Rugby League Central Coast: News, talking points from round 18

While it was a tough year for Terrigal, the club’s young guns have proved that the future is bright for the Sharks with an impressive achievement.

The performances of Terrigal’s under-19s side proved to be a bright spot for the club. Picture: Supplied

The controversy continued during the final round of the Rugby League Central Coast regular season, with twin forfeits in the first grade competition sparking outrage among Central Coast footy fans.

While the incidents took most of the headlines, there was still plenty of action across the grades as teams prepared for the finals and others said farewell to their seasons.

Catch up with a wrap of the action below.

YOUNG GUNS BURN BRIGHT FOR TERRIGAL

Terrigal’s under-19s team claimed the minor premiership. Picture: Supplied

While it might have been a tough season for Terrigal in first grade, the club’s future looks bright after the Sharks took out the under-19s minor premiership over the weekend.

Going into the round equal on points with Erina at the top of the table, Terrigal put in an excellent final-round performance to wipe away the Eagles 24-6 to claim the minor premiership.

It is a bright spot in what has been an otherwise tough season for the club, which finished eighth in first grade, seventh in reserves and 11th in open grade as injuries and a shortage of players took its toll on the men’s sides.

On a more positive note, Terrigal finished third in the league tag and fifth in women’s tackle competitions, respectively.

And while the young Sharks did extremely well to take out the under-19s competition, their efforts have been felt all across the club, with a string of players stepping up in the higher grades throughout the season.

“Our 19s have done really well this year,” said first grade captain-coach Dylan McKeown. “We’ve obviously pulled a few up but whenever they go back down there they’re absolutely killing it.”

Brooklyn Rosemeyer spent most of the season in first grade. Picture: Sue Graham

Three players in particular – Brooklyn Rosemeyer, Jarrod Dann and Jake Herring – played large chunks of the season in the top grade.

“Honestly, they’ve kept us going this year,” said McKeown. “In both seconds and firsts we’ve relied on them a lot. They’ve been backing up and without them we would have struggled even more.

“It is definitely a silver lining for the club and they can look forward to those juniors. They’ve also got another good 17s team coming through too. The hard part is holding onto them, that’s the challenge over the next couple of years, but if we can keep a core group of them going forward, we’ll be in a real good spot.”

DORA CREEK WRAPS UP DEBUT SEASON

Dora Creek finished the first grade season in fifth. Picture: Michael Gorton

Dora Creek’s debut season in the Central Coast division has come to an end, with the Swampies finishing off its first grade campaign with a 40-22 win over Berkeley Vale in round 18.

The victory saw the side finish in fifth place, two points behind fourth-place Woy Woy to narrowly miss out on the finals.

And while a record of seven wins and six losses is a positive return in its first season in the RLCC, the club was nevertheless disappointed not to be playing finals footy.

“We’re reflecting on the season and whether it was a pass or a fail, but it would have been nice to make the semis,” said coach David Hoban. “But anyway, you can sit back and make a million excuses, but I think we’ve learned a lot of lessons coming into the competition, so we need to be better next year.”

While it was a more difficult season for the Swampies lower grades, who finished ninth in reserves and collected the wooden spoon in both opens and women’s tackle, Hoban said he was proud of their efforts.

“I said to the whole club: first grade was pretty good but even the lower grades did well. Reserve grade, for example: we learned a lot of lessons but they still showed up every week. They got beat by 40 or 50 points some weeks but they still showed up and that’s a credit to the whole club.”

NEWCOMER BAGS TRYSCORING GONG

Dora Creek’s Aaron Simon finished the regular season as the competition’s leading tryscorer. Picture: Michael Gorton

While his team might not have made the finals, Dora Creek winger Aaron Simon finished the season with an individual prize after being named the top tryscorer for the first grade competition.

With some of his main contenders sitting on the sidelines due to last-round forfeits, Simon bagged a try in the Swampies’ victory over Berkeley Vale to finish the regular season on 12 tries, one ahead of Erina’s Nathan Dwyer and The Entrance playmaker Nick Newman.

Back on 10 was Toukley’s Jakob Giles, The Entrance’s Haydan Ritchie and Erina centre Riley Stevenson.

“He should be pretty proud of that,” said coach David Hoban. “Twelve tries is pretty good for a winger.”

Meanwhile Erina’s Finn Douch backed up his title from last season by finishing the season as competition’s leading pointscorer with 111, three ahead of Newman on 108.