Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Wrap, results, standouts from round 13
A couple of finals contenders have landed big blows in their quest to make the top six after crucial wins in the NRRRL.
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There has been more movement inside the top six during a crucial round 13 of the NRRRL
Check out a wrap of the action below.
MARIST ON CLOUD NINE
Marist Brothers have kept the heat on Cudgen at the top of the table and in the process stretched its winning streak out to nine games after accounting for Lower Clarence 30-6 at the Yamba Sporting Complex.
After a competitive first half the Rams showed their class and pulled away after the break as they scored six tries to one.
Coming into the game as arguably the form team in the competition, Marist didn’t take long to make an impression, forcing a knock-on out of Lower with a high ball before shifting the ball wide for Noah King to score in the corner in the sixth minute.
Despite going down early the Magpies didn’t roll over and gave as good as they got in the opening quarter as the game went back and forth.
However when a penalty helped the Rams up field the resistance broke as centre Kye Cooper crossed out wide to put his side up 8-0, a lead it took into halftime.
Lower had been good value in the first half but Marist’s quality started to show after the break as a lovely cut-out ball from Jye Davis and excellent diving finish saw King score his second just six minutes after the restart.
The winger then returned the favour for his playmaker with a nice chip back inside to put Davis over for the Rams’ fourth and a 20-point lead.
And while Luke Douglas crashed over to get the Magpies on the board, Marist finished off in style with a try to Cooper Love in the corner and then a brilliant length-of-the-field effort.
After winding up from the back fence, Marist prop Lochlen Perren busted straight through the Lower line before passing off to Shallin Fuller in support. The halfback looked like he was about to be tackled but managed to offload the ball to a charging Jye Davis to scoot through and finish off a wonderful try.
The Rams have now won nine games straight and are three points behind competition leaders Cudgen with a game in hand. Meanwhile Lower stays in 12th with a record of three wins, one draw and eight losses.
Marist Brothers 30 (King 2, Davis 2, Cooper, Love tries; Fuller 3 goals) defeated Lower Clarence 6 (Douglas try; Cameron-Clarke 1 goal)
BALLINA CLAIMS BATTLE OF THE SEAGULLS
Ballina has extended its unbeaten run to seven games and maintained its spot in third place after a 38-16 victory over the Tweed Heads Seagulls at Kingsford Smith Park.
A dominant first half helped set up the win for the home side, who ran in seven tries to three to continues its good run of form.
In what was a rather novel battle of the Seagulls with the Tweed Heads side who were coming into the game on the back of their own three-match winning streak, Ballina showed plenty of intent early and opened the scoring in the eighth minute as Jess Perry burrowed over from dummy-half.
The home side then marched up field right away and extended its lead when Tyrone Roberts put on a big show and go to slice through the Tweed line to score.
Ballina was well on top and crossed for its third of the day midway through the half after fullback Oliver Regan finished off some nice shape to the right, before some second-phase footy put Simon Pratt through under the sticks to give the home side a 22-0 lead at the break.
Things started in a similar vein in the second half when Anthony Colman leapt high to take cross-field kick to score just three minutes after the restart.
Trailing 28-0 with 35 minutes still remaining, Tweed was staring down the barrel of a heavy loss.
But the team rebounded, with a nice offload from prop Jesse Jackson putting Nate Searle over. Then a couple of minute later an attempted strip from Ballina landed in the arms of Tweed winger Ezekiel Hart, who showed a clean pair of heels to shoot up the touchline to score his side’s second.
The teams then traded tries as Ballina’s Jordan Lee crossed and Tweed’s Hart crossed for his seconds, however the home side had the last laugh with a brilliant try.
Starting off around the halfway line, Ballina laid on two offloads and one excellent flick pass as the ball went through seven sets of hands to be finished off by Regan.
The victory keeps Ballina in third place amid an impressive run of form, while the loss saw Tweed slip from fifth to eighth.
Ballina 38 (Regan 2, Perry, Roberts, Pratt, Colman, Lee tries; Roberts 5 goals) defeated Tweed Heads 16 (Hart 2, Searle tries; Laupepe Perkins 2 goals)
MURBAH DOWNS KYOGLE IN FINALS SHOOTOUT
Murwillumbah has landed a huge blow in the race for the finals, defeating Kyogle 28-14 in a shootout of two top-six contenders at the Murwillumbah Leagues Club ground.
After falling behind early the Mustangs rallied well and enjoyed a fruitful period either side of halftime before defending extremely well to earn a very important two points.
In a clash between two sides equal on competition points and sitting just one point outside the top six, it was Kyogle who jumped out of the blocks quicker as the team forced a line dropout with just the second set of the game.
After the Turkeys earned another repeat set, lock Hayden Pratt jumped out from dummy-half to crash over for the opener after just four minutes.
On the receiving end of the early storm, Murbah worked itself into the game and hit back 13 minutes in with an excellent long-range effort.
Working the ball out of their own half, the Mustangs shifted it right for Riley Lack to shoot through the line. And while his pass to a support runner on the inside went to ground, Murbah recovered and put the ball through the hands for winger Danyon Wise to score in the corner.
The game had developed into a bit of a grind until Kyogle centre Layne Hardy took matters into his own hands. After palming off one defender on a blind side run he managed to fend off Murbah’s Adam Walker before shooting up the line and passing back on the inside for teammate Lynton Close to make it 10-4 after 25 minutes.
However the Mustangs repaid the favour almost immediately. A Kyogle knock-on while putting together an attack in Murbah’s half was swooped on by Kade Hill, who picked up the ball and ran 70m to score. He also added the extras to lock things up at 10-all on the half-hour mark.
And while Kyogle enjoyed good field position in the latter stages of the half, the Mustangs managed to hold them out.
Then with just a couple of minutes to go before the break a penalty helped the home side up field and five-eighth Josiah Afu dummied and sliced his way through to put Murbah up 16-10 at halftime.
The late try had given the Mustangs a crucial boost going into the break and they extended this seven minutes after the restart on the back off some good work from prop Bodene Thompson.
A nice break through the middle and offload from the big man got the team on the front foot and resulted in a penalty, with Hill throwing the goal over to extend the team’s lead to eight.
Kyogle was pushing hard for points and turned to some off-the-cuff footy to break through.
It started with a cross-field kick from halfback Tyrell Appo, which was knocked back by the Turkeys and landed in the arms of winger Shannon Walker. Eventually it found its way out to Hardy, who planted the ball down in the right-hand corner to slash the deficit to just four points with 25 minutes to play.
However just as they’d done in the first half, the Mustangs hit back right away.
Afu once again showed how dangerous his footwork is with another break up field. On the next play they went to the blind side, stripped Kyogle for numbers and put Blake Marrison over in the corner to stretch the scoreline out to 24-14 with 20 minutes remaining.
After withstanding a period of pressure from the Turkeys, Murwillumbah started to look comfortable. That was until Afu threw a ball that was intercepted by Thomas McGrady, who charged up field and passed the ball onto teammate Oliver Walker.
On the next play the Turkeys shifted it right and looked like to scoring in the corner, but Afu was there with a trysaver to make up for his earlier error. Kyogle then lost the ball in the next play and Murbah survived.
The Mustangs had defended really well in the final quarter of the game and then put the icing on top of a gutsy performance when Hill went through with a show and go to score at the death.
The two points crucially push Murwillumbah not only above Kyogle but also Evans Head and the Tweed Seagulls from eighth into sixth place on the ladder, equal on points with both fifth-placed Casino and seventh-placed Mullumbimby.
Meanwhile Kyogle has slipped from seventh down to 10th and now sits two points outside the top six.
Murwillumbah 28 (Hill 2, Wise, Afu, Marrison, Hill tries; Hill 4 goals) defeated Kyogle 14 (Pratt, Close, Hardy tries; Close 1 goals)
MULLUM TOO GOOD FOR RAIDERS
Mullumbimby has kept in touch with the top six after defeating Tweed Coast 38-8 at Les Donnelly Field.
The Giants dominated from the outset and ran in eight tries to two in what is the team’s biggest win of the season.
Back at home after a heavy defeat at the hands of Marist Brothers last weekend, Mullum started with plenty of intent and took control of the opening stages.
The pressure paid off eight minutes in when some nice hands put winger Sammy Latu over in the corner.
The Giants continued to control field position and looks odds on to extend their lead midway through the half when Jack Murphy crashed over, only for the five-eight to lose the ball over the line.
The home side suffered a blow when winger Mason Davies was taken from the field with what looked like a serious knee injury but soon after it stretched further ahead when a clever chip and chase from Jacob Miller ended up in Chanse Perham scoring in the corner to put the side ahead 8-0 after half an hour.
Mullum kept knocking on the door and the pressure told when backrower Cody Nelson crashed over on the edge before the team went up field almost straight away, with Tom Sowerby diving over from dummy-half to give the side an 18-0 lead at halftime.
The Giants had really taken control of the game late in the first half and it didn’t take them long to further ram home their advantage after the break, with some nice work from Murphy setting up his halves partner Miller to score five minutes after the restart.
And while Ethan Ferguson finally got the Raiders on the board with a try out wide, it was Mullumbimby’s day as the side kept piling on the points.
Tyrone Harding got in on the action with a try before a powerful run and put-down from Keenan Ramsden pushed the home side beyond 30.
And while the teams traded tries in the final stages, Mullumbimby ran out big winners.
In what is a very tight race for the finals, the Giants jumped from 10th to seventh and are on the same points as Casino and Murwillumbah in fifth and sixth.
Mullumbimby 38 defeated Tweed Coast 8
BILAMBIL SNAPS LOSING STREAK IN BYRON ROUT
Bilambil has snapped a four-game losing streak in style, piling on the points in a 58-6 thrashing of Byron Bay at Red Devil Park.
Four players bagged doubles as the Jets ran in 11 tries – including seven in the second half – to solidify its spot in the top four.
The rout started just six minutes in when centre Caleb Nicholls dived forward to get on the end of a clever chip from Harry Fitzhugh for the first of the game.
Shortly after the Jets doubled their lead when some nice hands put Jacob Hind over under the black dot.
Midway through the half Byron got on the board when Keaton White planted down a grubber from Kolbi Wood to make it 12-6.
However sadly for the Red Devils that’s as close as they got as Bilambil took complete control of the rest of the match.
Alex Fitzhugh put Hind through a gap for his second and when winger Preston Smallwood dived over in the corner, the Jets had their fourth and took a 20-4 lead into halftime.
While the first 40 had been respectable for Byron, things got out of control after the break as Bilambil ran riot and scored seven tries to really blow the contest out of the water.
It started just 90 seconds after the restart when Tyson Donnelly busted through the line and passed on to Thomas Biddle to score.
The Jets then really clicked into gear with an eight-minute burst that saw them score three tries.
Centre Lachlan Hallard kicked things off with a nice dummy and run to finish off some good shape to the right.
Bilambil then went the length of the field in the next set as Nicholls repaid for the favour for his earlier try by making a break and setting up Harry Fitzhugh. That combination struck again a couple of minutes later when Fitzhugh put in a chip for his centre to score his second of the day.
By this stage the Jets had moved onto 40 but they weren’t done yet, with Alex Fitzhugh feeding Hallard through for his second before winger Blake Graham chimed in with a late double to cap off the big win.
The victory is a big boost for Bilambil after a difficult month of football and sees the side remain in fourth place on the ladder, with a little bit of breathing space over the chasing pack.
Bilambil 58 (Hind 2, Nicholls 2, Hallard 2, Graham 2, Smallwood, Biddle, H Fitzhugh tries; 7 goals) defeated Byron Bay 6 (White try; Marks 1 goal)
CASINO STORMS INTO TOP SIX
Casino has jumped back up into the NRRRL top six, at least temporarily, after hammering Northern United 56-12 at a wet and slippery Crozier Field.
Young halfback Waylon Caldwell had a field day for the Cougars, scoring one try and helping to set up five others as the team took a crucial step in its quest to play finals footy.
The rout started early, with Caldwell putting up a huge midfield bomb. The Dirawongs allowed the ball to bounce and Cougars backrower Connor Lynes swept through to take the ball before passing on the Eddie Walker-Williams to score the opener after just five minutes.
The start got even better shortly after when Kale Fraser broke through the line to charge up field. He passed on to Caldwell, who then toed the ball through for fullback Josiah Clifford to score underneath the sticks.
Northern hit back midway through the half when prop Jirra Breckenridge crashed over from close range after an excellent run from William James, but the Cougars re-established their 12-point lead not long after when prop Joshua Beech bumped off a couple of defenders before going over.
Casino was winning the battle of the middle in the difficult conditions, and when the Dirawongs knocked on an intercept attempt while defending their own line the visitors stuck again as Caldwell put Fraser through a gap directly from an attacking scrum to put his side ahead 24-6 at halftime.
The Dirawongs knew they needed to be first to score after the break if they were any chance of getting back into the game and the team enjoyed some good field position early. Jerrod See and then Theo Hippi went close in back-to-back carries but Casino managed to hold the home side out.
But then a knock-on from Northern deep in its own end opened the for the Cougars, who duly capitalised when Caldwell put backrower Tim McGrady through a gap to score the team’s fifth nine minutes into the second half.
The Dirawongs were really struggling with the conditions as yet another error in its own half once again opened the door for Casino.
From the ensuing set Caldwell continued his outstanding game with yet another assist as he put Isaiah Freeburn over with a short ball to make it 36-6 with 25 minutes to play.
And while Breckenridge showed brute strength to burst through for his and Northern United’s second, the Cougars well and truly put an exclamation mark on their victory with a late flurry of tries.
CUDGEN EXTENDS LEAD AT THE TOP
Cudgen has continued its outstanding season so far with a 26-6 victory over Evans Head at Stan Payne Oval.
Playmaker Elliott Speed was outstanding for the Hornets as he laid on a couple of tries to keep the side in pole position for a charge at the minor premiership.
In a sign of things to come, Speed didn’t waste any time making an impact, kicking a 40/20 in the very first set of the game.
While the Bombers held them out in the subsequent set, Cudgen almost went through shortly after when Speed pulled off a chargedown from Speed and Callum Prichard dived over, however play was called back for a forward pass.
Speed had been in the thick of things in the opening stages and he made a decisive play a quarter of an hour when he put Prichard through a gap with a nice short ball, with the backrower passing off to fullback Jett Forbes to finish it off for the first points of the day.
Ball handling was difficult in the wet, and when Evans Head made another error in its own half the Hornets capitalised, with Speed once again creating an opportunity with a clever grubber for Forbes to score his second and make it 12-0 after half an hour.
Then when the Bombers were penalised while in possession, Harvey Moase slotted a penalty goal to give Cudgen a 14-0 lead at halftime.
Evans Head was in need of points and thought it was over eight minutes into the second half when halfback David Gibbons pounced on the scraps from an attacking kick, however the team was ruled to have knocked the ball on in the lead-up.
The Bombers enjoyed better field position and had some opportunities in Cudgen’s half but couldn’t break through, with centre Torben Milton coming close at one stage.
With the clock ticking down the home side was chancing its arm a little more. Then when a knock-on handed the ball over, Cudgen marched up field and broke through down the left edge, with Moase finishing the job to score the team’s third with 10 minutes to go and put the game to bed.
The Bombers had put in a much-improved second half and finally had something to show for it in the last five minutes when a chip over from top from Jordan Sly wrong-footed the Cudgen back three and allowed Kiedan Hartley to jump on the ball to score.
However the Hornets had the last laugh as winger Jye Barton did well to take a cross-field kick, break the line and then scoot 90m down the touchline to score an outstanding solo try and cap off the win.
The victory continues Cudgen’s outstanding season so far, with the team having won 12 of its 13 games. The team sits five points clear of Marist Brothers at the top of the ladder, although it has played two extra games.
As for Evans Head, the loss continues a difficult second half of the season for the side, which has now lost four and drawn one of its last five games. After starting the round in sixth position, the Bombers have now slipped outside of the final positions and are in seventh ahead of Sunday’s games.
Cudgen 26 (Forbes 2, Moase, Barton tries; Moase 5 goals) defeated Evans Head 6 (Hartley try; Gibbons 1 goal)
Originally published as Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Wrap, results, standouts from round 13
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