Rugby League: Wrap, results, gallery from round two of the CCRL and Denton Cup
A former NRL star has shown his value while one team has overcome a “laughable” mismatch during round two of the CCRL and Denton Cup.
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A Central Coast derby in the Denton Cup between Wyong and The Entrance highlighted a wet and wild weekend of local rugby league on the Coast.
With all bar one of the local CCRL games called off due to the weather, the Roos hosted the Tigers in the Newcastle Rugby League first grade and under-19 fixtures at Morry Breen Oval.
Facing off for the first time since last year’s elimination final, both sides came into the game after a round one win, while the under-19s teams started their inaugural campaigns in the Newcastle competition against familiar opponents. Meanwhile in the local competition, Woy Woy hosted fellow round one winners Erina.
Catch up with a wrap of the action, a photo gallery of the best shots and the top talking points below.
TIGERS GO THREE IN A ROW
The conditions might have been miserable at Morry Breen Oval, but it was a sweet Saturday for The Entrance as the Tigers defeated Wyong 6-0 in the Denton Cup.
After a 20-8 win in round six last year and a nailbiting 17-16 victory in the elimination final, the win was The Entrance’s third in a row against the Roos in the competition.
“It probably makes it a little more special because of the rivalry between the two clubs, but coming up here and getting the two points is massive,” said coach Jamy Forbes.
“As much as we hate each other, we’re now up there in the Newcastle competition and it’d be great to see us both do well, as we did last year. But it’d be lovely to be a little higher up the ladder so we don’t have to play each other. But getting two or three in a row against your rivals is good in any sport.”
AUSTIN SHOWS HIS CLASS
One of the standouts in the hard-fought 6-0 victory was The Entrance’s big-name recruit Blake Austin.
The former Canberra and Warrington five-eighth was into just about everything in his man-of-the-match performance, whether that be earning repeats sets of six with his short kicking game, putting the Wyong back three under pressure with some bombs or taking on the line.
Early in the second half he showed that he can also do it without the ball by picking up Roos winger Levi Kasun and slamming him onto his back in one of the hits of the game, while he showed great awareness to mop up a dangerous chip kick late in the match when Wyong was pushing for a try.
To cap things off, Austin finished the game by drilling a dropout into touch with the final play to deny Wyong one last chance and seal the win.
“What I’m really impressed with is his composure,” said Forbes.
“In saying that, like a lot of footballers he still rolls the dice. But just his composure in the way he handles himself whether with the playing group, the media or the fans, he’s just a really professional, easy going bloke with plenty of skill.
“He might be at the back end of his career, and he copped plenty from the Wyong faithful behind the tryline, but he kept coming up with important plays.”
UNDER-19s KICK OFF NEW ERA
It was also a significant day for Wyong and The Entrance’s under-19s sides, who kicked off a new era playing against each other, with the Roos prevailing 14-12.
Both sides will play in the Newcastle Rugby League under-19s competition this year rather than the local Central Coast division, a decision that proponents say gives the clubs a chance to play against stronger competition and also allows for greater draw alignment with the Denton Cup first grade sides.
It comes amid wider plans for a shake-up of the under-19s age group, which has struggled for numbers since the outbreak of Covid-19.
In plans announced in July last year, the CCRL and NEWRL said that in addition to inviting Wyong and The Entrance to join the Newcastle competition, the rest of the Central Coast sides would combine with an under-18.5 Newcastle and Maitland grade to form an extended second-tier competition across both regions.
However the proposed amalgamation has fallen through, with five Central Coast teams – Erina, Kincumber, Ourimbah, Terrigal and Umina – contesting the local competition this season, which is set to kick off on May 5.
ERINA PREVAILS IN MISMATCH
To the local league now, and anyone watching the first grade clash between Woy Woy and Erina on Saturday might have been mistaken for thinking that it was a seniors v juniors practice match such was the discrepancy in size between the two teams.
“The size difference was just laughable,” said Erina coach Dane Allen. “That Woy Woy team, they’re massive, they’re a huge team and the conditions certainly favoured them with big bodies trundling through the middle.”
He added: “I had some people come up to me before the game and question whether we were going to survive.”
Led by former Origin and Australia representative Andrew Fifita, the big Roosters side took an early lead before the young Eagles fought back to secure an impressive 14-4 come-from-behind win, with the coach praising his side’s fitness and drive.
“Our line speed, just like in the first week against Terrigal, was great. We don’t have a big side so we just need to swarm them with numbers.
“But we’ve got the mentality now that we know our fitness is enough to put bodies in the tackle and then get ourselves back onside for the full 80 minutes if need be.”
The win was even more impressive considering that the Eagles suffered three injuries during the game.
“We played the last 12 minutes last week with 12 players and this week we were out of interchanges with 10 or 11 to go – we had to take three interchanges due to injuries,” said Allen. “It’s just credit to the boys’ mental toughness and resilience. It’s something we’ve been focusing on pretty heavily in the pre-season and just being aware that we are fit, so we rely heavily on it because that’s what’s going to win us games.”
EAGLES’ DEPTH SHINES THROUGH
With five missing from round one and then losing a further three throughout the match, Erina’s win over Woy Woy was testament to the club’s depth so early in the season.
“I had five blokes from the week before missing – a couple of injuries and three blokes were away for various reasons. We called upon five blokes to come into the side during the week and credit to those kids, they all performed brilliantly,” said Allen.
And while impressed with some of his young chargers, Allen saved special mention for one of the Eagles’ older warhorses.
“Joel Frazer, our lock forward and captain, was phenomenal. He’s such a good leader and has stepped into that leadership role for us and he’s just doing it do admirably. I can’t speak highly enough of what he’s doing at the moment.”
DOUBLE CLEAN SWEEPS
Still on Erina and the club continued its excellent start to the season with its second clean sweep in as many weeks.
Taking on Woy Woy in firsts, reserves and women’s tackle, St Edwards in open grade and Umina in league tag, the Eagles recorded five wins over the weekend to take their 2024 record to nine wins from nine, with an incredible combined score of 240-48.
ROUND TWO WRAP
WOUNDED ERINA OUTLASTS WOY WOY
Erina has overcome a lengthy injury toll and a huge Woy Woy team to keep its unbeaten start to the season alive after downing the Roosters 14-4 in a hard-fought clash at Woy Woy Oval.
In a game played in incredibly wet conditions, the young Eagles team came from behind to ultimately overrun Woy Woy with three tries in the second half.
“I was really happy with the way they hung in there and found a way to win,” said Erina coach Dane Allen.
“I had five blokes from the week before missing – a couple of injuries and three blokes were away for various reasons. We called upon five blokes to come into the side during the week and credit to those kids, they all performed brilliantly.”
In particular, the coach noted the significant size difference between Woy Woy – which features former Origin and Australia representative Andrew Fifita – and his young Eagles side.
“The size difference was just laughable,” said Allen. “That Woy Woy team, they’re massive, they’re a huge team and the conditions certainly favoured them with big bodies trundling through the middle.”
He added: “I had some people come up to me before the game and question whether we were going to survive. But our blokes just got in there. We’re a fast side, we move the ball around and our instructions were not to change a thing: stick to what we do but put a little more focus on our execution and making sure those little individual skill errors aren’t going to lose us the game.
“And credit to our blokes, we continued to move the footy around and did it well, and then late in the game we were presented with a couple of opportunities and our blokes made no mistake.”
Making good yards through the middle, Woy Woy took the lead through a Hemi Knebel try and led 4-0 at the break.
However the Eagles bounced back with a converted try to winger Luke Maljevac just after half time to lead 6-4, before another midway through the half to Jack Smith pushed the side out to a 10-4 lead.
Then in final minutes front rower Daniel Peters put the cherry on top with another four-pointer to seal the impressive 14-4 victory.
And while Erina came into the game under strength, the team suffered another three injuries that further tested its depth in the final stages, with the coach praising his side’s resolve to pick up the two points.
“We played the last 12 minutes last week with 12 players and this week we were out of interchanges with 10 or 11 to go – we had to take three interchanges due to injuries,” said Allen. “It’s just credit to the boys’ mental toughness and resilience.”
Erina 14 (Maljevac, Smith, Peters tries; Martin one goal) defeated Woy Woy 4 (Knebel try)
DENTON CUP
The Entrance has kept its unbeaten start to the season alive and in the process claimed bragging rights in the Denton Cup Central Coast showdown after a hard-fought 6-0 victory over Wyong at Morry Breen Oval.
A solitary try to fullback Luke Geary late in the first half was enough for the Tigers to seal their third straight victory over the Roos in a game that for large parts was played in driving rain.
“It probably makes it a little more special because of the rivalry between the two clubs, but coming up here and getting the two points is massive,” said The Entrance coach Jamy Forbes.
Adapting well to the conditions, the Tigers showed greater discipline with the ball to finish their sets while The Entrance’s forwards were immense in giving the team good field position and forcing mistakes out of the Roos, who at times were wasteful with the ball in hand.
“I think a lot of it came down to our attitude,” said Forbes. “We were 22-0 up last week and just thought we were going to go on with it (before winning 28-24).
“So today, leading just 6-0, we knew what we had to do and the boys just kept turning for each other – and that’s all you can ask, especially in conditions like this. Obviously we knew it wasn’t going to be an open, free-flowing game, but to be able to defend them to zero, no matter whether it’s wet or dry is a massive feather in your cap.”
Lock Jake Woods was excellent in the middle while former Canberra and Warrington five eighth Blake Austin and his halves partner Brendan O’Hagan showed plenty of class with their kicking game as the Tigers moved to two wins from two to start the season.
Despite the gloomy conditions, The Entrance made a bright start, earning a dropout in just the second minute after a clever Austin grubber kick.
The Wyong dropout failed to go 10m, with Tigers centre Harry Mulligan slotting a penalty goal from in front to put his side 2-0 up after just a couple of minutes.
The Tigers maintained the pressure in the early stages as O’Hagan also earned his side a repeat set with an excellent grubber of his own.
After a fairly disciplined start from both teams, errors started creeping into the game in the torrential conditions, with a mistake from Wyong lock Jack Stringer in playing the ball giving The Entrance excellent field position.
Some smart work from Blake Austin down the blind side put Mao Uta in the clear, however the winger was held up over the line by some desperate Wyong defence.
The Tigers were forcing the Roos to do plenty of defending, with another dangerous grubber from Austin on the half-hour mark resulting in a Wyong error and giving The Entrance a golden opportunity to go further ahead.
The pressure eventually paid off, with O’Hagan putting Geary over with a nice cut-out ball for the first try of the match. Mulligan hit the post with his conversion attempt to leave scores at 6-0 at the break.
After spending much of the first half fighting for field position, the Roos started to work their way on top as their middles made good yardage up field.
However handling errors kept cruelling Wyong, with interchange forward Mathew Meafua spilling the ball just a couple of metres out from the line after a strong charge and Sione Vaenuku losing the ball when the team had a full set on The Entrance’s line.
The game moved into a grind as both teams fought for territory, and although Wyong had their opportunities, poor discipline with the ball kept biting the side, with the Roos making multiple mistakes at the play-the-ball to hand over possession in dangerous areas.
The Entrance’s defence also muscled up as the Tigers forced errors with a string of jolting hits and pushed the Roos to chance their arm.
Former NRL and Super League playmaker Austin was outstanding for the Tigers and he capped off a man-of-the-match performance by drilling a line dropout into touch with the final play of the game to deny Wyong one last chance to score and seal the win.
The Entrance 6 (Geary try; Mulligan one goal) defeated Wyong 0
Under-19s
Wyong’s under-19s team has kicked off its first game in the Newcastle competition with a nailbiting 14-12 victory over The Entrance.
Kicking off a new era for the two clubs, who will this year compete in the Newcastle district competition instead of the local Central Coast division, a couple of Chaice Bayley penalty goals ultimately proved to be the difference in the game, which saw the Roos take an early lead before holding off a stern Tigers comeback.
The home side got off to the perfect start, with five-eighth Bayley kicking a 40/20 in the first set of the game. From the ensuing set Wyong then put the ball through the hands for winger Max Smith to score in the corner in just the second minute to make it 4-0.
The Roos were on top early and the game took on another turn on 17 minutes when The Entrance’s centre Zahn McKay caught Wyong fullback Samisoni Talakai with a high shot and was sent to 10 in the bin. Bayley then slotted the penalty goal to put his side up by six.
Wyong made their advantage count by charging up field, before hooker Lachlan Simpson rolled a deft grubber into the in-goal for prop Trey Watson to score under the sticks.
The Roos were well on top, however the Tigers hit back with just a couple of minutes left on the clock, with halfback Harrison McPeak putting in a clever grubber for winger Cooper Tippett, who kicked the ball through into the in-goal and grounded the ball just inside the dead-ball line for an excellent try.
The halfback then slotted the conversion to bring the scores back to 12-6 at halftime.
The Entrance carried their momentum into the second half and thought they’d scored just two minutes in, however the final ball to McKay was called back for being forward.
The Tigers were knocking on the door but were turned back time and again by some excellent Wyong goal line defence.
Midway through the half The Entrance thought Tippett was over for his second after some nice work from McKay, however the winger juggled the ball and was ultimately given a penalty after being tackled without possession.
The key moment then came with 12 minutes to go when Wyong halfback Zeke Gibson was caught high while attacking The Entrance’s line. Bayley took the two points to put the Roos up 14-6.
However the Tigers didn’t roll over and set up an exciting finish when a nice spread to the right put winger John Roy over with just a couple of minutes to play.
And while McPeak slotted the conversion from out wide, it proved to be too little too late as Wyong held on for a hard-fought 14-12 victory.
Wyong 14 (Smith, Watson tries; Bayley three goals) defeated The Entrance 12 (Tippett, Roy tries; McPeak two goals)
PHOTO GALLERY
Wyong v The Entrance – Denton Cup
Wyong vs The Entrance – Under-19s
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