NSWRL Junior Reps Rd 9: 20 major talking points from Matts, Fiaola, Ball and Gale Cup action
A thrilling final round saw a dramatic charge for final playoff spots across the four grades. Relive all the major happenings in our 20 weekend talking points PLUS see the full finals week one schedule.
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The final round of the NSWRL Junior Reps regular season had plenty of drama in a mad dash for playoff positions.
Relive a huge weekend around the grounds with our 20 major talking points from Harold Matthews, Lisa Fiaola, SG Ball and Tarsha Gale Cup action + check out the full schedule for the first week of the finals.
HAROLD MATTHEWS
TRYING TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE
After Cronulla’s result, Canberra knew the magic number it had to defeat the Storm by in order to jump the Sharks into eighth.
A 44-point win was required against the Storm.
Their tails were up early when leading 18-0 through eight minutes and 38-8 with 13 minutes to play.
Ultimately the Storm proved a thorn in their side to deny them.
ON A HOT STREAK
There’s no hotter team in the U17s boys than the Sydney Roosters, who will take a four-game win streak into the finals.
Over the last two weeks they’ve defeated the minor premiers in Illawarra, before coming from 24-6 down to defeat the third-placed Warriors.
ON THE OTHER HAND
The same can’t be said for the other Roosters, the Central Coast.
A Penrith victory made it back-to-back defeats for them, seeing them drop out of the top-four and into fifth.
It means they face off with Parramatta in week one, the team who downed them in round eight.
COMPLETED THE TIGHTROPE
Coming into round seven, the Eels needed wins against Central Coast, Manly and Wests to give themselves a shot at the post-season.
They did just that, knocking off some quality teams to roll into the finals with a heap of momentum.
WHO WINS FROM HERE?
This year’s edition has been one of the closest in recent memory.
Second and eighth are separated by just the one win, with the two teams that missed out on finals a further win behind.
It sets up a highly entertaining finals series to come.
LISA FIAOLA
UP AND AWAY
Spare a thought for the poor touchie.
The young man was in the right spot to rule on a brilliant Zahri Lester cover tackle to seal the game for the Sharks.
Only problem was when he went to put his flag up, it went flying. Twice.
HARD TO TOPPLE
The Bulldogs completed their second-straight undefeated regular season in Lisa Fiaola Cup - the only team to never lose a game in the competition.
They smashed fellow contenders Parramatta 46-10 and are heavy favourites to lift the title on back-to-back occasions.
GREAT WALL OF PENRITH
The Panthers recorded their third shutout of the season with a commanding 46-0 defeat of St George to finish the regular season in sixth.
Over the past two weeks they’ve scored 112 points without conceding.
FROM THE CLOUDS
Canberra’s inaugural season looked toast when they started with one win through six rounds.
They finished in incredible fashion however, winning their last three to rocket into the finals and steal eighth place from Illawarra.
They face a tough opening finals appearance against the Tigers - but with the form they are in, who’s to say they can’t continue their streak.
FITTING FINISH
A win to finish the season was a just reward for North Sydney, who have played better than their record suggests.
They were able to put it all together against the Rabbitohs and climbed up to 10th in the process.
SG BALL
WHAT A SPECTACLE
Cronulla had every right to feel comfortable when leading Melbourne 36-0.
What ensued was absolute chaos as the Storm scored six second-half tries to almost pull off the greatest comeback ever seen in SG Ball history.
Both finished in the eight and it will be interesting to see what impact it has in the finals.
BIG FINISH
Canterbury won two of their final three games, including beating the Knights in Newcastle and the second-placed Rabbitohs, to storm into the finals.
They were headed and responded in good fashion against a strong Souths outfit.
With Alex Conti steering the ship, you’d be mad to rule them out in a knockout encounter.
DESERVED SUCCESS
St George didn’t deserve to have a winless season, and they ensured that wasn’t the case when upsetting Newcastle in the final round.
The defending premiers rolled out an almost new line-up this year, and they’ll be more competitive with a number of faces set to return for a second season in 2026.
MEN OF STEEL
The way Illawarra was able to shut the door on Balmain should send a warning out to fellow finalists.
The Steelers raced in five tries in the space of 15 minutes to blow the score out and crack the half century at Leichhardt.
SETTING THE BENCHMARK
Parramatta finished the season as undefeated minor premiers - with the only blemish a draw early in the season.
Who took them to a draw? The Roosters, who they will meet this weekend.
The Roosters have been electric of late, setting up a fantastic qualifying final.
TARSHA GALE
TALE OF TWO SEASONS
What a turnaround it was from the Canberra Raiders.
They lost their first four games of the season, before finishing with a flurry to be successful in their final four.
In the end they finished equal seventh, although points differential saw them miss the finals.
NOT TO BE
You have to feel for the Bears.
Their season ended without a win, but it could’ve been a different story.
At the weekend they recorded their second draw of the season, with a two-point defeat to the Raiders in there as well.
MISSED WEEKEND COSTLY
The decision for the Canterbury-St George fixture to be deemed a draw could well have cost the Bulldogs the minor premiership.
They would’ve gone into that contest as heavy favourites, with their defeat to Parramatta seeing them slip into second.
CLASH OF THE TITANS
There were three fixtures involving top-eight sides at the weekend, and all three finished with two-point margins.
It’s a sign of just how tight this competition is, particularly with the seventh-placed Roosters going down narrowly to minor premiers Illawarra.
DISCIPLINE A CONCERN
The red mist descended over Shark Park in a crazy finish to the Sharks-Tigers fixture.
A host of penalties and a send off gave the result to the visiting Wests Tigers on a platter, in a result that denied Cronulla a fifth-placed finish.
That discipline must improve in their knockout clash with Parramatta this weekend.
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