Individual heroics and tries galore: Seven talking points from round seven of Group 7 Rugby League
Women in League Round in Group 7 brought all the action, as teams piled on more tries than they have all season! Check out seven of the biggest talking points to come from round seven.
The South Coast News
Don't miss out on the headlines from The South Coast News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Women in League Round brought plenty of excitement to Group 7 matches down the south coast of NSW.
We saw the most points in a single round all season as five enthralling matches took place, leading to plenty of noteworthy moments.
Check out seven talking points from round seven of Group 7 Rugby League.
Catch up on the talking points from round six.
Gerringong centres carve it up
The Gerringong Lions got the chocolates in the first 2023 instalment of the modern day Group 7 rivalry between themselves and the Warilla Lake-South Gorillas.
This is largely due to the influential performances of their centres Hayden Buchanan and Toby Gumley-Quine.
Buchanan has hit the ground running since debuting for the Lions in round three, scoring the all important try to seal victory over the weekend, showing blistering speed to break the defensive line of the Gorillas and charge away for a try.
While not on the scoresheet himself, Gumley-Quine picked up two brilliant assists, first to his fullback Nicholas Quine after creating a line break himself, followed up by a brilliant aerial contests victory and offload to Kalum Whyte to score.
Gorillas rue defensive problems in 2023
2023 has been a mixed bag for the defending premiers, sitting in fifth place with more losses than wins after seven competition games.
Their defensive frailties have let the side down this year, averaging 26 points conceded per game, compared to the 16 they averaged all of last season.
The Gorillas will look to restore their form against the struggling Jamberoo Superoos next week.
Harris surges to the top
A brace to Stingrays flyer Jayden Harris means he is now level at the top of the try scoring table with Warilla’s Justin Jones on eight tries.
His first try he had the easy job of simply remaining in support of his centre Taioalo Vaivai who did exceptionally well to suck in a number of defenders and release his winger to score.
His second was a lot more of his own work, punching a hole through the Magpies defence off a training ground play, before showing some silky footwork to put Magpies fullback Max Jennings on the deck.
Bulldogs pile on most points since competition return
Sporting their Women in League Round pink jerseys, the Milton Ulladulla Bulldogs put on a clinic against the Jamberoo Superoos, notching their highest points total in a game since their return to the Group 7 competition in 2021.
Eight tries totalled 48 points for the home side, headlined by two tries to fullback Luke Millard and a try to devastating young second rower Jarrah Treweek in his first start of the season.
Mitchell Simington also repeated his heroics from a week earlier in running the length of the field to score a peach of a solo try.
After a ninth place finish in 2022, the Bulldogs currently sit in sixth. Could they go further in 2023?
Sultana shine for Sharks
The Albion Park-Oak Flats Eagles looked very much still in their contest with the Shellharbour Sharks, just eight points down with under 20 minutes to go.
That was until Shellharbour five-eighth Emanuel Sultana took the game into his own hands, setting up his lock forward Ethan O’Connell after a nice weaving run, before setting up his winger Jye Brooker with a great lofted offload.
This ensured a Shellharbour victory and sparked a late points surge that made the scoreline look more impressive for the home side.
Farrell at the heart of Jets success again
The re-recruitment of ex-NRL player Dylan Farrell has sparked a massive turnaround for the Nowra-Bomaderry Jets in 2023.
Farrell was again at the heart of much of the Jets attack this week, launching the attack that led to one of the tries of the round, a terrific team effort finished by Mason Harrison.
Farrell also picked up two direct assists in the second half, first allowing Tyson Simpson to punch a hole and score, before providing a beautiful flick pass assist to centre Brayden Omoeboh.
Coming into this round Farrell was joint second on the Michael Cronin Medal leaderboard for Player of the Year, undoubtedly pushing for first after this week’s performance.
Clash of emerging titans set for next week
Coming into the season, we might not have highlighted this fixture as one to mark in the calendar’s, but next week the Nowra-Bomaderry Jets host the undefeated Stingrays of Shellharbour.
It’s third vs first in a clash of the emerging title prospects of Group 7.
The Jets have won four on the trot, while the Stingrays have been going about their business and getting results every week.
Two big forward packs and two exciting sets of halves and backs, this is sure to be a cracker.
Most tries in a round this season! Full round seven wrap of Group 7 rugby league
Round seven in Group 7 brought action in abundance, with a massive 52 tries across the five games of first grade action keeping us on the edge of our seats.
Naturally with 52 tries scored there were some absolute peaches, from long range efforts to wonderful team plays.
Tries aside, the results themselves are worth talking about, with teams looking to bounce back from losses, while others are looking to assert themselves in finals places on the ladder.
Catch up on the full round seven wrap.
Grand final revenge for Gerringong Lions
The Gerringong Lions have written another chapter in the story between themselves and the Warilla-Lake South Gorillas as they avenged their grand final loss.
A tight fought 32-24 victory makes in five wins on the bounce for the Lions, while serious questions are being raised in the sheds of the defending premiers after their fourth loss of the season.
The Lions were their own worst enemy in the first half as the Gorillas came out of the blocks the strongest, first through Drew Langdon who capitalised on a the size mismatch between himself and Taj Ford, then through Justin Jones who pounced on a loose ball when the Lions failed to clean up a Tyrone Roberts kick.
Isaac Laughton got a try on the board after some nice interplay down the right flank to send the teams into the sheds with the premiers leading 14-8.
The floodgates would open in the second half to bring the game to life, with a quick brace to fullback Nicholas Quinn putting the Lions in the lead for the first time.
The Gorillas would bounce back to expose some defensive frailties of the Lions as prop forward Tory Vartiainen strolled in to score untouched.
Scores lock up with 20 minutes to go, Toby Gumley-Quine showed his class in rising high to win an aerial contest for the ball off an attacking kick, before expertly offloading to Kalum Whyte to restore the Lions advantage.
The Gorillas would refuse to go down without a fight though, as Jake Brisbane crashed over from close range after selling the defensive line with a big dummy.
Leading by just two points, young gun Hayden Buchanan would seal victory for the Lions in the dying minutes though, showing his sheer pace and acceleration to break through the line down the right flank and go in to record a famous victory for the Lions.
Points galore as Bulldogs run riot
In the biggest combined scoreline of the season, the Milton Ulladulla Bulldogs defeated to the Jamberoo Superoos 48-24 in a 13-try frenzy.
Sporting their pink kits for Women in League Round the Bulldogs laid on the tries, scoring six of their eight in the first half alone.
Fullback Luke Millard picked up two near carbon copy tries, backing up his winger Zane Gallagher who twice broke down the right flank before feeding his fullback in to score.
Speaking of carbon copies, electric centre Mitchell Simington scored a scarily identical long-range try for the second week in a row, taking the ball off his side’s scrum to the wing and blitzing the outside defenders to run 90m and score another beautiful solo try.
The Bulldogs were proving the hungrier of the two sides, twice showing more determination to chase down attacking grubber kicks to score, first through Laurie Daley Cup young gun Jarrah Treweek and then through centre Blake Halls.
The Superoos got their act together slightly in the second half, but at that point their tries were mere consolations.
Elusive five-eighth Mark Asquith got another try to his growing season tally, joined on the scoresheet by Cody McParland, Ben Barnard and Matthew Forsyth.
Jarrod Booth also got on the scoresheet for the Superoos in the dying minutes in what was actually a terrific team try involving both halves that started in their own half of the field, with Jono Dallas setting up and full field attack with a neat chip kick.
Sharks show class against Eagles
The Shellharbour Sharks ran clear of the Albion Park-Oak Flats Eagles 34-8 at Ron Costello Oval.
The first half was a tight back-and-forth affair, headlined by a terrific solo try to Albion Park’s lock forward James Walsh who showed the ability of a fullback to break down the right flank before putting up a big goosestep to deceive the fullback and go in to score a beauty.
Despite this, first half tries to centre Jacob Seabrook and Joshua Starling sent the Sharks into the sheds with a 10-4 lead.
The Sharks were able to pick their moments to pounce in the second half on a tiring Sharks defence, first through fullback Braxton Wallace who finished under the posts after the Sharks ran 90m in the space of three plays after an initial break from Eze Harper.
Five-eighth Emanuel Sultana then showed his class with two back-to-back try assists, first a great weaving run to feed in lock forward Ethan O’Connell, before lofting one to his winger Jye Brooker after some great running from prop forward Starling.
Brody Rigg finished the job with a smart dummy half burst late on to add the extras, while Jesse Prinsse scored a consolation second half try for the Eagles.
Knights continue to struggle against Jets
In another try-fest, the Nowra-Bomaderry Jets made it four on the trot as they beat the struggling Kiama Knights 34-22 away from home.
The first half was a gripping back-and-forth affair with the Knights actually edging the Jets with three tries to two, but poor conversion kicking would see the game locked at 12-12 going into the sheds.
Mason Harrison had the pick of the first half tries for the Jets, finishing off a great team move started by Dylan Farrell down the left, sending one out to his winger Beau Luland who grubbered infield to Matori Atunsaia, popping it back up to Harrison to finish the move.
The Jets would run away with the match in the second half though putting on four tries unanswered on the helpless Knights.
Dylan Farrell was once again in the thick of the action, providing back-to-back assists first to Tyson Simpson, followed up by an excellent flick pass to Brayden Omoeboh.
Luland finished one himself some nice interplay down the left flank involved Adam Quinlan and Atunsaia, before Quinlan got on the scoresheet himself when Knights winger Matt Morris spilt the ball in his own in-goal attempting to play his way out.
Two late Kiama tries from Morris and Thomas Angel made the scoreline look more respectable, but condemned the Kiama side to another loss.
Unbeaten run goes on for Stingrays
The Stingrays of Shellharbour continued their path of destruction through the Group 7 competition with their latest triumph, thumping the Berry Shoalhaven Heads Magpies 44-18.
While the end scoreline is humbling, the Magpies were right in the contest in the first half with tries to the Parrish brothers Oliver and Henry meaning they were down by just four at the break.
The Stingrays laid on the sauce in the second half though and ran away with five tries.
Toby Peters proved his worth off the bench, being in the right place at the right time to finish two tries.
Jayden Harris also picked up a brace, his second of which he showed great footwork to break through the line and break some ankles in the process as he stepped the last defender with ease.
The right flank was proving beneficial for the Stingrays, with Ben Weatherall playing a great support role to feed his winger Jarvis Austin in to score twice.
While merely a consolation, Joe Rogers scored a memorable try for the Magpies in the second half after a terrific innovative flick assist from second rower Rory McCall.
Join the conversation
Just outstanding! The young guns on fire in Waratahs v Reds U15 battle
It’s a taste of things to come, a critical showcase for rising stars of rugby and the annual battle between the NSW Waratahs and Queensland Reds under 15s did not disappoint. Stars, photos
Read more
Tradie fraudster who swindled $100k appeals full-time jail
The fraudster roofer who swindled more than $100,000 from clients and a business partner, blaming the multi-month long scam on “financial hardship”, has appealed his jail sentence.
Read more