Rugby League Central Coast: Wrap, results, talking points from round 15
Woy Woy has hit out at rugby league governing bodies as two players remain ‘in limbo’ following the most controversial incident of the season.
Local Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
There was more movement on the competition ladder as the race to the finals continued during round 15 of the Rugby League Central Coast competition.
Up front, the competition leaders have moved incredibly close to sealing the minor premiership, while one side has kept its finals hopes alive with a big win.
Elsewhere, one team gave its final chances a big boost with a crucial two points.
Catch up with some of the major talking points and a wrap of the action below.
WOY WOY WAITING ON HEARING DATE
It was without doubt the biggest scandal of the season, and it seems the fallout from Woy Woy’s infamous round eight clash with Wyong is still ongoing.
Two months on from the June 9 incident, which saw Woy Woy players Kyle McLean and Nela Moaekiola among those charged for their alleged part in a brawl that took place outside Woy Woy Oval after full-time in the first grade match, the club still hasn’t received a hearing date for the players.
“We’re still waiting for their hearing,” said Woy Woy coach Blake McLean. “They haven’t faced the judiciary yet. They were stood down from all rugby league, effective immediately, but haven’t been given a date yet to face the hearing. It’s been close to two months now.”
Although noting that McLean, who didn’t play on the day, was part of a second group of people charged about a week after the incident, the club has nevertheless been left frustrated by the length of the NSWRL process.
“It’s still a significant amount of time ago,” said the coach. “If you get a player sent off, you’re going to the judiciary that next week. I know it was a big matter but if they’re proven not guilty, then we’ve lost key players for eight weeks for nothing.
“It’s crazy how this whole scenario has panned out. Teams are playing us now but we’re still in limbo.”
He added: “I just don’t think it should take that long to give us a hearing date. If they’re found guilty then they’re guilty. But if they’re innocent what happens to this time? We’ve potentially just lost these two players for eight weeks for nothing.”
A spokesman from NSWRL, the body responsible for the investigation, released the following statement.
“Police are still investigating an incident in a Rugby League Central Coast match between Woy Woy Roosters and Wyong Roos at Woy Woy Oval on Sunday June 9.
“The NSWRL respects the legal process and will make no further comment until it is appropriate.”
The round eight match and its aftermath created one of the biggest scandals seen in Central Coast rugby league in recent history.
It included allegations that a Wyong fan directed racial abuse towards Woy Woy players during the game, and that a member of the crowd threw a ball at the daughter of former NRL star and Woy Woy forward Andrew Fifita, which triggered an altercation in the stands after full-time.
The tension then spilled over into a wild brawl outside the ground that allegedly featured a string of Woy Woy players and officials.
Several people were charged for their role in the various incidents, while Justin Bayley, the father of Wyong player Chaice Bayley, was banned from all facets of rugby league in NSW for 20 years for sending Fifita racist comments on social media after the match.
That wasn’t all, with Terrigal and Erina both forfeiting their matches against Woy Woy in the weeks after the incident. The clubs were protesting what they believed was a lack of disciplinary action taken against Woy Woy at the time, claiming that the club had been responsible for several incidents of bad behaviour over the course of the first half of the season.
‘QUITTER’S MENTALITY’ CRUELLING BERKELEY VALE
They’ve conceded 260 points, had the mercy rule invoked twice and forfeited a game – and that’s just in the last month. After a positive start to 2024, Berkeley Vale has seen its season morph into a nightmare.
Indeed, after an improved start to the campaign that had seen the club win one and draw one of its first six games, the wheels have well and truly fallen off, with the side conceding scorelines of 60, 50, 60, 56 and 40 over the past five games.
Two of those games, played against ladder-leaders Erina, were called off well before full-time due to the mercy rule, which sees games stopped immediately when the margin between the teams reaches 60.
In addition, the club forfeited its reserve grade fixture against Woy Woy on the weekend due to a lack of players.
And while most clubs have their challenges with player numbers at this time of the year as injuries and suspensions take their toll, the Panthers have been subject to an incredibly unique situation.
Simply put, a string of players – namely the club’s Sydney-based recruits – have just stopped turning up for the club.
“I think they thought their ability was going to carry them through without doing the work,” said coach Michael Sullivan. “They weren’t on big money, to be fair. Match payments were significantly lower if we lost, and they were probably only just covering costs with tolls and things.”
He added: “We got that good win against Wyong (in round three) and then unfortunately we had three weeks of wet weather and it really burst our bubble. And the lads coming up probably looked at it and said, ‘We’re going backwards financially.’ Then they came up and didn’t really impress like they should have and I think they found it really hard.”
The saga has been a harsh lesson for Sullivan, who looked to experienced Sydney-based players to make the squad more competitive after a string of meagre seasons.
“I’ve questioned myself and the right and wrong ways of doing it. But when you’re getting eight and nine at training and blokes opting out, you can only handle so many excuses. You see people under bonnets of cars, forgetting keys at petrol stations, guys saying, ‘Oh, I’m all of a sudden sick’ or there’s a work meeting.
“And then they play the ‘mental health’ card, I don’t think I’m out of line saying that, but don’t think of other people’s mental health. What about me trying to scramble a side together with four blokes pulling out without even the respect of a message on game day? To have four blokes pull out and not even have the courtesy of a message is very disrespectful.”
While the club had been affected by multiple absences earlier in the season, the rescheduled round four fixture against Erina on July 7, which saw the saw side lose 60-0 by virtue of the mercy rule, was a new low.
“The Erina game was the worst of it, there were four – all our props – who just didn’t turn up, no courtesy message,” said Sullivan. “I was just ringing them off the hook to see if they were going to get there.
“It just decimated our side to the point where we had to get (open grade player and women’s tackle team coach) Tane (Tutaki) to play. He backed up third grade, reserve grade and then stayed till he had to go on shift, so we only had him for the first 20 minutes.
“They were just putting their teammates under duress. There was no mutual respect or even the common courtesy to say they wouldn’t be there – they just literally don’t show.”
Sullivan added: “I think with footy players today – and I’m not just talking about the Berkeley Vale club – they’re a different breed: they look to opt out, contracts don’t mean much, they expect things to come easily and they don’t work through things.
“It’s a bit of a quitter’s mentality, if I’m being honest. They didn’t work hard for it and they just opted out because the financial gain probably wasn’t great enough for them when they were coming through that period when they were losing games.”
The experience has led Sullivan – a former NRL player with Cronulla and Canterbury – to announce that he will leave the club at season’s end after two years in charge.
“I’ve told them I’m standing down. After the Erina game I was pretty abrupt in saying that I won’t be about. It’s not for me when that happens. There’s nothing you can do as a coach when you don’t get that buy-in,” he said.
“I’ve taken on projects at Orange CYMS and the school that I’m at now (Central Coast Sports College) where I’ve tried to build something or fix something, but I wasn’t able to do that with the mentality at Berkeley Vale,” he added. “The job is too big for me.”
And while the past month has been among the toughest to deal with in his footballing career, Sullivan is nevertheless hopeful of finishing the season on a high.
“This week will be really tough. First up, we want to field sides in all grades,” he said.
“We’ve got Toukley, they’re flying at the minute. But it’s at home, it’s our last home game, so hopefully it can get a few blokes excited. And then after that, my main goal is not to finish last. We play Terrigal in an all-hands-in game not to finish on the bottom of the table … We want to take something out of the year and salvage it.”
BURKE FLYING HIGH FOR ERINA
Erina’s Riley Burke grabbed all the headlines over the weekend as he crossed for four tries in the Eagles’ 40-6 victory over Dora Creek.
“It was an unbelievable display from young Burkey,” said coach Dane Allen. “At least two of them came from just individual stuff where he got an offload, made a break, chipped over the fullback, regathered and scored. He’s a freakishly talented young man and we’re very lucky to have him on our footy side.”
Bursting onto the scene last season as a 17-year-old, Burke finished 2023 as the competition’s leading tryscorer with 21 and was named CCRL’s rookie of the year.
And while he hasn’t quite hit the same tryscoring heights in 2024, with his haul of the weekend taking him to six tries, Allen said the young gun has still been exceptional for the table-topping Eagles.
“He’s been unreal. Sometimes he seems a bit lackadaisical about how he approaches things but that’s just him as a person.
“He’s a very laid back young man and doesn’t exude too much confidence when it comes to his personality but when he’s on that footy field he’s just freakishly talented and I love seeing him play and taking his chances, like he did on the weekend with four tries.”
One of the reasons behind the change in Burke’s try return is the different role he has played this season.
While last year he played on the wing, in the current campaign he has lined up in more of a hybrid role, switching between wing and fullback with teammate Jack Frasca.
“He and Jack Frasca mix it up between themselves,” said Allen. “There are a couple of little telltale signs, a couple of indicators and when we notice those we send the message out and they just change. It worked pretty well on the weekend.”
He added: “They’re just totally different footy players. You’ve got Burkey who’s just got silky smooth skills and that sort of stuff, but then Jack is just about the strongest carry in our footy side and his kick returns are second to none and get us on the front foot on tackle one.”
“So once we see our indicators, once we see some tired middles or we start to get the ascendancy and on the front foot we push Burkey to fullback. Or if we come from a set start over half way we put Burkey to fullback so he can ball play and do a bit more with his footwork. And then you’ve got Jack on a wing who jumps higher than anyone and is a pretty good kick target as well. So there are a few green lights for us and it’s been working a treat.”
GILES HITS HIS STRAPS
Another top performer in round 15 was Toukley’s Jakob Giles, who continued his strong form with a double as the Hawks defeated Kincumber 26-18.
The big back-rower crashed over for a double inside the first 15 minutes, which was the fourth game in a row that he had crossed the stripe.
The performance saw Giles move to equal top of the tryscorers’ list with 10, as he once again looms as one of Toukley’s biggest attacking weapons heading into the business end of the season.
“He’s got a lot of our 3-2-1 points in the last couple of weeks,” said captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick. “I keep saying that he could play in any competition in NSW and he’d dominate it. He’s a good asset to have on that left edge. I’m glad he’s on my team.”
TRYSCORERS RACE HEATS UP
Speaking of tryscorers, the race to finish the regular with the most tries has taken an interesting twist in recent weeks, with three players tied at the top.
The Entrance halfback Nick Newman, Erina’s Nathan Dwyer and Toukley’s Jakob Giles are all sitting on 10 tries after the weekend’s action, one ahead of Erina centre Riley Stevenson and two clear of Finn Douch (Erina), Matthew Gentles and Haydan Ritchie (both The Entrance).
While when it comes to overall points, Douch (107) has overtaken Newman (96) on the back of a big last month for Erina.
While at one stage it looked like it was a forgone conclusion with Newman streets ahead of the field in both categories, the fact that the halfback has missed the last three games on Denton Cup duty has allowed others to catch up, with Erina’s and Toukley’s strong run of form helping their players pile on the points.
WYONG KEEPS HOPES ALIVE
While Erina has moved within touching distance of the minor premiership, Wyong has kept its hopes of making the finals alive as it continues its late-season charge.
For the second week in a row the Roos cracked the half-century as they hammered Terrigal 54-10 to move to 13 points of the ladder, three behind fourth-placed Woy Woy and one point behind Dora Creek.
After losing its first four games in a horror start to the season, Wyong has now won five of its last seven, with the past fortnight bolstering the team’s for-and-against differential by 86 points.
While the Roos have some work to do to try and sneak into the top four, they do have the luxury of an extra game in hand, with the club’s round four fixture against Dora Creek to be replayed on Wednesday August 21, the week before the final round of the regular season.
ROUND 15 WRAP
The race for the finals took another step over the weekend as some crucial results shaped the competition ladder. One side moved into outright fourth while another its hopes of making the top four alive.
Meanwhile at the top, the leaders are just one step away from claiming the minor premiership.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
ERINA WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE OF SILVERWARE
Erina has all but sewn up a top-two spot and moved within touching distance of the minor premiership after defeating Dora Creek 40-6 at the Dora Creek Workers Club Oval.
Young outside back Riley Burke put on a clinic with four tries as the Eagles overcame a tight opening to pull away from the Swampies to record the side’s 11th win from as many starts this season.
“It was a tough old game. They certainly play a tough brand of footy,” said Erina coach Dane Allen. “They’re just big and strong, they’re monstrous actually, a big side. But we just stuck to our processes with completions, didn’t take too many chances and just wore them down and took over in the second half.”
Indeed, while the scoreline blew out in the end, things remained tight in the early stages, with Burke crossing midway through the first half to give the Eagles an early lead. The scoreline remained 6-0 until late in the half, when a quick-fire double gave Erina a 16-0 lead at the break.
The young Eagles kept the momentum going early in the second with a couple of early tries before running away with the game to ultimately record an impressive 34-point victory.
“I think it took us a little while to get into our groove,” said Allen. “We started playing a bit of their style of footy, a bit of bash and barge, but once we started to get back into what we do we just pulled away from them.
“And then in the first five or six minutes of the second half we scored again, which sort of broke them a little bit.”
Allen added: “But it was a good game, they’re a good side. They play their own brand of footy and they try to get you to play that style. If you get caught doing that, they’re a side that can take advantage of it. But we scored a couple of good tries which gave us some confidence and we played off the top of that.”
With four tries to his name, Allen paid special tribute to outside back Burke, who in floating between fullback and wing turned on the magic with an excellent performance.
“It was an unbelievable display from young Burkey. At least two of tries came from just individual stuff where he got an offload, made a break, chipped over the fullback, regathered and scored. He’s a freakishly talented young man and we’re very lucky to have him on our footy side.”
The win takes Erina four points clear of The Entrance and Toukley with three rounds remaining. However given that the Eagles have a bye this weekend and comfortably the best points difference in the competition at 292, it is extremely unlikely that they will slip outside the top two even if they lose their remaining fixtures.
The team, which is undefeated so far this season, needs just one more point from its last two games to seal the minor premiership.
As for Dora Creek, although remaining in fifth, the loss sees the side slip two points behind Woy Woy in the race for fourth.
Erina 40 defeated Dora Creek 6
TOUKLEY DOWNS COLTS TO KEEP PACE
Toukley has kept its hopes of a top-two finish alive after defeating Kincumber 26-18 at MacKillop Oval.
Back-rower Jakob Giles moved to the equal top of the leading tryscorers’ list with 10 after bagging a double for the understrength Hawks, who recorded their third win in a row and seventh from their last eight matches.
Coming into the game missing six regular first graders through absence and injury, Toukley raced out to an early 12-0 lead before Kincumber hit back with two quick tries of their own to level things up midway through the first half.
A try to forward Kene Te Whata late in the half gave the Hawks a 16-12 lead at the break, with another quick-fire double to Matthew Dicks and Jacob Griffin early in the second stretching the scoreline out to 26-12.
And while Damon Brady’s second brought the margin back to eight points, Toukley closed the game out to run out winners.
Despite taking home the two points with several key players out, Toukley captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick said he was left frustrated at times by his side’s performance.
“From the outside looking in you might think it’s a pretty good win but I’m pretty big on the ‘next man up, nothing should change’ kind of thing,” he said.
“To be honest, we were up 12-0 and we sort of took it a bit easy. They got it back to 12-all and then we clicked into gear again in the second half, got up to 26-12 and then dropped a gear again and let them back in.
“I was pretty disappointed that we didn’t go on with it when we went up by 12 points. We let them back in and we can’t afford to do that moving forward. But we do have a lot of injuries, so I’m pretty pleased to get the two points.”
In particular Toukley’s left edge was on fire, with all five tries coming down that side.
“It’s a good edge,” said Fitzpatrick. “Any time I’ve got Jakob Giles out there, it makes my day a lot easier.”
The victory keeps the Hawks in third place, equal on 20 points with second-placed The Entrance and four behind leaders Erina.
Meanwhile Kincumber remains in seventh on 10 points.
Toukley 26 defeated Kincumber 18
WOY WOY BACK IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Woy Woy has moved into outright fourth on the competition ladder after a putting away Berkeley Vale 40-16 at Ted Doyle Oval.
Centre Leighton Tali bagged a double as the Roosters ran in seven tries to three to snap a three-match losing streak.
“The scoreline of 40-16 – there were some positive things but still plenty to work on if we’re gonna be a serious threat in this competition,” said Woy Woy coach Blake McLean.
“We got the win, we needed that. But there’s plenty to work on.”
In particular, the coach was critical of his team’s patience and decision-making at various stages throughout the game.
“It is hard when you play games like that when there’s plenty of space and you sort of flick that ball when you don’t need to or throw that extra pass or do that chip kick,” he said.
“Really, what I wanted them to do was stick to what we’ve been working on at training, our structure that we’re gonna need to beat these goods teams. And we did do it in patches – we scored some great tries off some great shape – but we did get stuck in that rut of trying to do the miracle play.”
Coming off the bye, Woy Woy got off to a bright start with two early tries to Beau Bovis and Hemi Knebel, before Berkeley Vale’s Makrau Fonmanu pulled one back to make it 10-4 midway through the first half.
The Roosters reasserted their control over the game with another two tries before the break to take a 22-4 lead into halftime.
The visitors then kicked on early in the second half by running in another three unanswered tries to stretch the scoreline out to 36-4, before Berkeley Vale pulled back another two consolation efforts in the final quarter of the match.
And while pleased to take the two competition points to move into outright fourth, two ahead of Dora Creek and three ahead of Wyong, McLean was under no illusions about his team’s performance.
“For patches in that game we looked really good and then for patches we were battling it out with them, so we’ve definitely got plenty of work to do if we’re gonna be in the finals, or even if we do scrape in, if we’re going to do anything in there,” he said.
“You can see what Erina and Toukley are doing. That’s the benchmark.”
While Woy Woy took the win, the result marked another defeat for Berkeley Vale, who has had a difficult past month on the back of shortage of players. The team remains in eighth with one win and one draw this season.
Woy Woy 40 defeated Berkeley Vale 16
WYONG RUNS RIOT AGAINST TERRIGAL
Wyong has cracked the half-century for the second week in a row and in the process kept its finals hopes alive after hammering Terrigal 54-10 at Morry Breen Oval.
Cooper Bigeni and Chaice Bayley both scored doubles as the Roos ran in 10 tries to two, which included six in the second half.
The victory, which comes after Wyong’s 56-14 thrashing of Berkeley Vale last weekend, continued the team’s strong run of form that has seen it win five of its last seven games to surge into finals contention.
While remaining in sixth, the Roos moved just one point behind fifth-placed Dora Creek and are three behind fourth-placed Woy Woy with one game in hand.
Importantly, the two heavy wins over the past fortnight have bolstered the team’s points difference by 84 to plus two.
Meanwhile the loss continued Terrigal’s difficult season, with the Sharks having won just one of their nine games so far in 2024.
Wyong 54 defeated Terrigal 10
Join the conversation
Johns/Daley Cup: The one play that decided the season
The script was set for a dramatic conclusion as the race for the finals went down to the final play of the season in the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups.
Read more
‘Best foot forward’: Standouts as NSW Waratahs U20s complete special Reds double
The coach singled out some special players for mention as the Waratahs under 20s completed a special double against the Queensland Reds in front of Aussie selectors. Stars, result wrap.
Read more