NSWRL Junior Reps Finals Wk 2: Wrap, talking points, team of the week, gallery from the weekend
See who stood tall when it counted as we crown our best 17 players from all grades in the NSWRL Junior Reps prelim finals day. Plus check out our huge gallery and talking points from the weekend.
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HERE is the team of the week combined from Harold Matthews, SG Ball and Tarsha Gale from week two of the NSWRL Junior Reps finals.
1. Abby Aros (Canterbury Tarsha Gale)
2. Mia Barber (Roosters Tarsha Gale)
3. Lailani Montgomery (Roosters Tarsha Gale)
4. Blaize Talagi (Parramatta SG Ball)
5. Nick Murphy (Penrith SG Ball)
6. Lorenzo Talataina (Parramatta Harold Matts)
7. Haami Loza (Newcastle Harold Matts)
8. Ilisapei Bari (Canterbury Tarsha Gale)
9. Zaidas Muagututia (Parramatta Harold Matts)
10. Eliza Lopamaua (Roosters Tarsha Gale)
11. Noaria Kapua (Canterbury Tarsha Gale)
12. Sosaia Alatini (Canterbury Harold Matts)
13. Tavarna Papalii (Roosters Tarsha Gale)
14. Fletcher Sharpe (Newcastle SG Ball)
15. Sheldon Abbey (Canterbury Harold Matts)
16. Jermaine McEwen (Newcastle SG Ball)
17. Tatiana Finau (Canterbury Tarsha Gale)
10 TALKING POINTS
THESE are the 10 talking points from week two of the NSWRL Junior Reps Finals, including action from Harold Matthews, SG Ball and Tarsha Gale Cup.
BULLDOGS FORWARDS UNLEASH HELL
The first Tarsha Gale clash of the day between the Bulldogs and Steelers was marred by a first half of errors.
But once they clicked into gear, Canterbury flicked the switch with a dominant second half.
Their forwards owned that battle in the second 30, allowing fullback Abby Aros to work her magic with a starring performance.
Their size gives them a red-hot chance against the Roosters.
DOGS OF WAR COME TO THE FORE
It was a 60-point turnaround in the Harold Matthews from round nine to the weekend, with the Bulldogs defying the odds to knock off Penrith.
The way they did it was impressive, overcoming an early try before settling into their sets, getting in the grind and coming up with some big plays that helped them build a lead to start the second half.
They showed character after copping a hiding from the Panthers in round nine, and now they’re a golden chance of taking out the title.
ALATINI STEPS UP TO THE PLATE
The performance of Sosaia Alatini was simply breathtaking.
A backrower who has come across from New Zealand, the young Bulldog looked dangerous every time he touched the ball and was rewarded with a double.
Both came at crucial points of the game, and his presence alone gave the Panthers plenty of headaches.
KNIGHTS COME BACK FROM THE DEAD
Newcastle looked to be struggling big time in their SG Ball clash, down 8-0 and really not able to get any cohesion in their attack.
It took a piece of brilliance from Jarome Falemoe just before halftime to get them going, setting up a try and giving them momentum at the sheds.
They looked much better in the second half and were rewarded with the winning try to Kyle McCarthy, all while holding Penrith scoreless in the second 35.
BELIEVE THE HYPE WITH SHARPE
There’s been plenty of talk about Knights fullback Fletcher Sharpe, and for good reason.
He was everywhere on Saturday, saving tries and setting them up, as well as being in the right place at the right time for every Penrith attacking raid.
Sharpe is a classy talent who we will definitely see in the higher grades to finish out the year. He’s one to keep an eye on.
CHEVY PARKED UP
With a weekend bye in the Jersey Flegg and NSW Cup, Canberra had the luxury of naming young fullback Chevy Stewart for the SG Ball prelim.
In a season to remember, after scoring eight tries in the opening five rounds of the under-19s comp, Stewart’s rise continued through to Flegg and NSW Cup.
But against a dominant Parramatta in tumbling rain, as hard as he tried, the star in the unfamiliar No.21 jumper just couldn’t get out of second gear.
EELS FINALS STEEL
In the SG Ball, there’s the Parramatta side of the preliminary rounds and the resilient version in the finals.
After conceding more than 40 points to both Penrith and Canberra in the early rounds, Parramatta have locked the gates in the finals, leaking a miserly three tries in two weeks.
LOZA IN SHINING ARMOUR
Harold Matts playmaker Haami Loza is one to watch for the Knights in next week’s decider.
Hungry and elusive, the halfback chased hard to ground a bomb for Newcastle’s opening try against Parra, but it was his silky solo effort in the second half that put his side out of reach.
Drifting left against a set line, Loza left defenders floundering in a throwback to Cliffy Lyons, dummying inside and out to open the door for what was the match-winning play.
SLIPPERY EELS ARRIVE TOO LATE
Parramatta may have left it too late in the Matts, but their whirlwind finish certainly had the stands rocking.
Dormant for the best part of the opening 50 minutes and trailing by 12, Lorenzo Talataina sparked a phenomenal surge in the closing stages.
Showcasing speed, skill and desire, the half carved up a hapless Knights and brought out the best in teammates Fagalele Fagalele and Dominic Farrugia with several memorable moments.
ROOSTERS HAVE EDGE IN GOAL KICKING
The winner of the Tarsha Gale Cup could come down to a battle of the goal kickers. Both the Roosters and Bulldogs have no trouble crossing the stripe, but it’s the Roosters who more often than not convert four-pointers into six.
Against the Steelers, Canterbury’s Tatiana Finau landed two of six attempts.
Mia Barber had a day out for the Tricolours, the winger slotted all six of her first attempts – including two rippers from touch.
FINALS WEEK TWO WRAP
STAY tuned throughout the day for the latest wrap and results from NSWRL Junior Reps Finals week two from Leichhardt Oval.
EELS DEFY ODDS TO MAKE GRAND FINAL
In a day of upsets in the NSWRL Junior Reps preliminary finals at Leichhardt Oval, Parramatta have ended the season of SG Ball minor premiers Canberra with a convincing 14-6 win.
Following last week’s narrow escape against the Magpies, Parramatta backed it up with a commanding performance to send the Raiders back home empty-handed.
Strengthened by the late inclusion of NSW Cup fullback Chevy Stewart, the Raiders went in as favourites given they had hammered the Eels when the sides last met back in round five.
But it was the Eels who came out breathing fire, and they almost landed the first four-pointer of the evening in the right corner after just a few minutes.
It would be an area Parramatta would continue to target, and when hooker Matthew Arthur surged over it was 4-0 to the Blue-and-Gold.
A late tackle penalty gifted Canberra an attacking opportunity, but an under the pump Parra goal line defence held firm and the rewards followed several minutes later.
Still sending traffic towards Canberra’s left edge, the Eels opened a handy 10-point buffer when winger Devonte Vaivela cashed in on the yardage of several bollocking midfield charges.
Canberra’s left continued to leak like a sieve, and the nightmare only worsened when last week’s two-try hero Apa Twidle slid over for the Eels’ third to make it 14-0.
Green Machine spirits lifted when replacement forward Taulauniuotagaloa Mariota crashed over under the posts 20 minutes from full-time.
At 14-6 and with their season flashing before their eyes, Canberra threw caution to the wind but continued to come unstuck in the slippery conditions.
In the end, Parramatta’s lead was never under serious threat. Now they can look forward to next week, and a clash for the trophy against a buoyant Newcastle Knights.
KNIGHTS SURVIVE EELS LATE SURGE
Newcastle have qualified for next week’s Harold Matthews Cup decider after holding off a late charge by Parramatta with an 18-16 win under lights at Leichhardt Oval.
After tries were exchanged early, Newcastle skipper Connor Votano put his side in front when he sliced through Parramatta’s right edge, still with work to do, the fullback stepped off his left foot to put the Knights in front 12-6 at halftime.
Newcastle continued to have the better of the second half, in what turned out to be a thrilling battle of the halfbacks.
First it was Haami Loza for the Knights. With nothing on offer, the silky No.7 did it all himself down a short side. His two dummies opened up the defence before he beat the fullback in a mesmerising charge to the line.
Leading 18-6, Newcastle continued to dominate field position amid a host of Parramatta errors.
With a little more than 10 minutes to play and their season slipping away, the Eels needed an urgent dose of inspiration. And it arrived in the shape of crafty playmaker Lorenzo Talataina.
After being starved of attacking options for most of the second half, the No.7 sparked a width of the field backline play that almost ended with winger Dominic Farrugia scoring out wide.
But Talataina wasn’t to be denied two minutes later. His short side bust left the Knights backtracking, and from the next play Lachlan Vella powered over to close the margin to six.
With less than five minutes left, Talataina continued to weave his magic. And with a another short side dart, this time on the opposite side of the field, he then kicked ahead and Farrugia raced onto a room service bounce to cross for one of the tries of the day.
Trailing by two, Farrugia had a chance to level the scores, but his conversion attempt from touch sailed wide and the Knights held on to advance to the decider.
ROOSTERS CRUISE THROUGH TO DECIDER
The Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy’s dream of consecutive titles is alive after advancing to next week’s Tarsha Gale Cup grand final.
The Bondi girls outmuscled Newcastle with a blistering three try opening, before they kicked on to extend their unbeaten run to nine with a comfortable 40-4 victory.
They dominated from the opening set, setting up camp deep in Newcastle’s territory before Mia Barber crossed in the fifth minute.
Smart inside work from Skyla Adams and Krystal Bulmer created the overlap, and the winger dashed over in the right corner, and it was 6-0 when she raised the flags from touch.
Powerhouse props Moanalei Brown and Eliza Lopamaua continued to bend the Knights’ line from the restart, and the Roosters went ahead by 12 when Lailani Montgomery grounded an uncontested Adams bomb.
Nothing was going right for Newcastle, and Ilisia Haumono made them pay for another error. Following an unforced turnover, the big No.6 forced her way over the line to make it 18-0 after 15 minutes.
Newcastle’s best chance came in the closing stages of the first half. Five-eighth Evie Jones came close in the right corner, then moments later, winger Kyah Johnston was bundled over the sideline on the other side of the field.
In the second half the rain came, but it wasn’t enough to wash away the Triclours’ punishing start, and with another four tries – including another to Haumono – they shot clear 40-0.
Newcastle struck late through Tiarna West, but it was an afternoon for the Roosters, who will now tackle the undefeated Bulldogs in next week’s decider.
KNIGHTS COMEBACK TO DENY PENRITH
A gallant Newcastle held Penrith scoreless for 50 minutes to claim a determined 10-8 victory in the SG Ball Cup.
Penrith controlled the running for much of the first half, and took the early spoils through David Afu, who was the recipient of a miracle no-look, over the head pass from Jirrah Liddiard to crash over in the corner.
Sustained pressure from Penrith didn’t allow the Knights any breathing room, and they extended the margin to 8-0 soon after with Luke Hanson putting the ball on winger Nick Murphy’s chest in open space to stroll to the line.
Just as the Panthers looked to hold that margin into the sheds, a clean break from Jarome Falemoe was finished off with a flick pass to winger Logan Aoake to bring the score back to 8-6.
Falemoe was in the thick of things to start the second half, with a mid-air collision with Murphy seeing the centre taken from the field on a stretcher.
Penrith continued to pepper the Newcastle line and earned a number of repeat sets, all to no avail.
Back-to-back penalties helped the Knights down the field for their best shot of the half, but it was the defence of Liddiard to come up with a brilliant one-on-one tackle to force Kyle McCarthy over the sideline.
They went back to that side in the 54th minute and it paid dividends, with a lovely backline movement seeing Jermaine McEwen putting Fletcher Sharpe into space, drawing the winger to put McCarthy over to edge the Knights ahead 10-8.
Tempers flared with eight minutes to go as Cooper Bigeni was penalised and subsequently sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle, with Luron Patea experiencing a similar fate for a push in the back.
Penrith had their last throw of the dice with under three minutes to play with a big break on the grandstand side from Murphy.
As they had the Knights retreating, a crash play by Delahia Wigmore was thwarted after being ruled to drop it before the line.
BULLDOGS SHOW FIGHT TO UPSET PANTHERS
Canterbury has staged a 60-point turnaround to land their spot in the Harold Matthews grand final, courtesy of a 30-16 defeat of Penrith at Leichhardt Oval.
It was just three weeks ago the Bulldogs found themselves on the end of a hiding from the Panthers, and captain Mitchell Woods said they wanted to prove people wrong who said they didn’t stand a chance in the rematch.
“We were winning games, but in the last round we played these boys and lost 52-6,” Woods said.
“Since then no one has backed us, no one has had anything for us.
“We came back this week ready and prove that we deserve to be here. We’re not a joke in this comp.
“Last time we came in a bit arrogant, and this time we knew we had our backs against the wall and we had nothing to lose.
“We were hungry today. It was all about effort. It's going to be tough next week, but we’re ready.”
Penrith exploded out of the gates with some razzle-dazzle football, starting with Kye Raven, going through a ton of hands, and returning back to the lock to score inside three minutes.
The Bulldogs had the chance to hit back soon after, if not for the desperate defence of Jaxen Edgar on his own line to hold up Hori Fua.
Eventually they would crack however, with a tough offload from Sheldon Abbey finding Itula Seve, who was able to spin through an attempted tackle and barge his way over to level the scores.
Just as the Bulldogs started to build momentum and camp themselves in Penrith territory, a piggyback penalty allowed the Panthers out of their own half, with Tua Patea scrambling his way over from dummy half to retake the lead.
They didn’t hold it for long, as a rampaging Sosaia Alatini broke through five defenders from close range to put the Bulldogs in front for the first time in the game at 12-10 in the shadows of halftime.
That lead was pushed out to a converted try after a left-foot step from Fua saw him convert his chance this time.
It became two converted tries moments later as Alatini showed his strength near the line to bust the line and put Canterbury in a handy position at 22-10 with 19 minutes remaining.
Penrith weren’t going to surrender, and looked to have hit back in the far corner, only for Harry Wald to be ruled to put a foot on the sideline.
Repeated errors from the Bulldogs in their own half were eventually punished as Casey McLean crossed out wide, with the boot of Wald getting them back to within six to set up a scintillating final 10 minutes.
Penrith tried hard, but when they were pinged for a strip with two minutes to play, the boot of Bronson Reuben sealed the win, with a last-second try to Daniel Christodoulou iced a famous win.
DOMINANT BULLDOGS UNLEASH IN SECOND HALF
Canterbury is the first team to book its spot in NSWRL Junior Reps Grand Final day following a dominant second half showing.
The Bulldogs did their damage just before halftime, and continued it on for a 28-0 win over Illawarra in the Tarsha Gale Cup.
In what proved to be a testing first 30 minutes, both teams failed to hang onto the ball as errors plagued the two.
The Steelers had their chances early in the half with a charge down giving Chelsea Savill an early chance to attack, only for it to be thwarted.
Canterbury had the best of the running from that point on, camping themselves in Illawarra territory for large parts of the half.
They were finally rewarded two minutes from the break with Tatiana Finau getting past multiple defenders to crash her way under the posts and give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead at halftime.
It was another Steelers mistake that gifted the Bulldogs great field position early in the second half, allowing Abby Aros to work her magic in style, throwing a bullet cutout to Charlotte Eather to extend the lead.
That gave Canterbury all the motivation they needed, as they marched down the field from the ensuing set, this time with Noaria Kapua putting it on a platter for Ebony Raftstrand-Smith to score and push the advantage to 14-0 inside the final 15 minutes.
The game was put beyond doubt soon after, as a charging Ilisapeci Bari putting Aros into a huge gap, finding a surging Serentity Mahoni who raced 40m to score.
The icing on the cake came in the form of Eather’s double, with Amelia Pasikala putting a huge shot on Shaye Shipton, toeing ahead the forced mistake for her winger to touch down.
Aros capped off a fine individual performance, slicing her way through the defence to cross with less than two minutes to play.
PHOTO GALLERY
FINALS PREVIEW
THE Penrith juggernaut continues to roll on, and if their junior reps are anything to go by, there’s no signs of slowing down.
The Panthers come into Saturday’s NSWRL preliminary finals with a golden opportunity to book their spot in both male grand finals.
Their Harold Matthews side has gone unbeaten since round one, with their SG Ball suffering just the one loss on their way to a second-placed finish.
So what’s the key to their sustained success?
MORE JUNIOR REPS COVERAGE
Finals Week One Team of the Week
Canterbury’s Tarsha Gale push for NRLW
SG Ball coach Scott Thompson believes a top-down approach and buy in from the talented squads has been crucial to getting to their current point.
“It’s a very good system to be a part of at the moment,” Thompson said.
“The coaches involved from head coach to assistants all know their roles and are good at their craft, and there’s support from the academy staff.
“But it’s a credit to the kids. They have to buy in and have the talent and attitude to fulfil the instructions given, and they definitely do that.
“(Having success at NRL level) isn’t something that comes up, but it’s definitely acknowledged.
“We had about five or six go across for a JETS program to train with the NRL squad.
“For the boys that did that, it dangles that carrot in front of them, and when they come back, the boys see that and want to be a part of it.”
Thompson was at the helm last year for their SG Ball premiership, and sees enough promise in this current group to think they can get their again.
“They’re a very tight-knit group,” he said.
“There’s only eight left over from last year, but they’re similar in the sense they’re mates. They hang out off the field and they socialise, but they put in the hard work at training, and that’s what gets you a good squad.
“Billy Phillips has really come on this year from playing one game last season, to only being taken off once this year at lock. Luron Patea came off the bench last year and is now a starting prop who has had a taste of Flegg.”
To get their though they will have to get through Newcastle, a side they’ve enjoyed a healthy rivalry with over the course of the past two seasons.
“We’ll give them plenty of respect. We know they’ve got good players across the park,” Thompson said.
NSWRL JUNIOR REPS FINALS WEEK 2 SCHEDULE
10am – Canterbury vs Illawarra (Tarsha Gale)
11.30am – Penrith vs Canterbury (Harold Matts)
1pm – Penrith vs Newcastle (SG Ball)
2.45pm – Roosters vs Newcastle (Tarsha Gale)
4.15pm – Newcastle vs Parramatta (Harold Matts)
5.45pm – Canberra vs Parramatta (SG Ball)
All games at Leichhardt Oval, Saturday
Originally published as NSWRL Junior Reps Finals Wk 2: Wrap, talking points, team of the week, gallery from the weekend
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