Rugby League Central Coast: Wrap, results, standouts from round four

The defending premiers have sent another message to the competition, while a send-off helped decide a heavyweight blockbuster in the RLCC.

Erina continued its strong start to its title defence. Picture: Sue Graham

After last weekend was washed out by the wild weather, local footy returned with round four of the Rugby League Central Coast competition.

With early season points up for grabs, the defending premiers have continued their impressive start to the campaign with a stunning performance.

Catch up with a wrap of the action below.

SEND-OFF TURNS GAME AS TOUKLEY DOWNS WOY WOY

Toukley downed Woy Woy in a seesawing clash. Picture: Damian Shaw

Toukley has ground out its second early season result in as many games as the Hawks defeated Woy Woy 18-10 in a seesawing clash at Woy Woy Oval.

With scores locked up at 10-all midway through the second half, the sending off of Roosters’ forward Jake Hardman for a trip helped turn the match in the Hawks’ favour as they overcame plenty of dropped ball to finish eight-point victors.

In a clash between two of last year’s semi-finalists, Toukley got off to a disastrous start when five-eighth Terence Seuseu knocked the ball on directly from the kick-off.

With a fresh set on the Toukley line, the Roosters wasted no time chasing in, shifting the ball left for winger Ashton Carroll to score in just the second minute.

The Hawks’ early ball-handling issues continued as they turned the ball over in good attacking areas.

However they did strike 13 minutes in when a nice cut-out ball from hooker Josh Veacock close to the line put Aaron Heaven over untouched to level things up at 6-all.

From here the Hawks’ forwards started making good yardage up field. And while the team enjoyed strong field position, knock-ons and forward passes cost them dearly in attack.

Joe Williams went over for the Roosters’ second. Picture: Sue Graham

While Toukley couldn’t capitalise on its opportunities, Woy Woy made the Hawks pay ruthlessly 15 minutes before the break.

After the Roosters forced an error out of the visitors while coming out of their own end, the ball landed in the hands of halfback Reece Piepers, who spread the ball right for Joe Williams.

The big centre sped down the line before skipping back on the inside to beat four Hawks to score and make it 10-6.

And while both sides had opportunities to strike again late in the half, errors continued to be a feature of the contest as the home side took a 10-6 lead into the break.

The issue was most pressing for the Hawks, who without skipper Jake Fitzpatrick struggled to capitalise on their opportunities despite enjoying plenty of ball in Woy Woy’s half.

And while things had been clunky for the visitors, they struck in a very similar fashion to their opponents 15 minutes after the restart.

After forcing an error out of the Roosters 40m out from their own line, Toukley picked up the ball and shifted it left to centre Jacob Griffin, who sliced through a gap and then put on the afterburners to go all the way to lock things up at 10-all.

The game was well and truly in the balance before a pivotal moment changed the nature of the contest.

Kallin Adams crashed over for the matchwinner for Toukley. Picture: Sue Graham

Picking up the ball 35m out from the Woy Woy line, Toukley’s Sam Grose went on a run from dummy-half. Just as it appeared as though he would slice through the line, Roosters’ forward Hardman stuck out a leg and tripped him over.

While Toukley received a penalty 30m out right in front, the situation was made much worse for the home side, with Hardman sent off by the referee.

Kiran page slotted the penalty to put the Hawks up 12-10 with 17 minutes to play.

Suddenly the Roosters were well and truly up against it, with an error coming out of their own end increasing the pressure even further.

From the ensuing set, Grose came up with his second big play in quick succession by putting Kallin Adams over from close range to stretch out to an 18-10 lead with 10 to play.

And while Woy Woy threw everything at Toukley in the final stages, the Hawks held on for a gritty eight-point win.

After an opening round loss to Erina, Toukley has now ground out two tough wins in a row, while Woy Woy’s tough start to the season continues as the team slumped to its third straight defeat from as many games.

Toukley 18 (Heaven, Griffin, Adams tries; Page three goals) defeated Woy Woy 10 (Carroll, Williams tries; Piepers one goal)

ERINA HAMMERS PANTHERS WITH FIRST-HALF BLITZ

Erina was outstanding in its big win over Berkeley Vale. Picture: Sue Graham

Erina has continued its outstanding start to its title defence with a 52-6 hammering of Berkeley Vale at Erina Oval.

A blistering first half performance, which saw the Eagles race out to a 40-0 lead, laid the platform for the victory as the side ran in nine tries to one in the dominant performance.

“We played some really good footy,” said coach Dane Allen.

“Because of all the rain we haven’t had a chance to do much team-wise. We’ve had a couple of gym sessions and there hasn’t been much team talk, so I was really pleased with how we played in the first half.”

Indeed, despite having a week off due to the wet weather, Erina showed no signs of rustiness as the team was absolutely ruthless in the opening exchanges.

“That’s our brand of footy: it’s that fast, up-tempo, really high-level-of-skill footy. When we’re doing it effectively it’s hard to stop,” said the coach.

Fullback Lincoln Tubridy continued his strong return after a year and a half out of the game with a man-of-the-match performance, centre Finn Douch was a handful out wide as he collected a personal haul of 20 points while young hooker Sebastian Plaister stood up in the absence of regular dummy-half Zade Besley with a strong display, setting the tone early and picking up two tries for his efforts.

Sebastian Plaister was impressive for the Eagles. Picture: Sue Graham

“Sebby was really good for us,” said Allen. “Defensively, he was brutal in those early stages and got a couple of errors out of them with some good shots. And off the back of that we took advantage of it.”

After a stunning opening 40 the Eagles weren’t able to maintain the same momentum in the second half, with some positional changes resulting in just two tries to one after the break.

“I saw it as an opportunity to give a couple of blokes some positional changes, move a few blokes around and throw a couple of curve balls at a couple of blokes to get them out of their comfort zone in terms of where they were playing on the field. More just hypotheticals to see what it looks like,” said Allen.

“It got a bit clunky when we switched things around but the boys kept defending well and only conceded the one try, which was really pleasing.”

Samuel Yalisaya pulled back a late try for the Panthers. Picture: Sue Graham

It proved to be a successful debut for local junior Brok Elliott, who followed in the footsteps of father John and older brothers Toby and Jake in representing the club in first grade. In a special moment, the young gun got to share the field with Toby in what was a big win.

“He’s the third one I’ve had the honour to present a jersey to,” said Allen. “He’s a really nice young fella and he comes from a great family.

“From our perspective he’s got a huge future and from a club perspective I hope it’s not at Erina, I hope it’s further afield. Hopefully he can get down to Sydney and play his footy down there like Jake is (at the Sydney Roosters). If not, I’ll be happy to have him. He’s a talent.”

The victory moves Erina to three wins from three to kick off the season, while Berkeley Vale is still looking for its first taste of success for the year after its opening two games.

Erina 52 (Plaister 2, Burke, Douch, B Elliott, Guest, Peters, Maljevac, Tubridy tries; Douch eight goals) defeated Berkeley Vale 6 (Yalisaya try; Austin one goal)

In the other round four game, Wyong edged out Ourimbah 22-16 while the clash between The Entrance and Kincumber was postponed due to the weather.