2025 Peter Mulholland Cup live stream: Hills Sports High School v Central Coast Sports College, Round 1

Central Coast, led by Carter Mareko, withstood a rejuvenated Hills Sports High School to get its Peter Mulholland Cup campaign off on a winning note. Watch the REPLAY here.

It was a tale of two Central Coast halves.

Just days after being named the Player of the Series in the UNE Harold Matthews Cup, Carter Mareko and his halves partner Isaac Fotu-Moala had the ball on a string as they guided Central Coast Sports to a much needed win against Hills Sports.

Still feeling the heartache of last year’s one point preliminary finals loss to eventual premiers, Patrician Brothers Blacktown, Central Coast showed signs of their best throughout the 28-18 win.

Action between Hills SHS and Central Coast SC in round one of the Peter Mulholland Cup at Woy Woy Oval. Picture: Adam Yip

It wasn’t looking promising for Central Coast early, with Hills catching the team sleeping early, scoring with a dart from dummy half as winger Braidyn Wood crashed over.

Without a fear in the world, the Central Coast halves pairing regrouped behind the post, proving their second phase play too much to keep up with.

In the set after points, Mareko scooted from dummy half creating a two on one, before finding centre Joshua Fesolai, who dished the ball to the halfback to score.

It was nearly identical on the other side of the field, centre Dane Jennings broke through the line, putting a kick through for Fotu-Moala to score.

Mareko and Fotu-Moala linked for the first time all half which led to the five-eighth firing a 15 metre cut out pass to Chase Kapua to score in the corner.

Both sides engaged in an arm wrestle for the remainder of the first half with Central Coast holding a 16-6 lead.

Action between Hills SHS and Central Coast SC in round one of the Peter Mulholland Cup at Woy Woy Oval. Picture: Adam Yip

After regrouping at halftime, Central Coast got back to doing what they were best at, second phase play.

Fullback Zaylen Ekepati created havoc in the middle of the field to start the second half, finding Mareko who took the ball all the way to a few metres out, gifting his lock Khyanu Mahon with a four pointer.

Despite Central Coast’s best effort, Hills Sport refused to go away, with front rower Kaleb Serafin and fullback Lincoln Fletcher immediately hitting back with two tries.

Refusing to go down without a fight, Hills continued their late surge with captain and halfback Lachlan Metcalfe taking the line on himself, now gifting his lock Strantz Schaumkel with a try to bring the lead down to four points.

And even with all the momentum coming the other way, interchange front rower Paulo William sealed the game for the Central Coast with a try under the post.

PREVIEW

Hills Sports High School will look to launch its new era when it takes on a highly-talented Central Coast Sports College side in a season-opening clash on Tuesday.

The two schools will face off live and exclusively on KommunityTV in round one of the Peter Mulholland Cup from 2pm.

And while the focus for some coaches may solely be on winning, that’s not the philosophy of experienced campaigner Joe O’Callaghan.

The highly respected rugby league official has held multiple roles across his 20 years of coaching, including a five-year stint with NRL club South Sydney, with his latest heading up the boys’ rugby program at Hills Sports.

Joining the western suburbs school in November last year, O’Callaghan has wasted no time in building up the off-field pillars in the hopes of translating that into success this season.

“One of the main things we’ve spoken about since I turned up has been the history of our school,” said O’Callaghan, whose first game in charge will be the clash with Central Coast.

“When I turned up in term 4 last year, that part probably worried me a little bit. I felt a vibe, not just with the senior group but also the junior grades, that it wasn’t high on their priority list.

“Rep footy and club footy probably ranked higher and I just wanted to do some work around the cultural piece and legacy of this school. We did a lot of research with the boys around our history and they didn’t even know some of the boys that have graduated from here.

“So we’ve spent a lot of time getting them to understand the history of the program and then getting them to buy into what kind of legacy they want to leave themselves.”

Joe O’Callaghan (right) during his time at the South Sydney Rabbitohs as a player development coach. Picture: Brendan Radke

Evidence of that work was on show as early as this week with O’Callaghan revealing his players had organised their own extra session in the lead-up to their clash with Central.

“The boys are really, really engaged (heading into round 1),” he said.

“They came in on a student free day, so even though that was on school holidays on Tuesday, they actually wanted to train.

“We knocked a really good session off, and that was the boys wanting to do that, so that’s always positive when they’re asking for that.”

And while much of the focus across the pre-season has been around redeveloping the culture, O’Callaghan is under no illusions they need to show some positives results on the field.

“I think not getting out of the pool stage (last year) is pretty poor,” he admitted.

“So we have talked about that last year was probably not a successful year for the program by our standard and we want to try and turn that around this year.

“Internally, we’ve spoken that at least the minimum goal is we get out of the pool stage, and for a school with the history that we’ve got, that should be a goal for us.

“We’re a young team. I’m not trying to play us down, but we are a pretty young team. I think we’ve got probably 10 or 11 boys playing PMC for the first time next week and, at least, six or seven year 11’s playing next week.

“I think they’re up for it but there’s only one way to find out and that’s put them in that environment and see how they go.”

HILLS SPORTS v CENTRAL COAST SPORTS

Hills Sports

1. Lincoln Fletcher, 2. Calvin Tukuafu, 3. Joe Blackhouse, 4. Moses Lomani, 5. Braidyn Wood, 6. Sione Tuipulotu, 7. Lachlan Metcalfe (Captain), 8. Nathan Fua, 9. Liam Bell, 10. Kaleb Serafin, 11. George Peacock, 12. Carter Saua, 13. Strantz Schaumkel, 14. Siosefa Spears, 15. Kane Epere, 16. Isaiah Tonga, 17. Paulo William, 18. Soa Musika, Joe O’Callaghan (Coach)

Central Coast Sports

1. Zaylen Ekepati, 2. Chase Kapua, 3. Joshua Fesolai, 4. Dayne Jennings, 5. Tahj Hamilton, 7. Carter Mareko, 8. Tanner Mahon, 9. Ryan Tukapua, 11. Caleb Fesolai (Captain), 12. Cooper Gibbs, 13. Khyanu Mahon, 14. Owen Knowles, 15. Covelle Jurd, 16. Samuel Tracey, 18. Jack Dean-Potaka, 20. Tali Kolofale, Paul Franze (Coach)