Top 10: Biggest talking points from round one of the NSWRL Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups
The regional NSW representative rugby league season kicked off this weekend with some stunning performances across the state. We take a look at the biggest talking points from round one.
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NSWRL junior rep footy kicked off on the weekend, giving us our first look at some of the emerging talent coming through the ranks across the state.
Both the Andrew Johns Cup and Laurie Daley Cup competitions were among those kicking off on the weekend, with 10 clubs competing for glory in both competitions.
NewsLocal has come up with 10 of the biggest talking points from across the weekend of footy.
Keep reading to catch up on all the footy action from round one.
Knights’ lethal right edge
The NMR Knights found a winning formula down their right edge against the Northern Rivers Titans on Saturday in the Andrew Johns Cup.
Seven of the team’s eight tries came down that damaging right side, with the Titans unable to find an answer defensively.
Right-sided centre Ryan Lawrence crossed twice, while his partner in crime on the wing Daniel Richardson picked up a hat-trick.
Johnson too big to handle on the wing
Tipped as one of the rising talents to watch this season, Paul Johnson proved to be a challenge for Rams defenders on Sunday in the Andrew Johns Cup.
Possibly the biggest frame on the field, the massive winger crossed twice in the Macarthur Wests Tigers’ 26-18 win.
His power was well and truly on display for his second try, combining well with teammates on the left wing before fending off the chasing defenders to run half the field and score in the corner.
Dragons back row doing the damage
The Illawarra South Coast Dragons put on a clinic in both grades, with the biggest margin of the weekend coming in their 52-6 victory over the Riverina Bulls in the Laurie Daley Cup.
Lock forward Palu Tuasala was simply too big and powerful to handle, busting through the helpless Rams defence for a hat-trick.
Jarrah Gaia Treweek also put in a headline performance from the second row, showing his excellent ball skills on numerous occasions, highlighted by his powerful line break and brilliant flick pass to set up Caleb Hall’s terrific team try.
Bulls back to the drawing board
While the Dragons and Northern Tigers both recorded perfect weekends, it was a different story for the Riverina Bulls, who suffered two heavy losses in the Johns and Daley Cups.
The U16s side went down to the Dragons 34-6, while the U18s outfit went down 52-6.
It will well and truly be a case of going back to the drawing board for the Bulls this week, with both teams needing to muscle up in defence ahead of this weekend’s clashes with the Western Rams at Ron Crowe Oval in West Wyalong.
Harrison’s fingerprints all over Titans win
The Northern Rivers Titans’ Laurie Daley Cup side kicked off their campaign in style, with halfback Zane Harrison instrumental in the tough 24-20 victory over the Newcastle Maitland Region Knights.
The playmaker had a hand in three of the Titans’ four tries, laying on the final pass for Noah Waldock’s and Creedence Kelly Donovan’s four pointers, while he also put in a smart chip for Ayden Byrnes’ try.
Perhaps equally as impressive, Harrison didn’t let a miscued chip in the first half – which directly led to a Knights try – affect him, and slotted three conversions and a penalty goal to guide his side home.
Dowell inspires stunning Tigers comeback
It was a comeback for the ages.
Down 26-0 and seemingly on track for a hiding, the Northern Tigers’ Laurie Daley Cup side pulled one out of the hat by scoring 30 unanswered points in the last 22 minutes to take the honours 30-26 in a dramatic round one clash.
But these things don’t happen by themselves. The win was largely inspired by halfback Callum Dowell, who scored two tries, including an excellent solo effort, and had a hand in a couple of others to get the Tigers over the line.
Central Coast’s left edge clicks into gear
Where the Knights went right, the Central Coast Roosters’ Laurie Daley Cup side had their left edge to thank in the team’s 30-18 victory over the Monaro Colts at the NSWRL HQ in Bruce, Canberra.
The Roosters scored five of their six tries down the left side, including a beautiful backline move that saw hooker Zac Gillett, halfback Josh Farmilo, fullback Riley Burke and centre Xavier Taurerewa-Yucel combine for the try of the match.
Winger Noah Owens then put the cherry on top of the victory with a lovely putdown in the corner after a smart cross field chip.
Next generation Inglis announces himself
North Coast Bulldogs fullback Robert Inglis, nephew of NRL legend Greg Inglis, announced himself with a double in his Laurie Daley Cup debut against the Northern Tigers.
While his team couldn’t pick up the victory in a closely fought 30-26 loss, Inglis put in a stellar performance from fullback.
With shades of his famous uncle, Inglis showed blistering pace and fast feet for both his tries.
Monaro halves prove lethal
The damaging halves combination of captain Jamie Cowling and Troy Codey were instrumental in the Monaro Colts 32-14 victory over the Central Coast Roosters in the Andrew Johns Cup.
Cowling put in a typical captain’s performance, setting up one try off a towering bomb, before picking up a try of his own after the Roosters failed to clean up one of his short kicks.
Codey was also influential in pulling the strings in the halves, providing some good spreads for his wingers to get over the line.
Harry Wald’s spectacular double
There were some brilliant tries scored across round one, but none were better than Western Rams winger Harry Wald’s sensational double in his side’s 32-14 victory over the Macarthur Wests Tigers in the Laurie Daley Cup.
The first was an early contender for try of the season. Pouncing on a loose ball 20 metres out from his own line, Wald toed it through the line up to half way. With a slew of Tigers defenders in chase, Wald then kicked the ball through again and received a friendly bounce to put the ball underneath the black dot.
But that wasn’t all. In the second half he brilliantly caught a cross field bomb from five-eighth Fletcher Hunt and managed to put the ball down centimetres inside the goal line to cap off the stunning double.
Round one wrap: All the action from the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups
The junior rep footy season is back, and regional NSW is in the thick of it.
Just as the seasons for NSWRL competitions the Harold-Matthews Cup, SG Ball Cup and Tarsha Gale Cup kicked off over the weekend, so too did the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups, the representative competitions for U16s and U18s, respectively, with the best young talent across regional NSW on show at various venues across the state.
There was plenty of action, with big hits, excellent tries and some eye-catching results.
Here are the highlights from an action-packed round one.
Tigers in comeback for the ages
It might only be the first round, but the Northern Tigers have put in a bid for comeback of the season following their dramatic 30-26 victory over the North Coast Bulldogs in the Laurie Daley Cup at Geoff King Motors Oval in Coffs Harbour.
Incredibly, the Tigers scored 30 unanswered points in the last 22 minutes to secure the win after the Bulldogs raced out to a 26-point lead and appeared in control of the match.
With both teams scoring five tries, goal kicking proved to be the difference in the end, with Tigers’ pair Kaleb Hope and Dylan Keane slotting all of their five goals to the Bulldogs’ three.
The Bulldogs had all the running in the early stages, with winger Liam Cuffe, captain Harrison Brennan and fullback Robbie Inglis all crossing in the first half to give the side a 14-0 lead at the break.
The Bulldogs then piled on more pressure early in the second half, with centre Luke Calthorpe and Inglis again scoring to stretch the lead out to a seemingly insurmountable 26-point lead.
However in a dramatic shift, the Tigers finally clicked into gear, scoring five tries in a crazy 20-minute period to seal the remarkable win.
Callum Dowell scored a double, while Kaleb Hope and Keandre Johnson-Vale crossed for four pointers to leave the scores at 26-24 in favour of the Bulldogs and set up a grandstand finish.
Then, with less than three minutes remaining, backrower Dylan Keane scored what proved to be the winner to cap off the remarkable round one victory for the Tigers.
It proved to be a double for the Northern Region side, with a Charlie Lennard double helping the Tigers’ Andrew Johns Cup side to a come-from-behind 14-10 victory over the Bulldogs.
Dragons dominate
The Illawarra South Coast Dragons have had a dominant start to the season in both the Laurie Daley Cup and Andrew Johns Cup, with both sides comfortably dispatching of their Riverina Bulls opponents.
In the Laurie Daley Cup, the Dragons put on nine unanswered tries after going behind in the first minute of the game.
Three of these would come from lock Palu Tausala, who claimed a rare forward hat-trick.
Eden Hodges, Jarrah Treweek, Caleb Hall, Samson McAllister-Wood, Clay Baldock and Lincoln Miners were among the others to cross the stripe.
Fullback Jackson Rieck and centre Clay Baldock were on point from the tee, with the pair nailing eight from nine conversions to put up a commanding scoreline of 52-6.
In the Andrew Johns Cup, two tries a piece from lock Axel Antony and second rower Archie Wheeler helped the Dragons to a 34-6 win over the struggling Bulls side.
Other tries came from Zane Timmins and Luke Butler, before a late consolation for the Bulls from Kyson Freer.
In a strong start to the season, the Dragons now sit in first place in the Laurie Daley Cup and second in the Andrew Johns Cup.
Knights dazzle in battle of the Titans
The Newcastle Maitland Region Knights have shown they’ll be force to be reckoned with in the Andrew Johns Cup this season after a dominant 46-12 win over the Northern Rivers Titans at Cessnock Sportsground.
Winger Daniel Richardson scored a hat-trick and centre Ryan Lawrence bagged a double in the eight tries to two victory.
While Newcastle dominated, it was the Titans who took the lead early, with fullback Koopah Walters crossing in the second minute to give his side a six-point lead.
However it wasn’t long before the Knights took control, with Richardson and Lawrence both scoring twice and interchange player Matthew McEwan crossing to put Newcastle ahead 30-6 at the break.
In the second half, tries to Fletcher O’Doherty and Kyran Blair – who have both spent much of the pre-season training with the Knights’ Harold-Matthews team – as well as Richardson’s third sealed the impressive 34-point victory for the side.
It was a different story in the Laurie Daley Cup, however, with the Titans overcoming the Knights 24-20.
Ultimately it was the boot that decided the match, with both sides scoring four tries in the tight contest.
Noah Waldock, Ayden Byrnes, Taylor Withington and Creedence Kelly Donovan all crossed for tries, while Titans halfback Zane Harrison kicked three from four conversions and added a penalty to seal the come-from-behind win, after the Knights took a 16-10 lead into half-time.
Spoils shared in tight contests
Not all clubs were able to do the double over their opponents like the Dragons and Tigers, with the spoils shared in a number of other games during the first round.
Western Rams triumphed over the Macarthur Wests Tigers in the Laurie Daley Cup 32-14, with winger Harry Wald crossing twice and nailing five conversions out of five, plus a penalty goal off the tee.
The Tigers would get the upper hand in the Andrew Johns Cup however, beating the Rams in a tight affair 26-18.
The Rams put up a good fight in the second half having been 20-4 down at the break, but couldn’t quite mount the comeback.
Across the grounds, the Central Coast Roosters defeated the Monaro Colts 30-18 in the Laurie Daley Cup, thanks to double tries from winger Noah Owens and centre Xavier Taurerewa-Yucel.
However the Monaro Colts triumphed in the Andrew Johns Cup, defeating the Roosters side 32-14.
In a convincing display, the Colts led 20-0 at half time after four first half tries.
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Originally published as Top 10: Biggest talking points from round one of the NSWRL Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups
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