Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Top talking points from round three
It’s not often that a line dropout changes the course of a game, but that’s exactly what happened during round three of the NRRRL.
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Big guns have emerged at the top, key players have once again proved the difference for their sides while plenty of players were sent to the naughty corner during round three of the NRRRL.
Catch up with a wrap of some of the biggest talking points below.
BILAMBIL, CUDGEN SET THE PACE
The season might only be a few weeks old but a couple of big guns have already emerged at the top of the pack.
Perennial heavyweights Bilambil and Cudgen have won three from three to sit at the top after an impressive opening few weeks.
The Jets were forced to come from behind to see off a dogged Tweed Seagulls side 20-12 in round three, while Cudgen was also forced to dig deep in its 26-14 win over a tough Northern United.
Just in behind the pair is Mullumbimby, which has also made a bright start in its quest to play finals footy with two from two.
FIVE IN THE BIN IN SEAGULLS-TURKEYS CLASH
There were shades of the NRL at local level over the weekend during a particularly ill-disciplined game between Kyogle and Ballina at New Park.
During a weekend when a whopping 18 players were sent to the sin bin in the NRL, players were given their marching orders five times in the Turkeys-Seagulls clash.
It started midway through the first half when Kyogle’s James Torrens was sent for 10 minutes in the bin for backchat, with Ballina’s Carl Lolohea suffering the same fate just a couple of minutes later when he had words with the referee.
The sin bin was like a hot seat, because just a couple of minutes after the pair returned to the field Seagulls’ fullback Liam Green was sent for a breather for a high shot on Hakeem Torrens. This led to some push and shove between the sides, with Turkeys’ prop Lionel Johnson also given 10 minutes for his part.
Green then capped off a rare feat of being sent to the bin twice in a game when he was penalised for a professional foul in the second half.
The calls didn’t affect Ballina too much as the Seagulls ran out 34-18 winners.
MONSTER DROPOUT TURNS MATCH
It’s not often that line dropouts are match-changing moments but that is exactly what happened during Cudgen’s 26-14 victory over Northern United at Ned Byrne Oval.
Leading just 18-14 with 12 minutes to go, the Hornets were under the pump as the Dirawongs earned a repeat set after a strong spell in their opponents’ red zone.
And while the Northern players were running through their attacking plays in their heads, Cudgen lock Caleb Ziebell had other ideas as a he launched a monster line dropout that went 61m on the full to clear the Dirawongs players before it rolled on and went into touch a whopping 75m from where he kicked it.
The remarkable kick turned a dangerous situation into a fantastic attacking opportunity for the Hornets, who earned a repeat set of their own before Ziebell put the game to bed with a cut-out ball for Tom Spencer to score.
Remarkably, it wasn’t the first time Northern had been stung but Ziebell’s massive dropouts in the game.
Midway through the first half he pumped the ball 51m on the fly, with the ball bouncing another 10m before going into touch to diffuse another tricky situation.
BOMBER’S BOOT SEALS THE DEAL
Speaking of impressive kicking, Evans Head recruit David Gibbons showed how effective his left boot can be with an excellent display of attacking kicking in the Bombers’ 34-20 win over Murwillumbah.
With the game in the balance midway through the second half, the English recruit put the ball up in the air to test out the Mustangs’ back three, with centre Torben Milton perfectly timing his run to outjump his opponents and streak through to score.
Gibbons took to the boot shortly after with a pinpoint kick to the left that allowed aerial specialist Zacharia Roberts to leap high, take the ball and score an excellent try.
The tries helped stretch the Bombers’ lead out from six points to 18 in quick succession and sealed the two points for the home side.
LOWER’S FAST START
It was a good weekend for Lower Clarence as the Magpies broke through for their first of the season with a 36-14 victory over Byron Bay.
It was a blistering start that set Lower up for the two points as the team ran riot in the opening stages to race out to an early 14-0 lead.
While impressive enough, a breakdown of the stats shows just how the dominant the Magpies were Magpies.
Over the course of the first 16 and a half minutes, Lower had completed seven sets from seven, forcing two errors, earning a repeat set and receiving two penalties. Byron Bay was made to make 36 tackles as the Magpies ran in three tries.
In contrast, the Red Devils completed just one of three sets and forced Lower to make just five tackles during the opening quarter of an hour.
Originally published as Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Top talking points from round three
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