Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Wrap, results, standouts from round 10
After struggling earlier in the season, the NRRRL premiers have shown signs that they’re getting back to their best with a crucial win in a grand final rematch.
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One team has continued its hot run of form to be a big mover during round 10 of the NRRRL. Elsewhere, the competition leader have bounced back from their first loss of the season with a comprehensive win.
Check out a wrap of the action below.
HIGH DRAMA IN THRILLING DRAW
There was a try of the season contender, a helicopter on the field, torrential rain and a penalty goal shootout as Tweed Coast and Lower Clarence played out a thrilling 18-all draw in one of the most eventful NRRRL games in recent memory at Les Burger Field.
The Magpies had just taken a 14-10 lead early in the second half of what had been a seesawing encounter when play the game was dramatically called to a halt.
Players were forced from the ground as a rescue helicopter landed directly next to the field of play.
A 16-year-old boy who had been earlier attacked by a shark at nearby Cabarita Beach was then brought to the ground in an ambulance and transported onto the helicopter.
All up play was stopped for 40 minutes before the boy was flown to Gold Coast Hospital, where he continues to recover from bites to the arm and leg.
The disruption was one of several dramatic moments in what had been a thrilling clash between the two sides.
Lower struck first just minutes in when a Raiders error handed the ball over in dangerous territory. A couple of plays later the visitors shifted the ball right for winger Eli Kapeen to score in the corner.
Errors were cruelling Tweed Coast as another knock-on from a kick in the very next set gave the Magpies another golden opportunity.
This time they went left for Joshua Hippi to score in the opposite corner and make it 10-0 after just 10 minutes.
It had been a horror start for the Raiders but once they sorted out their ball-handling they worked themselves into the game.
With possession in dangerous territory they struck 25 minutes in when five-eighth Owen Fredericks put backrower Jayden Martens over to slash the deficit.
Lower had gone back to back early in the game and now it was time for Tweed Coast to score a quick-fire double as Fredericks once again combined with Martens to break the line, with fullback Oliver Blood backing up on the inside to level scores up at 10-all with eight minutes to play before halftime.
The Raiders were on a roll and almost went in again shortly after through Abele Atunaisa, however the big winger dropped the ball over the line and things remained even at the break.
The heavens opened not long after the break as the torrential rain made ball-handling difficult.
Lower was the first to take advantage of an error, with a Tweed Coast knock-on handing the ball over in dangerous territory before backrower Sanjae Ulu-Kini crashed over on the edge to take a 14-10 lead with 25 minutes remaining.
There were then bizarre scenes midway through the half when the game was halted for 40 minutes and to help facilitate the flight to hospital.
Some might have thought that Tweed Coast used the time to tweak their plans as the home side scored on the back of a brilliant full-field set move.
With a scrum feed 10m out from their own line, the Raiders passed the ball to Atunaisa for the first hit-up. However instead of charging into the defence as everyone expected, he surprised Lower by kicking the ball and leading the chase down field.
When Magpies fullback Peter Hammond failed to clean up the ball, Atunaisa toed the ball forward again not once but twice before diving forward and planting it down to score a brilliant length-of-the-field try. Joel Shearer then slotted the conversion from the sideline to give the home side a 16-14 lead with 20 to go.
Atunaisa was on fire as he continued to burst through the line. However when one of his teammates got in the way of the defenders, the Raiders were penalised for obstruction and Jacob Cameron-Clarke slotted the goal to level things up at 16-all with 12 minutes remaining.
The rain was still bucketing down and handling remaining very difficult.
Then when the Magpies knocked the ball on in their own end they compounded things by giving away a penalty with a high shot.
Shearer kicked the goal to put the Raiders up 18-16 with six minutes left on the clock.
There had been plenty of twists and turns in the match and there was one more late on when Tweed Coast was penalised for lying in the ruck.
Lining up 20m out and 10m right of the posts, Cameron-Clarke showed good composure to throw the goal over to once again lock things up again.
The Magpies then had one last chance to steal the win at the death and appeared to be odds on to score in the corner before Tweed Coast winger Dennis Jones knocked down the final pass to ensure that the points were shared.
Tweed Coast 18 (Martens, Blood, Atunaisa tries; Shearer 3 goals) drew with Lower Clarence 18 (Kapeen, Hippi, Ulu-Kini tries; Cameron-Clarke 3 goals)
BALLINA EDGES BILAMBIL IN GF REMATCH
Ballina has continued its mid-season revival and in the process emulated the result from last year’s decider after defeating Bilambil 30-18 in a grand final rematch at the Bilambil East Sports Field.
After conceding first the Seagulls ran in three unanswered tries in the first half before managing to keep the Jets at arm’s length in an impressive performance for the premiers.
Coming off their first loss of the season last week, the Jets got off to a great start and crossed after just four minutes when Ballina spilled a Harry Fitzhugh cross-field kick and Aaron Hill swooped on the scraps to score.
It didn’t take the Seagulls long to respond, however, with star half Tyrone Roberts putting on a big step to slice through the line before offloading to Reece McKenzie-O’Brien to lock things up at 6-all.
Bilambil enjoyed better field possession over the next little period but they failed to capitalise. They compounded this by conceding a couple of penalties and subsequently giving Ballina a piggyback up field.
The Seagulls didn’t need a second invitation as forward Charlie Strong charged over.
Ballina then went back to back in quick succession when some nice second-phase play allowed Anthony Colman to cross on the left edge and give the side an 18-6 lead seven minutes before the break.
It didn’t take long for the Jets to pull one back though as Caleb Nicholls got on the end of a very clever chip from Fitzhugh to make it 18-12.
There was some late drama in the half, with Bilambil backrower Kalani Hensby sent to the sin bin for a dangerous lifting tackle as Ballina took a six-point lead into the break.
Starting the half with an extra man, Ballina was looking to capitalise on its numerical advantage and did so eight minutes after the restart when Tyrone Roberts followed up on his own grubber and pounced on an error from Bilambil fullback Kai Smallwood to plant the ball down and take the scoreline out to 24-12 with half an hour to play.
Ill-discipline was hurting the Jets, however with a full complement back on the park they started to improve field position.
A couple of repeat sets helped build the pressure before the competition’s leading tryscorer Blake Graham leapt high to take a well-weighted kick from Fitzhugh for his 10th try of the season to once again make it a six-point ball game with 18 minutes to play.
Bilambil had just dragged themselves back within striking distance, however an error coming out of their own end invited danger once again. And just as had happened earlier in the game, Ballina took advantage of its opportunity when winger Fred Pitt batted a kick back to his centre partner Jordan Lee to score.
Leading 30-18 with just over 10 minutes to go, Ballina looked to kick to the corners and play the game in Bilambil’s half.
And while Jets had opportunities on the Seagulls’ line, they were unable to break through.
Tensions started to boil over late on and both sides finished the game with just 12 on the park as Bilambil’s Caleb Nicholls and Ballina’s Reece Summer were both sent to the sin bin for their part in some push and shove.
After a slow start to the season that saw Ballina win just two of its first six games, the victory continues the team’s mid-season revival, with the Seagulls now unbeaten in four games to move up to fourth place on the ladder.
Meanwhile in quite the inverse run of form, Bilambil has now fallen to two consecutive defeats after winning their first seven games. However the team remains well placed in second.
Ballina 30 (McKenzie-O’Brien, Strong, Colman, Roberts, Lee tries; Roberts 5 goals) defeated Bilambil 18 (Hill, Nicholls, Graham tries; Smallwood 3 goals)
CASINO MOVES INTO THE TOP SIX
Casino has jumped up into the NRRRL top six after edging out Evans Head 26-22 in a seesawing clash at Queen Elizabeth Park.
On the back of an excellent first half the Cougars surged out to a 14-point lead on two separate occasions before being forced to hold off the fast-finishing Bombers in a game where both sides finished with four tries apiece.
Coming off a strong run of form that had seen the team lose just one of its past five games, Casino got off to a great start when it forced an error out of the Bombers in just the second set of the game.
The Cougars played it smart in the early stages, earning three straight repeat sets as they peppered the Evans Head.
However the visitors were excellent in defence and managed to weather the early storm despite some entertaining second-phase footy from Casino.
The Bombers had spent most of the opening 10 minutes camped on their own line defending but when they finally got the ball they went up field and put on first points, with hooker Matt Toole taking advantage of some sloppy marker defence to go over from dummy-half.
The Cougars hit back 20 minutes in when the Bombers spilled a cross-field kick from Waylon Caldwell and Jacob Mayer was on hand to pick the scraps.
Within the blink of an eye Casino was in front when another Evans Head knock-on, this time while in possession, was pounced on by Caldwell, who ran 50m to score and make it 12-6.
The Bombers were having a horror show, with yet another knock-on from a Casino kick in the very next set handing over possession in dangerous territory.
Casino took full advantage as a short side play put Harry Cusack over for the team’s third try in 10 minutes to stretch the scoreline out to 18-6 after half an hour.
Ill-discipline was also starting to hurt Evans as one penalty allowed Casino to surge up field before another gave Eddie Walker-Williams the chance to slot a goal and give the home side a 20-6 lead at halftime.
There was a sense that Evans Head needed to score first if it was a chance of getting back into the game and that’s exactly what the team did eight minutes into the half when Casino’s Harry Cusack failed to take a cross-field kick and Zach Roberts caught the rebound to slash the deficit to eight points.
The Bombers charged up field in the next set and were on the attack again until Casino centre Tim Torrens showed great anticipation to take an intercept and run 80m to make it 26-12 with just under half an hour to play.
Down on the scoreboard, Evans Head pushed hard to get back into the contest and they thought they were over through Brandon Anderson when he ran away with the ball after a Casino error, however play was called back and the Bombers were penalised for a strip.
The visitors continued to apply the pressure with several sets in the Cougars’ red zone.
And while Casino did well to repel plenty of attacks, the pressure eventually told as backrower Brody Waters crashed over on the edge with five minutes to play to once again cut the deficit to eight.
Evans Head then made things very interesting after going the distance in the next set and crossing through Anderson out wide to make it 26-22. Gibbons declined the conversion attempt to give the Bombers one last throw of the dice.
With two seconds remaining on the clock, the Bombers tried their luck with the final play, but Casino did well to clean up a chip kick to seal the win.
The victory, which has seen Casino win four and draw one of its past six games, pushes the side up into sixth place ahead of Sunday’s fixtures.
Meanwhile fourth-placed Evans Head has left itself vulnerable of getting caught in the mid-table logjam after back-to-back defeats.
Casino 26 (Mayer, Caldwell, Cusack, Torrens tries; Walker-Williams 4 goals) defeated Evans Head 22 (Toole, Roberts, Waters, Anderson tries; Gibbons 3 goals)
ELECTRIC CUDGEN BLOW KYOGLE AWAY
Cudgen has bounced back its first loss of the season in style, putting on a second-half clinic to defeat Kyogle 38-16 at New Park.
After both teams went into the break level, the Hornets ran in five unanswered tries in 20 minutes – including three in a remarkable seven-minute burst – to blow the game open in a contest that featured two contenders for try of the season.
Stinging after last week’s hammering at the hands of Marist Brothers, Cudgen got off to a dream start by crossing in just the second minute.
After receiving six fresh tackles from a chargedown in the first set of the game, the Hornets marched down field where five-eighth Elliott Speed put up a bomb.
Just as he’s done so often this season, winger Malachi Dumas once again showed why he is one of the best in the competition under the high ball with a brilliant leap and take before offloading for hooker Jackson Rohweder to score.
It had been a slow start for the Turkeys, who took more than eight minutes to complete their first set. However they hit back in the 18 minute when two of their young guns combined for a stunning long-range effort.
Working the ball out of his own line, five-eighth Lynton Close put centre Layne Hardy into space with a nice cut-out ball. After palming off two defenders and speeding down the touchline, Hardy offloaded back inside to Close, who showed great skill to chip the ball over Cudgen fullback Jett Forbes, regather the ball and then once again pass back to Hardy to finish off a spectacular try.
A Cudgen error opened the door again for Kyogle as Close racked up his second assist in four minutes with a clever grubber for Zion Kamana to score and give the side a 10-6 lead midway through the half.
Kyogle was on fire and almost went in during the next set, however Hardy dropped the ball over the line.
Cudgen appeared slightly stunned by the Turkeys’ onslaught but slowly worked their way back into the contest with good yardage and then earned repeat sets. From here they struck late in the half as Joel Hare got on the end of a nice grubber from Forbes to lock things up at 10-all at the break.
The Hornets had started the game in perfect fashion with a try right at the beginning and Kyogle paid that back in return with a blistering start to the second half.
In the first set of the game Close put up a towering bomb that deceived the Cudgen back three. Kamana was on hand to pick up the scraps and then offload back to Close for a well-deserved try just 90 seconds after the restart to put the home side up by six.
However an error just a couple of plays after the kick-off gave Cudgen a golden opportunity to hit back right away and that’s what they did when Parker Bryant crashed over from close range to lock the scores up at 16-all.
Then what followed will go down as another contender for moment of the season.
Collecting the kick-off just a couple of metres out from his own line, Cudgen lock Caleb Ziebell wound up, ran straight and hard and busted right through the defensive line. Showing great speed, he continued to charge up field where he sidestepped Kyogle fullback Juwaan Terekia and then passed on to teammate Jett Forbes to finish off what was a brilliant length-of-the-field try.
Suddenly the Hornets had turned a six-point deficit into a six-point lead. The visitors had all the momentum and five minutes later surged even further ahead when hooker Chaz Bond caught the markers napping and darted over from dummy-half for the team’s third try in just seven minutes to make it 28-16 with just under half an hour to play.
It was all one-way traffic and Cudgen put the game to bed 20 minutes from time when Dumas found space down the right before chipping the ball over the top and regathering for another outstanding try to put the Hornets ahead by 16.
Ethan Schultz then put the icing on the cake with the Hornets’ fifth try in 20 minutes to run away 38-16 winners.
The victory takes Cudgen to a record of nine wins and one loss to remain clear at the top of the ladder, while the loss sees Kyogle drop out of the top six.
Cudgen 38 (Rohweder, Hare, Bryant, Forbes, Bond, Dumas, Schultz tries; Speed 2 goals; Moase 3 goals) defeated Kyogle 16 (Hardy, Kamana, Close tries; Close 2 goals)
In other round 10 results, Murwillumbah got back in the winner’s circle with a 40-20 win over the Tweed Seagulls, Marist Brothers continued their stunning run of form with a 42-6 thrashing of Byron Bay and Mullumbimby defeated Northern United 38-22.
Originally published as Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Wrap, results, standouts from round 10
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