New league leaders, standout performers & injury woes for premiers: Group 7 round 11 talking points
Hat-trick heroes, influential performers, big injuries and new leaders at the peak of the ladder. Check out all the biggest talking points from round 11 of Group 7 rugby league.
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Round 11 is in the books for Group 7 rugby league as we continue to make our way towards finals footy time.
This weekend was headlined by a change at the top of the ladder, as well as some standout performances from unlikely suspects.
Check out seven of the biggest talking points from round 11 of Group 7.
Carry on reading for the full round wrap.
1) Gorillas forced into another halves combo?
The Warilla-Lake South Gorillas finally snapped their five game losing streak against the Berry Shoalhaven Heads Magpies, but at what cost?
Regular hooker Samuel Hooper was donning the number seven jersey as he stepped into the halves with Blair Grant, where he appeared to pick up a nasty ankle roll injury in the first half.
Incredibly, this was the tenth halves combination the Gorillas have kicked off a game with this season, meaning only once have they repeated a combination.
This has been due to the extensive injury and suspension list the Gorillas have accumulated in 2023.
Hooper was one of the few constants to have started in all 11 games so far this season, but it’s unknown if he’ll be ready to go for their round 12 clash against Albion Park.
2) Four on the trot for Grigg
Corey Grigg has justified his inclusion in the Team of the Season so far for 2023 by notching another try for the fourth consecutive game.
Grigg has been finding holes in opposition down the left flank for Jamberoo at will over the past few weeks, now having scored five in his last four.
Grigg also picked up an assist to cap off a stellar day out, feeding Jordan Xuereb out on that dangerous left side attack.
3) Roach shines despite loss
The Milton Ulladulla Bulldogs put up a valiant fight against a tough Stingrays opposition, with five-eighth Cody Roach standing out for his side in the loss.
Roach combined beautifully with his halves partner Sam Stewart to send a perfectly weighted grubber into the in-goal for Stewart to finish.
Roach also picked up a try himself, threatening to pass but instead bursting through a defensive hole untouched for his fifth try of the season.
4) Sharks front rowers snag a meat pie each
Highlighted by coach Atallah as their two best players of the season, both Shellharbour Sharks front rowers got on the score sheet against the Kiama Knights.
Joshua Starling picked up his fourth of the season, running a great line to charge over from close range.
Matt Nicholson followed this up by bustling his way over, showing great strength to keep the legs pumping amid the attempted tackles of three defenders.
5) Silky Stingrays seal deal
The Stingrays laid down some class with two beautiful team tries in the final five minutes to ensure victory over the Milton Ulladulla Bulldogs.
First, a right to left spread finished by Tyler Johns featuring a beautiful offload from Tom Warner and some nice passing from William Leta and Viliami Latu.
This would be followed up by Kieren Moss finishing a move that featured great runs and offloads from Viliami Latu again and hooker Colby Smith.
6) Rare second rower hat-trick in losing side
Tyson Simpson will feel hard done by that he managed to cross for three tries in a losing performance.
It was a unique hat-trick as well for a second rower, with all three tries coming under different circumstances.
First an excellent solo run where he broke through the line 40m out, followed up by a grubber chase and plant, before concluding the hat-trick with a more traditional second rower barge over the line from close range.
He shoots right up the try scoring tally for the Jets, now sitting on five for the season.
7) Lions dangerous from all over the park
A commanding performance from the Gerringong Lions took them back to the top of the Group 7 ladder.
What was made all the more impressive was the well-roundedness of the performance, with no one name jumping out as a standout performer.
Nathan Ford was his usual reliable presence from hooker, snagging a try and assisting Kal Collins.
Both wingers Liam Holland and Wes Pring got in on the action, highlighting Gerringong’s danger in attack on both flanks.
The Gerringong halves were also performing admirably, with Hamish Holland charging on to a ball like a prop to score his try, while Rixon Russell was to thank for Jack Quine’s try.
New league leaders after clash of competition heavyweights: Group 7 Round 11 wrap
Round 11 of Group 7 was headlined by a massive win in a clash of two competition heavyweights which resulted in new league leaders.
Around the grounds there were tries left right and centre as big scores unfolded down the south coast of NSW.
Some teams kept winning ways going, while other snapped losing streaks.
Check out the full wrap of round 11.
Biggest win of campaign for lethal Sharks
The Shellharbour Sharks have put together their biggest win of the 2023 season, demolishing the Kiama Knights 46-0 at Ron Costello Oval.
The makes it five wins on the trot for the high-flying Sharks who are finding form at the right time, while for the Knights it was a disappointing third straight loss.
During his side’s mid-season review, coach Atallah said he was pleased with his side’s defensive efforts, but there was still work to be done in the fluency of their attack.
Judging by the scoreline, it looks as though the Sharks have found their attacking mojo at last, running in eight tries against the helpless Knights.
Atallah’s two players of the season he picked at the halfway point of the season, front rowers Joshua Starling and Matt Nicholson, both picked up meat pies for their side, showcasing great run choices and power to burst their way through multiple Kiama tackle attempts.
Interchange forward Nicholas Hay picked up a brace for the Sharks, acting as a great support runner to twice bust his way over the line from close range.
Five-eighth Emanuel Sultana was stamping his influence via the boot, assisting Jye Brooker with a grubber and Braxton Wallace with a bomb.
Hooker Brody Rigg was also having a good day out, finding the try line from a close range dummy half run, while picking up an assist right on the full-time siren to Bradley Chapman after a terrific weaving run.
A statement win by the Sharks who look more threatening week by week.
New league leaders as Lions dethrone Jets
The Gerringong Lions have prowled to the top of the Group 7 ladder for the first time since round one following a 36-28 win over the Nowra-Bomaderry Jets.
This meant a double for the Lions over the Jets this season following their 26-20 win in round three.
A real try-fest at Michael Cronin Oval where the Lions really flexed the strength they have all over the park.
The Lions put on four first half tries through Liam Holland, Nathan Ford, Hamish Holland, as well as a rare penalty try awarded to Wesley Pring after he was taken out by fullback Adam Quinlan in the act of scoring what would have been a certain try.
The Jets weren’t going down without a fight though, with usual try scoring suspects Beau Luland and Matori Atunasia proving lethal down the left flank for the Jets.
In another rare case, Nowra-Bomaderry second rower Tyson Simpson picked up a second half hat-trick, showing up all over the park with a great solo run, a kick chase and a short ball charge over the line to score three tries.
It wasn’t enough to get the Jets back into the game though, as second half tries to Kal Collins and Jack Quine put the game too far out of reach and cemented the Lions as the team to beat for the second half of the season.
Stingrays hold off relentless Bulldogs
The Stingrays of Shellharbour have prevailed against a valiant Milton Ulladulla Bulldogs 35-22 in a try-fest at Bill Andriske Oval.
It was back-and-forth all game between two sides who love points, with the Stingrays maintaining the advantage for just about the entire game, but the Bulldogs not allowing them to stretch the lead out.
The Stingrays showed their attacking threat doesn’t lie just within their backs, with prop forward Liam Scott and captain second rower Tom Warner both getting on the scorecard with rampaging efforts.
James Scott picked up a beauty after Ben Weatherall made a breakaway down the right flank, before finding his centre partner back on his inside with a beautiful one-handed offload.
Cody Roach has a good afternoon from five-eighth for the Bulldogs, charging in to score a try himself and putting in a peach of a grubber kick for his halfback partner Sam Stewart to score.
Dangerous centre Mitch Simington was also in the tries again, creating something out of nothing to step and power his way through the Stingrays line.
With the game locked at 22-all with under 10 minutes on the clock, the Stingrays showed their class with two classy late tries, first to Tyler Johns in the corner and finally to Kieren Moss who was in support for a great team try.
William Heta added the extras with a final minute field goal to make it back-to-back wins for the Stingrays.
Superoos keep the ball rolling
There was to be no 100th year anniversary magic for the Albion Park-Oak Flats Eagles as they let their lead slip, going down 22-16 to the Jamberoo Superoos.
It’s a fourth straight win for the Superoos who are continuing to stamp their intentions of playing finals footy.
It looked as though they were going to be outclassed by the Eagles though, as the home side led by as much as 16-4 in the second half.
Lock forward Jack Walsh picked up a beauty of an individual try, stepping and evading numerous attempted tackles and racing in to score.
Jamberoo would mount a second half comeback though, with Corey Grigg continuing his excellent form to pick up a try and an assist to Jordan Xuereb down the productive left flank of the Superoos.
James Gilmore reached out to snag one from prop forward to reduce the margin to two, before one of the season’s best in Jayden Morgan charged onto an inside pass close to the line to get the Superoos in front for the first time.
Kyle Stone would finish the job late on to ensure Jamberoo left with the points.
Gorillas finally end run of losses
The defending premiers Warilla-Lake South Gorillas have snapped a five-game losing streak, defeating the Berry Shoalhaven Heads Magpies 34-22.
The luckless Gorillas will be sweating on the diagnosis of Samuel Hooper though, their star hooker who was filling in at halfback on the weekend, added to the monstrous casualty list of the Gorillas with what appeared to be an ankle injury early in the first half.
Berry opened the scoring early on through Matthew Creswick, but from then on it was the Gorillas who took the game into their own hands.
Darnell Walker finished off a move that he started, getting on the end of an inch-perfect grubber from Blair Grant.
Grant would again be influential from the boot, sending up a bomb for Justin Jones to field and offload for captain Jamie Burns to crash over and score.
Jones was having a good day out from fullback as he picked up two tries, the first of which was a terrific chase down of his own grubber kick right on the half time siren.
Young gun James Hoy also put in a stellar shift with his try, turning defence into attack to run the length of the field down the left flank after he diffused a Berry attacking kick.
Berry last minute try was overshadowed by on-the-ball scuffle which saw Warilla’s Guy Rosewarn and Berry’s no. 18 sin binned for punches thrown.
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