12 in tries to two to rack up one of the biggest wins of the season.

Remarkably, it took 20 minutes for the first points to be scored, with Kyogle actually crossing first after Sam Nicholson found a gap in the Bombers’ goal line defence to sneak his way over.

That seemed to spark Evans Head into action, with prop Lachlan Kennedy going on a rampage, first barging over from 10 metres out in the 24th minute. Then in the very next set he broke the defensive again and threw a nice dummy to fool the fullback and score a brilliant 50-metre effort.

Brandon Anderson remarkably ran in five tries. Picture: Emma Stockham

The Bombers had all the running and crossed through Matthew Toole and Tashahn Cora in the final stages of the half to give the team a 22-4 lead at the break.

It had been a relatively quiet opening 40 for Anderson, but he didn’t take long to change that in the second half, getting on the outside of his opposing centre twice to score in the 42nd and 46th minutes as the Bombers scored three tries in a crazy six-minute burst.

Anderson then collected a 12-minute hat-trick when he crossed in the 55th minute after a miraculous flick pass from winger Zane Gaiter.

And while Jack Nicholson pulled one back for Turkeys, Evans Head kept applying the pressure with four tries in the final 10 minutes, with Anderson scooting out of dummy half to bag his fourth, before putting the icing on the cake with a remarkable fifth five minutes from time.

Inside their own 40, the Bombers showed nice hands to spread the ball to the left and put the star centre into space. With four tries’ worth of confidence he feigned to kick and turned the fullback inside out to score a remarkable fiver-for under the sticks.

Evans Head 60 (Anderson 5, L Kennedy 2, Toole, Cora, Gaiter, Leaupepe-Perkins tries; Bell five goals, Waters one goal) def Kyogle 10 (S Nicholson, J Nicholson tries; Waddington one goal)

Jets do the business against the Red Devils

Bilambil has kept its spot equal at the top of the table with a 34-18 victory over Byron Bay at the Bilambil East Sports Field.

A 10-minute burst in the first half did the damage for the under-strength Jets, who did enough to push aside the resilient Red Devils outfit.

In fact it was the visitors who crossed first, with winger Lachlan Johnson going over in the corner in just the third minute.

However the Jets showed just how dangerous a side they are with a stunning 10-minute burst.

They first scored on 10 minutes when winger Blake Graham went over, Lane Ticehurst then showed how strong he was to carry three defenders over the line a couple of minutes later, before Brenton Daley-Holten bagged a try on the right edge after a nice offload from Oliver Regan to give the side a 16-6 lead.

Another nice offload, this time from Jack Durheim, saw young gun Isaac Harrison score with five to go in the half, before Byron hit back on the stroke of halftime to leave the scores at 22-10 at the break.

Just like in the first half, the Red Devils came quickly out of the blocks, with Kennedy scoring his second after winning the race to a lovely chip in between Bilambil’s defence line.

Kai Smallwood scored a late try for the Jets. Picture: supplied

This brought things back to 22-14, however the Jets re-established their lead five minutes later with an excellent, if not unfortunate, try.

About 30 metres out from his own line, Bilambil halfback Carne Rhodes darted out of dummy half and caught Byron napping to break the line. With the fullback approaching he found Graham in support, who managed to evade the chasing defenders, only to pull his hamstring 10 metres out from the try line and limp over to plant the ball down in pain.

Byron’s Dylan Montgomery charged over to bring the margin back to 10 points, before Bilambil flyer Kai Smallwood crossed in the corner in the final 10 to cap off the win.

Bilambil 34 (Graham 2, Ticehurst, Daley-Holten, Smallwood tries; Regan five goals) def Byron Bay 18 (Johnson 2, Montgomery tries; Stocks one goal)

Seagulls show off credentials with Raiders demolition

Ballina has shown why it is on top of the table with a 50-10 demolition of fourth-placed Tweed Coast at Kingsford Smith Park.

Tim Cassidy bagged a double and five-eighth Hamish McClintock put on a playmaking masterclass as the Seagulls ran in seven unanswered tries either side of halftime to blow the Raiders right out of the water as Ballina continues its excellent attacking form this season.

Like several games this round, the underdogs struck first, with Tweed Coast getting on the board in just the second minute as Reef Sommerville latched onto a lovely grubber from Brayden Evans to give his side the perfect start.

The Raiders did well to hold the ladder leaders scoreless until the 17th minute, when a nice ball from Jared Lofts put Liam Green into half a gap and he duly obliged with a little jink to score.

Hamish McClintock put on a plamaking masterclass. Picture: Emma Stockham

This was one of seven-straight tries for the Seagulls, who well and truly took control of the game.

As they have been so often this season, Ballina were particularly dangerous down the right edge, with McClintock drawing in defenders and putting Cassidy through a gap for the big centre to score as the home side took a 22-4 lead into halftime.

The rout continued after the break, with a huge, swirling McClintock bomb evading the Tweed Coast back three. The Ballina five-eighth then put in an excellent chase to bat the ball back to Rhys Riches, who went over for a try.

It was one of three tries in 12 minutes at the beginning of the half, and one of five assists for McClintock.

While Tweed Coast did pull one back, the five-eighth capped off the win with direct assists for Michael Dwane and Brandon Lee to score in the final minutes.

Ballina 50 (Cassidy 2, Green, Lofts, Riches, Pitt, Mansfield, Dwane, B Lee tries; McClintock seven goals) def Tweed Coast 10

Skipper powers Hornets past Cougars

Cudgen has edged back into the top six following a 56-12 thrashing of Casino at Queen Elizabeth Park.

Skipper Caleb Ziebell was unstoppable for the Hornets with a hand in five tries and scoring one of his own as his team ran in 10 tries to two.

The game couldn’t have started any better for the visitors, who put in a contender for the quickest try of the season.

In the very first set Ziebell made a break down the right edge before finding Corey Kirkham on the inside to score after just 56 seconds.

And while Casino’s Eddie Walker-Williams intercepted an attempted cut-out ball from Harvey Moase five minutes later to score under the sticks and give his side a 6-4 lead, it was all one-way traffic from there as Cudgen put on a clinic.

The Hornets’ skipper was barnstorming, playing a key role in all four of his team’s first half tries through a series of offloads, short balls and charging runs as Cudgen took a 24-6 lead into the break.

Things remained much the same in the second half, with the Hornets running in three tries in 10 minutes shortly after the break, and then another three in a sharp 10-minute burst late on to put the icing on the big win.

Cudgen 56 (Kirkham 2, Battese 2, Hare 2, Barton, Andreas, Ziebell, Townsend tries; Moase eight goals) def Casino 12 (Walker-Williams, Roberts tries; Walker-Williams two goals)