Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Wrap, results, standouts from round three
Two of the competition’s biggest stars have put on stunning performances during a superstar shootout in round three of the NRRRL.
Tweed Heads
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tweed Heads. Followed categories will be added to My News.
There were plenty of fireworks during a dramatic round three of the NRRRL.
One side pulled off a thrilling late win after a seesawing clash, another was reduced to 11 men at one stage before powering home, while two of the competition’s superstars put on a clinic in an entertaining clash.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
SUPERSTAR SHOOTOUT AS CUDGEN DOWNS NORTHERN
Two of the competition’s biggest stars put on a clinic as Cudgen edged out Northern United 26-14 in a tight contest at Ned Byrne Oval.
Hornets lock Caleb Ziebell and Dirawongs’ star Hezekiah McKenzie were both outstanding for their respective sides in what was a superstar shootout as Cudgen saw off a determined Dirawongs side.
Playing in front of their home fans, the Hornets came out of the blocks firing, with an early penalty helping them up field.
From here, a lovely inside ball from halfback Elliott Speed put Ziebell through a gap close to the line to go over for the first of the game after just three minutes.
Despite copping an early blow, Northern United hit back 17 minutes in when McKenzie slipped through a gap on the right edge to level things up at 6-all.
Playing with the unfamiliar number seven on his back, McKenzie was causing Cudgen all sorts of troubles on the right edge and slipped through the line shortly after for his second to put the Dirawongs up 10-6 after 25 minutes.
The Hornets had been stung by Northern’s quick-fire double and looked like going into the break behind until a huge defensive play from Speed and Connor Ziebell drove United second-rower Theo Hippi back into his own in-goal area to earn a repeat set.
Two plays later Connor Ziebell made the Dirawongs pay with a powerful hit and spin to score next to the sticks and give his side a 12-10 lead at halftime.
Despite the fact that his team went into the break trailing by two, McKenzie had been the standout player on the field and he made Cudgen pay eight minutes after the restart with another piece of brilliance.
After skipping away from a couple of defenders, he fired the ball out wide for his winger to crash over and put the Dirawongs ahead by two.
The game had ebbed and flowed all afternoon and there was another twist midway through the second half when Caleb Ziebell got down low and charged over for his second of the afternoon. Speed threw over the extras to give Cudgen an 18-14 lead with 20 minutes remaining.
But just as they’d done all day, Northern United were putting the pressure on the Hornets and had the home side under the pump after earning a repeat set with 12 minutes on the clock.
However in what proved to be the decisive moment in the match, Caleb Ziebell once again pulled off a huge play by launching an epic line dropout down field. Clearing the Dirawongs’ players on the halfway line, the dropout went 61m on the full and then rolled 75m before going into touch to suddenly turn a dangerous situation into a fantastic attacking opportunity.
A couple of plays later Northern United were penalised for being offside and Speed added the extras to give his side a crucial eight-point lead with nine minutes remaining.
After scoring a double and critically turning the momentum of the game with his monster dropout, Ziebell put the game to bed in the next set when he found centre Tom Spencer with a triple cut-out ball to seal the hard-fought win.
Cudgen remain undefeated at the top of the table with three wins from three to kick off the season, while the Dirawongs are still looking for their first victory after two losses to kick off 2025.
Cudgen Hornets 26 (Caleb Ziebell 2, Connor Ziebell, Spencer tries; Speed five goals) defeated Northern United 14
LOWER HAMMERS BYRON TO OPEN 2025 ACCOUNT
Lower Clarence has broken through for its first win of the season after defeating Byron Bay 36-14 at Red Devil Park.
It was all one-way traffic as the Magpies got off to a blistering start before running in seven tries to three in the rout.
In a clash between two sides still looking for their first victory of 2025, the Magpies got off to a flyer when centre Tyler Essex did his best Aussie rules impersonation with a brilliant jump and overhead catch to take a cross field kick from Jacob Cameron-Clarke and score the opener after just three minutes.
Within the blink of an eye Lower was knocking on the door again and crossed for its second when Luke Douglas put prop Bailey Sinclair through a gap to put the visitors up 10-0 after just seven minutes.
The Magpies’ pack just kept rolling up field and when Douglas crashed through some flimsy defence, Lower had its third and jumped out to a 14-0 lead after a red-hot opening 13 minutes.
It had been a disastrous start for Byron but the Red Devils landed a punch midway through the half when prop Jyde Dwyer put fellow middle forward Jacob Kernick through a gap to get on the board.
However the comeback was snuffed out when Cameron-Clarke once again went to the air. This time it was winger Grant Byers jumped high to take the ball before passing back on the inside for backrower Tristan Lumley to give Lower a 20-4 lead at the break.
The Magpies kept rolling on in the second half as Cody Walker crashed over 10 minutes after the restart.
Young Red Devils winger Liam Lenehan pulled one back midway through the half with a run down the left-hand touchline, however Lower continued its day out as Sinclair and Nathan Hollis both crossed the stripe to stretch out to a 36-8 lead.
And while Byron’s Jesse Soric scored a late consolation, it was the Magpies’ day as they capped off a dominant victory.
Lower Clarence Magpies 36 (Sinclair 2, Essex, Douglas, Lumley, Walker, N Hollis tries; Skinner four tries) defeated Byron Bay Red Devils 14 (Kernick, Lenehan, Soric tries; Farrell one goal)
RELENTLESS JETS DOWN SPIRITED SEAGULLS
Bilambil has kept its perfect start to the season alive, overcoming a tough opening to down a spirited Tweed Seagulls side 20-12 at the Bilambil Sports Complex.
Forced to come from 12-0 down, the Jets eventually wore down the Tweed side before surging in front later in the game.
Coming into the game on the back of two straight wins, Bilambil had the early running and put plenty of pressure on the Seagulls with multiple sets on the Tweed line.
However the visitors held firm in defence and were the first to strike 12 minutes in when an error from Jets winger Blake Graham in attempting to collect a kick allowed Seagulls centre Kiefer Randl to pick up the ball and then pass off to winger Keegan Pace for the opener.
A penalty in the next set saw Tweed march up field once again, with fullback Trae Saunders somewhat fortuitously picking up a wayward pass that went to ground and scooting through for the team’s second in quick succession.
After spending much of the opening 10 minutes defending their own line, the Seagulls had suddenly raced out to a 12-0 lead.
The Jets had been stung by the quickfire double but bounced back 26 minutes in.
Coming off his own line, Graham made up for his earlier error with a brilliant 55m run that saw him beat five Seagulls before earning a penalty to put his team right on the attack.
A couple of plays later Bilambil went right, where fullback Josh Quinn sliced through to get his side on the board and halve the lead.
And while the Jets pushed hard for another late in the half, Tweed held on to take a six-point buffer into the sheds.
Bilambil had finished the half strong and picked up exactly where it left off after the break.
Receiving the ball from the kick-off, the Jets charged up field in the first set of the second half. They then put the ball through the hands on the last for winger Kai Smallwood to go over in the corner after just 70 seconds of play to make it 12-10.
Bilambil started to turn the screws and enjoyed very good field position. However just like the beginning of the first half, the Seagulls’ dogged goal line defence held firm as they turned away set after set.
However the pressure eventually told midway through the half when Smallwood put on some silky footwork.
Cutting back on the inside, the winger showed incredible guile to initially break the line before putting on a stunning right and left foot step to completely bamboozle the Seagulls’ last line of defence. All up, Smallwood stepped past four Tweed players to put the Jets ahead 16-12.
A penalty and repeat set put Bilambil back on the attack immediately, and when the Seagulls failed to diffuse an Alex Fitzhugh cross field kick, Lachlan Hallard took care of the scraps to stretch the lead out to eight with 15 minutes remaining.
Tweed’s heavy defensive load seemed to be taking its toll as errors and good yardage from the Bilambil forwards ensured much of the final stages was played in the visitors’ own end.
And while Tweed continued to defend stoically to hold out the Jets at the back end, they were unable to trouble the scorers themselves as Bilambil ran out eight-point victors.
Bilambil 20 (Smallwood 2, Quinn, Hallard tries; Smallwood two goals) defeated Tweed Seagulls 12 (Pace, Saunders tries; Leaupepe Perkins two goals)
STUNNING TRIES, SIN BINS AS BALLINA BREAKS THROUGH
Defending premiers Ballina have broken through for their first victory of the season and in the process handed surprise packets Kyogle its first loss after defeating the Turkeys 34-18 at New Park.
Five players were sent to the sin bin throughout the clash as some key playmakers from both sides showed their class in the premiers’ 16-point victory.
Stung by a first-up loss to Marist Brothers, the Seagulls wasted no time making an impression as star recruit Tyrone Roberts sliced through the defensive line with a nice dummy and step before wrong-footing the fullback to score the first try of the game after just three minutes.
Despite the early setback, Kyogle rebounded and went close through prop Deon Bianchetti after a powerful run. A couple of plays later halfback Tahne Robinson was pulled up just short.
The Turkeys thought they were over in the 19th minute after a clever grubber from Hakeem Torrens, but the referee ruled that the ball was grounded in goal by Ballina before Layne Hardy was able to get his hands on the ball.
Kyogle earned a repeat and maintained the pressure, however a key moment turned the tables in Ballina’s favour.
Setting up underneath a cross field kick from Kyogle five-eighth Torrens, Ballina winger Fred Pitt did well to take the ball before brushing off two defenders. From here he charged up field and found Harry Sivewright in support to sprint the rest of the way to score under the sticks and make it 12-0.
The try proved to be a crucial blow for the home side as the Seagulls built up some momentum.
In the next set a nice offload from Seagulls’ prop Reece Summer opened up some space for fullback Liam Green to shoot through a gap to score the team’s second in two minutes and stretch the lead out to 18 after 25 minutes.
Things got worse for the Turkeys, with centre James Torrens sent to the sin bin for dissent and a penalty helping the Seagulls go out to a 20-0 lead.
Then, in what must have seemed like deja vu, Ballina’s Carl Lolohea was sent to the bin for backchat just two plays after the restart with his team in possession.
The decision helped open the door for Kyogle before a piece of magic got the team back in the game.
With the ball in his own half, Turkeys halfback Robinson put in a brilliant chip over top for his halves partner Torrens, who caught the ball before passing it back inside to Robinson to score under the sticks.
While the try was brilliant, there was more drama to come. After making the final pass, Torrens was caught high by Ballina fullback Green.
There was some push and shove in aftermath, with Kyogle’s Lionel Johnson sent to the sin bin for his part in it and Green given a 10-minute breather for his high shot as both sides were briefly reduced to 11 and Ballina took a 20-6 lead into halftime.
Kyogle had given itself a sniff with a try late in the half but the Seagulls quickly re-established their lead when hooker Caleb Kinna burrowed over from dummy-half eight minutes after the restart to make it 26-6.
Despite trailing by 20, the home side kept fighting back, with Robinson once again in the thick of the action by putting Tyrell Appo through a gap to make a break up field.
The winger was brought down by Ballina fullback Green but then got up to play the ball without checking if a teammate was behind him. Green pounced on the ball but was penalised for not being square at marker and was subsequently sent to the sin bin for the second time in the game to once again reduce the Seagulls to 12 men.
The Turkeys wasted no time making their advantage count, with Robinson putting centre James Torrens through a gap to make it 26-12 with 20 minutes remaining.
But just as Kyogle may have been eyeing off a comeback, Ballina snuffed out any chance of an upset when skipper Anthony Colman charged over from dummy-half to make it 30-12 with 13 minutes remaining.
With the game sealed Ballina five-eighth Reece McKenzie-O’Brien put the icing on the cake with a nice long-range try, doing well to catch a Robinson kick close at close range before running 70m to score, while Kyogle prop Bianchetti crashed over for a late consolation.
Ballina Seagulls 34 (T Roberts, Sivewright, Green, Kinna, Colman, McKenzie-O’Brien tries; five goals) defeated Kyogle Turkeys 18 (Robinson, J Torrens, Bianchetti tries; Robinson three goals)
TWEED COAST DOWN CASINO IN THRILLER
The Tweed Coast Raiders have continued their strong start to the season, with a late try helping the side to a 20-16 victory over Casino in a seesawing clash at Queen Elizabeth Park.
It what was a game full of fine margins, multiple tries were pulled back for infringements as the Raiders held on for a tight victory.
Casino got off to the perfect start, with a penalty giving the side great field position before Waylon Caldwell and Eddie Walker-Williams combined to put winger Gairo Kapana over in the corner in just the third minute.
However in an example of how quickly things can change in rugby league, Kapana put down a bomb from Tweed Coast halfback Riley Lack shortly after to give the Raiders a golden opportunity of their own.
The visitors didn’t waste any time capitalising, with winger Abele Atunaisa brushing off four would-be defenders with a powerful run back on the inside to score under the posts and give the Raiders a 6-4 lead after 12 minutes.
The tryscorers’ curse struck again when Atunaisa dropped the ball while coming out of his own end to hand over the ball in dangerous territory.
With a scrum 10m out from the Tweed Coast line, Casino shifted the ball left through their two strike weapons Caldwell and Walker-Williams, who this time put centre Tim Torrens over to lead 10-6 after 17 minutes.
The Cougars were having plenty of success down the left and thought they were in again in the very next set when Caldwell and Kapana combined nicely, only for the final pass to be called forward.
It had been a lively opening to the game and that continued 26 minutes in when a nice cut-out ball from Lack put Atunaisa one-on-one with his opposite number. The big winger proved to be too powerful as he crashed over for his second of the day to level things at up 10-all.
While both sides had their chances late in the half, none were able to break through, with Torrens pulling off a bone-rattling tackle on Raiders winger Javahn Te Whaiti to stop a tryscoring opportunity and Casino’s Kapana putting the ball down with the tryline begging on the stroke of halftime.
It had been an action-packed first half and the game continued in a similar vein directly after the restart with a remarkable piece of play.
With the Casino kick-off holding up in the breeze, Raiders five-eighth Stevie O’Connor was forced to dive forward to try and catch the ball. Unfortunately for his team, the ball spilled forward into the hands of the oncoming Cougars players, who passed on to Kapana to score his second in the left hand corner just 13 seconds after the resumption of play.
Eddie Walker-Williams then drained the conversion from the sideline to put Casino up 16-10.
The Cougars thought their dream start had continued just a couple of minutes later when Isaiah Freeburn scored in the opposite corner, however the team was denied for the second time in the match due to a forward pass in the build-up.
With Casino dominating the opening stages, Tweed Coast was riding its luck to stay in the contest.
But 15 minutes into the half a classy moment drew the visitors level. After a quick play-the-ball from Rohan Begg, five-eighth O’Connor put fullback Oliver Blood through a gap with a lovely inside ball, with the latter showing enough speed and deception to get around his opposite number to lock things up at 16-all.
While still going from end to end, both teams struggled with ball handling as the game entered the final quarter.
In a game of fine margins, Caldwell put in a 40/20 attempt that narrowly went out on the full to give the Raiders ball in a great position.
A couple of plays later Tweed Coast received a penalty Oliver Blood was hit with a high shot while on the ground.
Instead of taking what would have been an easy two points the visitors went for the try. And while they couldn’t cross, they did earn a repeat set.
From here, a rampaging run from skipper Daniel Ross got the team on the front foot, with a shift to the right on the next play putting winger Javahn Te Whaiti over to see the Raiders edge ahead 20-16 with just eight minutes remaining.
Despite trailing, the Cougars were far from done and the team received a late chance when a player was taken out while chasing a Caldwell chip kick.
With a fresh set on the Raiders’ line, Casino pushed hard for an equaliser, with Kapana stopped agonisingly short not once but twice as the Tweed Coast defence held on the claim the narrow win.
The victory continued the Raiders’ strong start to the season with two wins from three starts, while Casino is still looking for its first win after back-to-back losses.
Tweed Coast 20 (Atunaisa 2, Blood, Te Whaiti tries; Lack two goals) defeated Casino 16 (Kapana 2, Torrens tries; Walker-Williams two goals)
BOMBERS DOWN MURBAH IN 10-TRY CLASH
Evans Head has bounced back from a last-start loss to defeat Murwillumbah 34-20 at Stan Payne Oval.
Hooker Jesse Beauchamp starred for the home side while some excellent attacking kicking from halfback David Gibbons proved crucial as the Bombers ran in six tries to four to chalk up their second win from three starts to kick off the season.
Coming off the back of a round two win over Byron Bay, the Mustangs came bounding out of the blocks and crossed for the first after just three minutes with an excellent long-range effort.
Coming out of its own half, Murbah shifted the ball to the right early in the set and put winger Blake Marrison into space down the touchline. The speedster put the afterburners on and skipped past the Evans Head cover defence to score an impressive 60m effort.
Despite conceding first, it didn’t take long for the Bombers to hit back when Beauchamp took advantage of some sloppy goal line defence to scoot out from hooker and dummy his way over in the 10th minute.
He was over again just a couple of minutes later after putting centre Justin Bleakley into space down the right and backing up on the inside to finish off the move and put the home side up 12-4.
Beauchamp was in the thick of the action and almost went in for his third in the following set after putting a clever grubber in behind for himself, only for Murwillumbah to knock the ball dead.
While the young hooker didn’t get his third, the Bombers went in again from the repeat set, with fullback Kieden Hartley giving Murbah’s Aaron Booth the big don’t argue to score on the right edge and stretch the lead out to 12.
Despite having conceded three tries on the bounce, the Mustangs hit back just before the half-hour mark when halfback Kade Hill showed plenty of nous to chip the ball in behind the Bombers’ defensive line before winning the race to the ball to score and make it 16-10 at the break.
The try had put the Mustangs within striking distance and seven minutes into the second half they were even after a try under the sticks made it 16-all.
The contest had swung between the teams all day and shortly after Evans Head took control once more.
Attacking Murbah’s line, Kennedy brothers Kyle and Aidan both lined up for a hit-up. As both charged towards the line, hooker Matthew Toole used Kyle as a decoy and found Aidan, who went straight through from close range to put his side ahead by six.
The try gave the Bombers a huge boost and a few minutes later they were in again.
Receiving the ball 20m out from the Mustangs’ line, halfback Gibbons put the ball up in the air for centre Torben Milton, who timed his run to perfection to jump, take the ball and run through to score to put the home side up 28-16 with just over 20 minutes remaining.
With a comfortable 12-point lead, Gibbons’ silky left boot helped seal the deal, with a pinpoint kick to the left allowing winger Zacharia Roberts to leap high, expertly take the ball and score and excellent try to put the game to bed.
And while Murwillumbah crossed for a late consolation, Evans Head ran out comfortable 14-point winners.
Evans Head 34 (Beauchamp 2, A Kennedy, Hartley, Milton, Roberts tries; Gibbons five goals) defeat Murwillumbah 20
In the other round three clash, Bilambil kept its perfect start to the season alive with a 20-12 victory over the Tweed Seagulls. Meanwhile the clash between Marist Brothers and Mullumbimby was washed out.
Originally published as Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Wrap, results, standouts from round three
Join the conversation
Truckie charged with drink-driving allegedly blew five times limit
A man has been charged after police say he blew almost five times the legal blood alcohol limit while driving a B-double truck in the state’s Northern Rivers.
Read more
Volunteer treasurer bled rural fire brigade of $38k
A northern NSW woman who emptied the bank accounts of her rural fire brigade while volunteering as their treasurer has faced court for the first time.
Read more