Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League: Wrap, results, standouts from week one of the finals
One side has received a huge boost ahead of this weekend’s do-or-die final, with a key playmaker returning from injury.
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It was do-or-die in the NRRRL, with week one of the 2024 finals taking place over the weekend.
In knockout fixtures, fourth-placed Bilambil hosted fifth-placed Marist Brothers on Saturday, while third-placed Evans Head took on the final team in the top six, Northern United, on Sunday.
Catch up with some of the main talking points and a wrap of the action below.
GF REMATCHES LIGHT UP FINALS
It’ll be grand final rematches all round this weekend as some of the big guns of the NRRRL meet in week two of the finals.
On Saturday it’ll be a rerun of the 2022 decider, with Evans Head hosting Bilambil in the minor semi-final at Stan Payne Oval.
The Bombers progressed through to the second round of the finals thanks to a 36-22 victory over Northern United, while the Jets won through after a 26-10 victory over Marist Brothers.
Some 15 players from the grand final two years ago lined up for Evans Head and Bilambil, and while the Jets got the better of their rivals on that day, prevailing 30-18, the Bombers have plenty of reason to go in confident.
On top of having home ground advantage, Evans Head comes into the game on the back of a five-game winning streak, while the side had beaten Bilambil on both occasions this year, winning 22-12 in the first game of the season and then chalking up an 18-14 victory in round 16.
Meanwhile on Sunday it’ll be a rematch of last year’s decider when Ballina hosts Cudgen at Kingsford Smith Park.
The top two teams will be out to book a spot in the grand final, with the winners to earn the right to host the big dance and the losers to take on the winner of the minor semi.
Although there has been quite a bit of player turnover from both sides, Ballina will be out for redemption after Cudgen pulled off a miraculous late-season run to defeat the Seagulls 18-4 in the 2023 decider.
TIMELY RETURN FOR EVANS HEAD
Evans Head has been boosted ahead of its semi-final clash against Bilambil, with experienced half Roy Bell returning from injury.
After breaking his jaw against Cudgen back in round 13, Bell missed five games but returned in the victory over Northern United on Sunday, coming off the bench to guide the team home in the second half.
“He started on the bench, played some limited minutes,” said Evans Head football manager Nathan Williams.
“But he came on and controlled the second half. You can’t buy that experience. He’s been around forever and a day and just knows how to win. He’s got a pretty calm head on him and has a great kicking game to go with it. It’s great to have him back.”
Bell’s addition is a huge boost for the Bombers, who were forced to shift five-eighth Jordan Sly into the number seven jersey and move Jared Waters from the forwards into the halves over the past six weeks.
“We just changed the game plan a bit and tried to keep it as tight as possible, kick long at the end of the sets and hopefully grind the other teams out,” said Williams.
The approach has worked, with the Bombers winning their last five games to enter the second round of the finals in strong form.
WEEK ONE FINALS WRAP
There were no chances as the NRRRL finals series kicked off over the weekend.
In two knockout fixtures, Bilambil hosted Marist Brothers while Evans Head took on Northern United as all four sides battled to keep their seasons alive.
FAST-START SEES EVANS HEAD OVERPOWER NORTHERN
Evans Head has set up a blockbuster semi-final clash with Bilambil after defeating Northern United 36-22 in the elimination final at Stan Payne Oval.
Played in front of a bumper finals crowd, the Bombers raced out to an 18-point lead at one stage before being forced to hold off a spirited comeback to record the team’s fifth-straight win and see it progress to week two of the finals.
With the teams playing each other for the second week in a row after Evans Head’s 38-12 win in the final round of the regular season, it was actually Northern United who crossed first when Michael Roberts fed Theo Hippi through a gap. The back-rower managed to get an offload away to fullback Hezekiah McKenzie, who then put star centre James Roberts over to make it 4-0 after three and a half minutes.
However in the next set Northern United threw a forward pass and then gave away a penalty to invite the Bombers into their own danger zone. The home side took full advantage as Nemani Matirewa powered past three players to crash over and put his side up 6-4.
Just as they’ve done all season, the Bombers’ pack kept rolling forward to give the side good field position. Then some smart work from half Jordan Sly and centre Justin Bleakley on the right edge put winger Brandon Anderson over in the corner on 17 minutes.
Evans Head was on a roll and really rammed home its advantage shortly after when a nice cut-out ball from Matthew Toole sent Lachlan Kennedy over, while Matirewa burst through for his second and the team’s fourth to put the Bombers up 22-4 after half an hour.
With his team rattled and in danger of letting the game slip away, Northern United half Michael Roberts kicked a 40/20 to get the side up field, with back-rower Tayden Hickling crashing over in the next set to bring things back to 22-10.
The try seemed to shift the momentum as Tyrone Roberts sliced through the line and made a break up field in the following set. In the next play his namesake Michael put in a dangerous-looking cross-field kick, however Evans winger Zane Gaiter plucked the ball out of the air to ensure that the Bombers took a 12-point lead into the break.
With Northern finishing the half strongly the game was delicately poised as both teams came out of the sheds.
However it was Evans who took a decisive lead five minutes after the restart when some nice hands put Brandon Anderson over in the corner for a 28-10 lead.
But instead of letting their opponents get away, the Dirawongs hit back again just five minutes later, with star halfback Tyrone Roberts dummying and crashing over to once again slash the lead to 12.
Northern was enjoying a bit of momentum and continued to test the Evans Head line. However the Bombers defence showed plenty of steel, with the team stopping a rampaging prop Jirra Breckenridge just short, before four Evans Head players combined to push Northern winger Damon Coldwell into touch to stop another attack.
The Bombers then edged further ahead when a penalty for a high shot allowed Gaiter to add two more points and stretch the lead out beyond two converted tries to 30-16 with 20 minutes remaining.
Just when it looked like the home side might run away with it, the Dirawongs came back at them again, with some clever hands from Breckenridge putting lock Djaan Jarrett over to make it 30-22 with 12 to play.
The visitors were coming home strong and were threatening again before a key moment ultimately decided the match. With Northern United attacking the Evans Head line, some miscommunication saw a Hezekiah McKenzie pass go to ground.
With winger Alistair Faulkner wrong-footed, Evans Head flyer Gaiter swooped through to pick up the loose ball and run 80m to seal the match.
Frustration started to boil over for Northern, with centre Allan McKenzie sent off for dissent late in contest.
Despite being down a man the Dirawongs kept charging and Michael Roberts went close as he was held up over the line at the death. However the Evans Head defence held firm as the Bombers chalked up a 14-point win – the team’s fifth-straight victory – to book another home semi-final against Bilambil next weekend.
Meanwhile the loss signalled the end of the road for Northern United in 2024. While at stages the sides looked like premiership contenders, injuries to key players hurt the team badly as it scraped into the top six before bowing out in the first week of the finals.
Evans Head 36 (Anderson 2, Matirewa 2, L Kennedy, Gaiter tries; Gaiter six goals) defeated Northern United 22 (J Roberts, Hickling, T Roberts, Jarrett tries; M Roberts three goals)
BILAMBIL BLITZ SENDS MARIST PACKING
Bilambil has moved through to the second week of the NRRRL finals and knocked Marist Brothers out in the process after defeating the Rams 26-10 in the elimination final at the East Bilambil Sports Field.
Skipper Tom Rowles was immense for the Jets in the middle as the team shot out to an early lead before holding Marist at arm’s length to set up a minor semi-final clash next weekend.
With both teams having finished the regular season on 22 points, the fourth-versus-fifth encounter seemed evenly poised.
And although Bilambil came into the game with the home-ground advantage, Marist thought they had the first try three minutes in when Bilambil struggled to clean up a Shallin Fuller grubber and Mitchell Krause planted the ball down. However the referee called play back and penalised the centre for taking out a Jets player in the lead-up.
Shortly after it was Bilambil that went close after winger Reiven Smallman batted back a cross-field kick for centre Caleb Nicholls, who appeared destined to score before being held up in a desperate trysaving tackle by Fuller.
However that only proved to delay Bilambil as skipper Tom Rowles took advantage of a quick play-the-ball to scoot over from dummy-half for the first try of the game after nine minutes.
It was the start of a blistering six-minute spell for the home side, who went over through Nicholls in the very next set before Rowles left his fingerprints all over the team’s third.
Once again noticing that the markers were out of position, the skipper took off on another smart run out of dummy-half before offloading to put Hayden Hansen into space. The lock forward then found halfback Harry Fitzhugh in support to go over and put the Jets up 14-0 after 15 minutes.
It had been a frenetic opening and Marist Brothers contributed to the flurry of points midway through the half when Fuller scored to make it 14-6.
The Rams enjoyed better possession and field position and almost closed the gap even further on the half-hour mark after some enterprising play Fuller once again, however winger Hezron Moses was stopped just short of the line.
Late in the half it was Bilambil’s turn to attack again after Smallman made a 70m break up field. The Jets looked like going over but Drew McCullough dropped the ball with the line begging and the home side took its eight-point lead into the break.
Marist had done well to claw itself back into the contest after a disastrous start and 12 minutes after the restart the team slashed the margin to just four points as Moses went over in the corner.
The game was well and truly on, however just as the Rams got within striking distance Bilambil once again extended its lead, with prop Lane Ticehurst charging over in the 58th minute to stretch the scoreline out to 20-10.
The Jets then put the contest to bed with another try to Smallman to seal the win and keep the team’s season alive. Bilambil will move on to play the winner of Evans Head and Northern United next weekend in another knockout final.
Meanwhile the loss signalled the end of the season for Marist Brothers. Arguably the most improved side in the competition, the Rams were impressive throughout 2024, losing just four games in the regular season to once again be among the top sides in the competition.
Bilambil 26 (Rowles, Nicholls, Fitzhugh, Ticehurst, Smallman tries; Nicholls three goals) defeated Marist Brothers 10 (Fuller, Moses tries; Fuller one goal)
WEEK ONE FINALS RESULTS
FIRST GRADE
Bilambil 26-10 Marist Brothers
Evans Head 36-22 Northern United
RESERVE GRADE
Murwillumbah 42-18 Marist Brothers
Bilambil 48-4 Ballina
UNDER-18s
Tweed Heads 18-10 Murwillumbah
Bilambil 24-6 Lower Clarence
LEAGUE TAG
Lower Clarence 28-12 Tweed Coast
Cudgen 16-6 Ballina
WOMEN’S TACKLE
Northern United 38-10 Casino
Bilambil 32-0 Evans Head
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