NSWRL Junior Reps Finals: All the action from the opening day of finals footy from Leichhardt Oval
Newcastle stood tall to commence the NSWRL Junior Reps finals with three wins. Catch up on all the results PLUS our huge photo gallery from the opening day of finals at Leichhardt Oval.
Local Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The NSWRL Junior Reps finals were played over two huge days at Leichhardt Oval.
Newcastle took full honours on the opening day with three victories across the grades to advance to this weekend’s preliminary finals.
Catch up on how day one panned out, plus check out our huge photo gallery from the day.
JUMP TO
LF Roosters vs Tigers - LF Eels vs Knights - TG Sea Eagles vs Knights - SG Knights vs Steelers - Gallery
LISA FIAOLA CUP - CENTRAL COAST vs WESTS TIGERS
A second half defensive masterclass has helped the Wests Tigers deny the Central Coast 24-22 in their Lisa Fiaola elimination final.
The Tigers were able to stave off a Roosters comeback and held them scoreless in the second stanza to advance.
A Roosters mistake in the ruck gifted the Wests Tigers perfect field position early on, and it took less than four minutes for them to stamp their authority.
They shifted the ball and a lovely offload from Lucyannah Luamanu-Leiataua to a trailing Rhiannon Bonner saw them get on the board.
They doubled their lead to 12-0 just moments later as a flying Agnews Faaui outleapt Tory Nelson-Staunton to get on the end of an Ellie Barnett bomb.
Central Coast eventually found time to breathe and they looked destined to score in the 13th minute before Annelise Hall pulled off an incredible trysaver to deny Brandy Simpson just metres from the line.
They were hampered further the very next set when Molly Pittman came off second best from an attempted tackle on Aliana Fasavalu-Fa’amausili, bringing on Kiara Konz earlier than anticipated.
The Tigers brought the ball downfield and Faaui looked destined for her second, only to be stopped by Nelson-Staunton in a tackle that kept the Roosters in the game.
It was the Central Coast’s turn to attack and a lovely backline play saw Meg McPhail find a sweeping Ella Knowles who sliced through the line to open their scoring in the 18th minute.
They went back-to-back to hammer home the momentum shift, this time through the competition’s leading scorer Mia Vaotuua, with some nice lead-up work from Mahlie Cashin to identify an overlap, to tie the scores through 22 minutes.
With halftime fast approaching, another error gave the Tigers a chance to attack and they obliged with Alavina Tu’ifua barging her way over from close range to seemingly send her side into the sheds in front.
But Vaotuua had other ideas, scoring her second with just seconds remaining to post her second and leave the Roosters trailing just 18-16 at the break.
The second half started out much more defensively-oriented from both sides with either unable to crack the line in the opening third.
Central Coast had the better opportunities during that period but were held out strongly by a cohesive Tigers defence.
The Tigers almost broke the second stanza deadlock with 13 minutes to play, but they were correctly pulled up for an obstruction by referee Salvatore Marigliano.
Wests’ unrelenting pressure finally took its toll with Luamanu-Leiataua putting a grubber through and Faaui pouncing on the loose ball to collect her second and stretch the margin to eight with as many minutes remaining.
LISA FIAOLA CUP - PARRAMATTA vs NEWCASTLE
Newcastle survived an almighty scare from Parramatta, almost letting a 16-point lead slip on their way to a 22-10 Lisa Fiaola Cup success.
Parramatta had all the early running and territory, throwing plenty at the defence of the Knights in the opening passage.
To Newcastle’s credit they held solid and were able to turn the Eels away with their line being bombarded.
An uncharacteristic mistake from Eels fullback Logan Lemusu allowed Newcastle its best attacking chance of the half, and they took full advantage as Macey Cox cut through the defensive line to open the scoring in the 20th minute.
Isla Hodgson was able to bamboozle the Eels just moments later with a grubber close to the line that bounced straight back into her arms to extend the margin to 12 just before halftime.
A penalty brought the Knights back into Eels territory for the final set of the half, and to add further pain the Parramatta’s afternoon, Newcastle was able to cross on the siren with a shift to the left resulting in a try to Taylah-Jane Belcher and a 16-0 lead at the break.
Similar to the first 30, the second half saw both sides unable to cross early, although Parramatta had its best opportunity eight minutes into the half with Lemusu busting the line and all set to dive over, before a last-ditch tackle from Summer Dowell forced the ball free.
They had another golden opportunity 14 minutes from full-time with Mitszy Cairns setting her sights on the tryline, only to be pushed into touch by desperate Knights cover defence.
Moments later it was Lemusu who made a clean break, setting the Eels up for a spread a few tackles later, with Sharon Latapu putting Freedom Crichton Ropati over untouched to get them back within two scores with 10 minutes remaining.
It sparked the Eels into action, going the length of the field from their next set with some crafty work from Bailey Ma Chong allowing Latapu an unhindered passage to the line, bringing the score back to 16-10 in the 53rd minute.
They went just centimetres away from the chance to tie it up after again working down to Newcastle’s line, only for Cairns to be held up in-goal.
Just as the Eels looked like they could tie it up, Cox broke through for the Knights and ran 50m to seal the game with her second of the afternoon.
TARSHA GALE CUP - MANLY vs NEWCASTLE
Newcastle didn’t hold the lead until the 52nd minute, and they didn’t let it go to claim a dramatic 18-16 win over Manly.
Despite a fast start from the Knights it was Manly who was able to post first points, making the most of their early limited chances in opposition territory as Teuwira Rameka-Keremete scored out wide.
They looked destined to extend their advantage with Danii Nicole Gray taking an intercept and racing down the field, only to be caught in a great chase from Elizabeth Montgomery.
Newcastle’s best chance came soon after with a surging Evah McEwen poised to score as she raced down the sideline, only for a tackle from Chelsea Smyth to force her into touch.
They finally scored in the 20th minute to level the scores at 4-all with Makaah Darcy barging her way over.
Back-to-back penalties helped the Sea Eagles march down the field and Aleksandra Tunufai proving too much to handle, crossing with just four minutes left in the half to seemingly give them a 10-4 lead heading into the sheds.
An incorrect play-the-ball gave the Knights one last shot, and they took it, with a spread to Lilly McNamara reducing the deficit to just two at the break.
It was Manly who struck first in the second half with bench weapon Indiana Russell-Lia proving unstoppable with a trademark charge close to the line to give the Sea Eagles breathing room with a 16-8 margin with 22 minutes to play.
After Manly conceded a penalty with the ball, the Knights were poised to cut the margin, however McEwen spilt the ball over the line.
They didn’t have to wait long for another shot, with Fane Finau able to burrow her way over and get Newcastle back to within two approaching the final quarter.
Manly couldn’t land the killer blow, and McEwen was finally able to capitalise on a strong game with a barnstorming effort to run over a couple of defenders to put the Knights in front for the first time with six minutes remaining.
SG BALL CUP - NEWCASTLE vs ILLAWARRA
The Knights capped off a perfect day for their Junior Reps program with a dominant 44-16 defeat of the Steelers.
Newcastle had a disaster start to the game, conceding first points with Toby Rumble crossing early, before Cody Hopwood was taken from the field for a HIA from the next set of six.
The tide turned in their favour soon after however, with a quick-fire Sosaia Latu double giving the Knights a 10-4 advantage through 20 minutes.
Soon after it was a lovely piece of lead-up work from Haami Loza that saw Jack Hilliar extend the lead, before Loza laid on a short ball for Jermaine McEwen to cross with ease, with the Knights in front 20-4 in the blink of an eye.
The barrage continued on the half-hour mark as Malachi Smith surged his way over from dummy half to take advantage of some sloppy defence.
Illawarra started the second half like they did the first with Kade Reed putting Tyrone Amone through a gaping hole to get them back to within three converted tries.
The comeback was temporarily put on halt with Brock Thomas scoring off a crash play close to the posts to push the lead back out to 32-10.
A contentious pass was let go by the officials and shortly the Steelers were back within 16 on the back of a Lyhkan King-Togia try.
Any hopes of a Steelers revival were put on ice after Hilliar scored his second to send the Knights through to the second round of the finals.
The match ended on a sour note with Seth Pearman stretchered off after being buckled over awkwardly in a tackle.
WEEKEND GALLERY
More Coverage
Join the conversation
Pain game! Stairway to rugby dream for Waratahs young gun
It’s a time he hated with a passion but this painful interlude in Waratahs young gun Henry O’Donnell’s life could well pave the way to his future success in the game. Tahs v Brumbies squads
Read more
Girls on the rise: 80 players to watch in Lisa Fiaola, Tarsha Gale Cup
Keep an eye on these names. The future of women’s rugby league is on show in the Lisa Fiaola and Tarsha Gale Cups, and we look at 80 stars set to shine in this year’s competition.
Read more