Penrith District Rugby League: Wild spirals, round five wrap and talking points
From kicking goals to catching the ball, nothing was easy as wild weather grabbed hold of local Penrith RL. Here’s the full wrap and talking points from an abnormal round five.
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The wild weather led to some unusual passages of play in round five of the Penrith District Rugby League.
While some of the basics took a back seat, there was still room for stunning individual brilliance.
Round five talking points.
ZERO TO HERO
Windsor teenager Cohen Benson had a mixed night from the kicking tee in the Wolves’ win over St Clair.
In tough conditions, the Balmain Tigers pathways rep sprayed his first attempt from point blank rage, before making amends from the touchline just before the interval.
AGAINST THE GRAIN
Emu Plains made short work of St Clair’s right edge defence, scoring five of six tries to the left of the posts.
And five-eighth Isaac Thompson had his fingerprints over all of them, but it was a tweak to the last that decided the result.
After forcing the play towards the left corner all night, Thompson caught the defence napping with an inside ball to a rampaging Geofery Duku.
TACKLE OF THE WEEK
Kailub Smith carried a bag of tricks against Minchinbury. In addition to gapping the field with a long range try, the Brumbies centre rattled Temo Ledua Ralulu with the hit of the night.
With a textbook driving tackle, the rib-tickler folded the No.13 in half and forced the ball free. The reward came in the next set when Campbell Byrd slid across to make it 10-0.
WAITING ON TROOPS
Every side has dealt with injuries over the opening five rounds, but not all are equipped to deal with a sudden depletion of resources.
Minus several big men, Glenmore Park struggled to keep pace with Windsor and Emu Plains, but looked much stronger through the middle following the return of towering edge backrower David Baumann.
With several more forwards still to return, the Brumbies could be gearing up for a mid-season surge.
LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO HIDE
Saturday’s slush was no place for fullbacks, and with Cambridge Park storming home against Emu Plains, you had to feel for Jake Bentley.
In a tense finish, the normally safe as houses No.1 found himself the target of two perfect Marli Sini spiral bombs.
After failing to lay a hand on the first, he watched on hopelessly as Cambo closed to within two-points. Then in the next set, Bentley spilt another skyscraper, this time saved by the referee who ruled the chasers off-side.
GAME OF THE WEEK
There’s lots to like about round six, be we can’t go past the clash at Parker Street between Brothers and Glenmore Park.
Both sides sit on two wins apiece and have shown glimpses of what might lie ahead.
With an even share of possession the Brumbies have shown they can accumulate points, while for Brothers, their defence continues to improve with every outing.
ROUND SIX (SUNDAY, MAY 19)
Brothers v Glenmore Park, Parker St Reserve
Windsor v St Marys, Windsor Sporting Complex
Minchinbury v Cambridge Park, Federation Forest
Emu Plains v St Clair, Leonay Oval
ROUND FIVE WRAP
The driving rains came, and despite washing away the majority of play in the metropolitan area, local Penrith footy survived the cut.
In unbelievable scenes, all four Don Feltis Cup fixtures took place on a waterlogged Saturday night.
Round five wrap.
CAMBO RISE WITH THE TIDE
Never mind a game of two halves. Emu Plains have held off a fast finishing Cambridge Park 32-24 in a game of two weather events.
While rain fell from the outset at Heber Park, after falling behind by 14 points, Cambo almost sailed to victory during a monsoonal drenching.
Initially, Emu Plains halves Cameron Williams and Isaac Thompson proved untouchable. Williams sent Alex Myles across for the second try of the night, before Thompson cut the defence to shreds with three try assists to open a commanding 26-12 advantage with half an hour to play.
After crossing for a hat-trick last week, winger Daniel Warren once again dined out on the left edge. His third coming from a classy one-arm Sam Cookson offload.
But just as the Emu boys looked headed towards a fourth big victory, Cambridge Park took control.
In torrential conditions, errors were traded before Cambo began to win the middle. Hooker Corey Simpson converted a Lachlan Crossley bust into six points, and in the next set, Henry Tuiafiso cleaned up a bomb to score his second of the night.
Leading by two and with four minutes to go, Emu Plains once again went to Thompson. And with the game in the balance, the five-eighth turned the ball inside and centre Geofery Duku did the rest, icing the victory with a try next to the posts.
“We are stoked, we were missing a few players and I thought it was a gritty win in the end,” said Emu Plains coach Darren Bell.
“Thankfully we attacked at the better end of the field in the first half. I thought Thompson was our best, he made sure we put the points on the board early.
“But to Cambridge Park’s credit, if you give them a sniff they take it. The towering bombs they put up were difficult to handle and we couldn’t stem the flow.”
On the unusual conditions, Bell praised Penrith District Junior Rugby League general manager Blake South for allowing the games to be played, and shared the difficulties faced by the players.
“When our starting front-rowers returned in the second half, they said it was like running in quicksand.”
BROTHERS IMPROVE DESPITE THE WET
Brothers’ season is starting to take shape after they downed Colyton 18-0 at Federation Forest.
Coming off a breakthrough victory in round four, Brothers were never seriously threatened in trying conditions before wrapping up consecutive wins.
It was a tough night for Colyton. Coming off two narrow defeats the Colts paid the price for poor handling.
Following repeat sets, Brendan Randall struck the first blow for Brothers in the ninth minute and they doubled the lead midway through the first half after another Colyton knock-on.
From the ensuing scrum, elusive fullback Joseph Malula Buhendwa broke away down the right edge before sending Harry Reid over next to the uprights.
In driving rain, the Colts almost hit back on halftime through a James Stonestreet kick, but it wasn’t to be and at 12-0 the sides swapped ends.
A Nathan Jones penalty goal extended the margin in the 52nd minute, and it was game over by the time Colyton centre James Ross was sin-binned for a lifting tackle with seven minutes to play.
Buoyed by a one-man advantage, Brothers wrapped up the night in style when hooker Trent Barton-Shaw accelerated through the line to gift centre Pat Calicetto the final try.
“Colyton gave us heaps of ball and we were able to capitalise. Our end to sets is now getting much better,” said Brothers coach Damien Lane.
“We’ve had a tough draw to start, but we’ve also been giving away too many errors in our own half. Strangely, we made less errors in the wet against Minchinbury compared to our performances in the dry.
“It’s great to get a couple of wins but we know Windsor is the benchmark. We have plenty of young talent to work with and our defence through the middle is improving too.”
On a night better suited to ducks, Buhendwa was among Brothers’ best.
“Joseph is a Brothers junior and completed the pre-season with Penrith in the Jersey Flegg squad,” said Lane.
“He’s pushing for selection on the wing in Sydney Shield, he’s a good player and doesn’t miss in defence either.”
WINDSOR TRIM COMETS’ TAIL
Windsor has strengthened its grip at the top of the table after the Wolves blitzed St Clair 32-10 in a six-try performance at Doug Rennie Fields.
In a clash of two unbeaten heavyweights, Windsor brushed aside the wet weather and went to the sheds with a commanding 26-4 lead.
Wolves halfback Connor Mason stepped off his left to open the scoring. St Clair quickly levelled in the 14th minute, when skipper Tinirau Arona opened the way for Ranui Kapua out wide.
After an even opening, Windsor hooker Tyrone Shelley darted over for a trademark try and then the Wolves applied the blow torch, adding another three in the space of 10 minutes.
Rising playmaker Cohen Benson showed why he’s a pathways regular. The 17-year-old oozed class as he gifted winger Jamie Davidson a double, while Aidan Ryan pounced on a Dillin Kelly grubber kick.
The second half was much quieter. St Clair centre George Loko punched through a hole to narrow the gap, but with six minutes to play, Windsor rounded out their fifth win with a try to prop Bowen Ryan.
BRUMBIES SINK JETS
Glenmore Park has powered past Minchinbury 50-12 at an at times underwater Federation Forest.
After falling to frontrunners Windsor and Emu Plains in consecutive weeks, the Brumbies took a while to settle before charging home in the final hour with nine tries.
Hills recruit Dave Baumann was colossal on the left edge. In a night out, the backrower finished with a hat-trick while five-eighth Campbell Byrd crossed twice.
Minchinbury were unable to capitalise on a dominant first 20 minutes, and they struggled to keep their heads above water from the moment Baumann forced his way over.
For the second week in a row, Tuafale Aiomalaga barged over for both Minchinbury tries. However, behind a strong Brumbies pack, Byrd, Noah Smith and halfback Jarred Muller-Dobbe dominated.
The most spectacular try of the night came just before the break when Kailub Smith made it 16-0. With Minchinbury on the attack, a Ryan Jones kick rebounded off Smith before the centre regathered the loose ball and set off down field.
In ankle deep water, the No.4 rewound the clock to days of old, slapping his way along the left touchline in scenes that mimicked a duck during take off.
“We’ve battled away with injuries recently, and the addition of Baumann and fellow backrower Alfred Iva made a significant difference to our performance,” said Glenmore Park coach Shawn Stevens.
“There’s still more players to return, so over the coming weeks I expect our performances to keep improving.”
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