Try-fests and close contests in the mud: Full round five wrap of Group 7 Rugby League

The rain returned to the south coast of NSW over the weekend leading to sloppy Group 7 Rugby League action. Check out the full wrap of round five as the competition intensifies.

Group 7 Round Five winners.

Wet and wild conditions down the south coast of NSW over the back end of the week created interesting conditions for Group 7 Rugby League.

Two games were unfortunately called off due to the conditions, meaning we’ll have to wait to see the Stingrays of Shellharbour take on the Kiama Knights, as well as the Albion Park Oak Flats Eagles take on the Milton Ulladulla Bulldogs.

The three games we did get though had thrills, spills and mud galore, giving kitmen down the coast a healthy amount of weekend work.

Check out the full wrap of the three games that braved the weather of the weekend.

Don’t forget to catch up as well on round four of Group 7 action.

Jets soar over defending champions

The Nowra Bomaderry Jets triumphed over the Warilla Lake South Gorillas in a 12 try frenzy in the south coast rain.

The victory is the third of the season for the Jets, who have stamped their intentions of playing finals footy in 2023 with their assertive start to the year.

The Gorillas got out of the blocks early with elusive hooker Samuel Hooper punishing yet another opposition with his crafty dummy half running to open to scoring.

Adam Quinlan was on fire for the Nowra Bomaderry Jets. Photo: Scott Morris Photography

This flicked on the Jets’ engines however, namely through captain fullback Adam Quinlan who had his hands on the pill all afternoon.

Quinlan assisted both Beau Luland and Matorino Atunasia down the profitable left flank, while five-eighth Dylan Farrell charged onto a run like a prop forward to crash over and score to make it three unanswered tries for the home side.

Gorillas halfback Drew Langdon would get over the line a few minutes before the break to keep the margin at four at half time.

The second half was a back and forth affair, with the Jets showing great composure to hold a two try lead at all time.

Quinlan was in the thick of it again, first leading a fast break that finished with the Atunasia once again showcasing his brute strength and powerful running game close to the line.

Quinlan also got one for himself, looking to shape to spread the play right, instead stepping and going in to score untouched.

Two tries from Tyrone Roberts wasn’t enough for the Warilla-Lake South Gorillas. Photo: Contributed

Warilla five-eighth Tyrone Roberts did his best to get his side back in the contest with a second half brace, including a nice grubber kick and chase try.

It was to be the Jets who would soar to victory however, with further tries to Trent Waldron and Chase Sins extinguishing the late consolation efforts of Warilla’s Guy Rosewarn.

A statement victory from last year’s eighth placed side over the defending champions.

Magpies upset the Superoos

Rory McCall of the Berry Shoalhaven Heads Magpies. Photo: Contributed

The Berry Shoalhaven Heads Magpies picked up a massive confidence win over the Jamberoo Superoos at home on Saturday.

The slender 18-16 victory is the second for the Magpies this season, the same amount of wins as the Superoos.

It didn’t look like points would be coming the way of the home side early on though, with the Superoos crossing twice within the first six minutes, first through Will Booth after a great offload from prop forward Jayden Morgan, followed up by a dummy half run to score from hooker Daniel Burke.

The Magpies switched on as the first half progressed though, with fullback Billy Hayburn taking matters into his own hands with a terrific solo try, showcasing great agility and stepping to evade three tackles and run in to score.

He would follow this up with a lofted assist pass to his winger Max Jennings who would finish in the corner to lock things up at the break.

The Magpies took the lead in the second half for the first time in the game through Evan O’Shea, with the centre crashing over from close range.

Prop forward Jayden Morgan would tie things up for the Superoos, breaking an attempted three man tackle before steam-rolling Hayburn in fullback with great running power.

A brutal slugfest of a match would be decided in the final minute with the Magpies awarded a penalty 30 metres out in the centre of the park, which Hayburn would convert to cap off a great day out for him and his side.

Lions hold on in sloppy slugfest against Sharks

Possibly the muddiest game of the lot was at Michael Cronin Oval as the Gerringong Lions defeated the Shellharbour Shark 13-6.

The dodgy surface was wreaking havoc for the players all afternoon, with Braxton Wallace completely missing his attempted clean-up of a Taj Ford grubber early on, allowing the Gerringong halfback to get on the end of his own kick first and plant it down for the opening try.

Shellharbour’s lone try would come in the first half through hooker Brody Rigg, slipping out of a few last gasp tackle attempts to bundle over the line.

Ford’s kicking game proved to be the difference for Gerringong in their second try as well, placing a perfectly weighted grubber into the corner for winger Isaac Laughton to get on the end of.

From here it was a battle of will, with defences tested and attacks trying to remain free of simple errors.

A big call came from the referees as prop forward Matt Nicholson crashed over the line, with the refs deeming that he was held up in the tackle of three, despite it appearing as though some part of the ball contacted the ground.

Jake Taylor nailed a field goal in the final five minutes to seal the result and give the Lions their fourth win of the season, joint at the top of the table with the Stingrays of Shellharbour who have a game in hand.