NSWRL Junior Reps: Full wrap of finals week two, schedule for week three preliminary finals
The second week of the NSWRL Junior Reps brought out the best in teams as they chased a spot in next week’s prelims. Catch up on a huge day with our full wrap + prelim finals schedule.
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The second week of the NSWRL Junior Reps finals is in the books.
Catch up on all the weekend action below, plus check out the full schedule for the preliminary finals in week three.
MORE COVERAGE
Finals Week 1 Talking Points
Sixes and Sevens: The 24 SG Ball and Tarsha Gale halves pushing for higher honours
WEEK TWO SCHEDULE
LISA FIAOLA
Cronulla vs Wests Tigers (winner plays Central Coast) - Leichhardt 9.45am
Parramatta vs Penrith (winner plays Canterbury) - Penrith 10am
HAROLD MATTHEWS
Syd Roosters vs Central Coast (winner plays Newcastle) - Leichhardt 12.45pm
Illawarra vs South Sydney (winner plays New Zealand) - Leichhardt 3.45pm
TARSHA GALE
Penrith vs Parramatta (winner plays Canterbury) - Penrith 11.30am
Syd Roosters vs Wests Tigers (winner plays Illawarra) - Leichhardt 11.15am
SG BALL
Parramatta vs Melbourne (winner plays South Sydney) - Penrith 2pm
Canberra vs Canterbury (winner plays Syd Roosters) - Leichhardt 2.15pm
RABBITOHS PRODUCE LATE MIRACLE
A late comeback has lifted South Sydney into the Harold Matthews preliminary finals, downing Illawarra 18-14.
A Payton Tarau double pump created space for Darcy Feltham, who found winger Dennishley Taukafa who somehow grounded the ball despite two Steelers pushing him over the sideline.
Knowing they were in for an arm wrestle, the Rabbitohs opted to take the two points on offer when Tarau was hit late after a kick.
It took 18 minutes, but the Steelers hit the scoreboard in emphatic fashion as a rampaging Asher Chapman stormed onto the ball 45m out and raced past the chasing defenders.
That was the spark that Illawarra needed, with Halaapiapi Amone getting low and under defenders to give them their first lead of the game at 10-8 with six minutes left in the first half.
Souths looked to have taken the lead once again after Keone Anitelea Tsioussis got on the end of a Feltham grubber, but the chaser was ruled to be offside.
It looked a harsh call on the Rabbitohs, and they found themselves further behind from the ensuing set when Creighton Meafou got under a bomb and flicked the ball out to Sonny MacGregor in a thrilling piece of play.
Illawarra almost had a margin beyond reach when Cooper Morrison crossed, only for him to be ruled to have pushed a Rabbitoh in the back.
With under 10 minutes on the clock, Souths needed someone to lift and Feltham answered the call, beating two defenders to touch down inches from the touch in-goal line.
They still needed another score with two minutes to go, and up stepped captain Tsioussis, who kicked across-field and found Clayton McGoon who sent them into the preliminary final.
RAIDERS LATE BLITZ OVER DOGS
Canberra has put together an impressive second half to knock off Canterbury 38-22 in their SG Ball elimination final.
Front row tryscoring machine Jesse Milin got the Raiders off to a hot start inside the opening four minutes, before Paul Johnson hit back in quick order.
Braydan Darmody and Mitchell Woods then traded four pointers as the two went into the half locked at 12-all.
Sosaia Alatini gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game just minutes into the second half, before the Raiders went on a run that would ultiamtely seal the game in their favour.
Jayze Tuigamala, Sylas Simon and Milin all crossed in the space of 12 minutes as Canberra raced out to a 32-18 advantage that would prove impossible to run down.
EELS OUTCLASS STORM
Parramatta held off a late Melbourne charge to win their SG Ball clash 24-12.
An early penalty gave Melbourne good field position, and they capitalised through captain Lockyer-Azile Foliola proving too strong out of dummy half.
Melbourne’s kicking game caused plenty of problems for Parramatta’s back three and gave the Storm multiple opportunities on their line, with the best Kobi Floro getting over the line, only to be ruled to have lost possession.
Parramatta finally got to attack when the Storm fumbled in their own half, and they quickly pounced as Andes Johansson fended off a defender before putting Aidan Kebourian over in the corner.
With time winding down in the first half, Tom Summer broke through Melbourne’s line and offloaded to Max Popo, who carried four defenders with him to push Parramatta’s advantage to 12-4.
There was time for one more, and the Eels obliged with Kebourian posting his second to give them a 12-point buffer at the break.
The task was made tougher for the Storm as Parramatta made it four-straight tries early in the second half through a crash play resulting in Elijah-Shane Tapau getting over.
Melbourne finally ended the run and got back to within 12 on the back of an individual effort from Waka Hammond, keeping them alive with 20 minutes to play.
That sparked the Storm into action and shortly after they had another on the back of an Eels error, with a shift to the right allowing Alize Clarke to score out wide.
Melbourne’s last attempt to keep the game alive was thwarted when Hammond’s pass to Clarke was ruled forward, gifting Parramatta a battle with South Sydney for a spot in the grand final.
CENTRAL COAST POWERS HOME
Central Coast took out the battle of the Roosters, knocking off Sydney 36-30 to progress in Harold Matthews Cup.
It was Central Coast who struck first, with Carter Mareko dabbing a grubber in and Tulsyn McCulloch touching down inches before the dead-ball line.
Charlie Webb sparked Sydney into action, stepping off his right and racing 40m to get them on the board, before Ravai Tulevu gave them their first lead of the game minutes later when he went over untouched.
McCulloch got his side back into it with his second of the afternoon, and Central Coast had the advantage once again in the shadows of halftime, when big Blessing Foini was unable to be stopped close to the line to barge his way over.
That score became 18-all at the break as Lachlan Metcalfe broke through two defenders and got up to score in a tough play from the halfback.
Central Coast needed just four minutes into the second half to hit the front again, with Zaylen Ekepati putting Joshua Fesolai through a huge gap.
They soon had their biggest lead of the game after Samuel Michie was able to break through defenders and get an offload away to Foini, who was simply too much to contain, giving Central Coast a 28-18 advantage.
That became 14 with 13 minutes to play as Mareko put through a perfect grubber for Corbin Devaney to touch down in front of the Keith Barnes stand.
They went back-to-back to continue their flawless half, with a chip and regather from McCulloch inside Sydney’s 10 bringing up his hat-trick and giving them an unassailable margin.
Tulevu scored a double in the final minutes to give Sydney one final shot at forcing extra time with two minutes to play.
PARRAMATTA TAKES DOWN RIVALS
Parramatta has set up a showdown with Canterbury after proving too strong for Penrith, prevailing 28-14 at Parker St Reserve in Tarsha Gale Cup.
Things couldn’t have started worse for Parramatta, dropping the ball from the kick-off and conceding within the opening two minutes.
Chloe Pallisier targeted the short side and a cutout put Madison Wilson over in the corner.
Just moments later it looked like Wilson had her double, only for Avena Racoma Ngata to force a mistake over the line.
The Eels finally had their chance to attack, and Khyliah Gray turned Taylah Falaniko under from the scrum to barge her way over to give Parramatta a 6-4 lead in the 10th minute.
Parramatta looked destined to extend its margin when Aaliyah Soufan put a grubber through that was picked up by Matoisha Kalepo, before jamming Penrith defence forced a mistake.
Pressure eventually told and the Eels moved ahead by six after Sammy-Lee Gunn-Tauai got past the defence from close range.
They targeted the left-hand side once again and took a 14-4 lead into halftime when Kalepo found Sualo Lafoga over out wide.
Ngata pushed the margin beyond two converted tries just minutes into the second half, before Jade Elford immediately responded to get the Panthers back in the hunt.
A costly mistake from Penrith saw that margin go back to 14 in quick order on the back of a strong effort from Fontayne Tufugua.
Just as it looked like Penrith’s afternoon was done, Danica Talitonu ran over the top of three defenders to get them back to 22-14 with nine minutes remaining.
They couldn’t muster one final charge, seeing them bow out of the finals.
PLAY FROM THE HEAVENS
The Sydney Roosters have come from behind to down Wests Tigers on the bell in extraordinary scenes at Leichhardt Oval in the Tarsha Gale Cup.
After trailing for the majority of the contest, the Tricolours roared to victory, crossing for three late tries to sneak home 22-16.
In a stunning performance, Logan Fletcher stood up at both ends of the park when the Roosters needed it most. After pulling off a try-saving tackle with the scores locked at 16-all, the fullback bobbed up a minute later to orchestrate the winning play.
With seconds left, the No. 1 lined up a field-goal attempt, only for the ball to ricochet off a Tigers defender into the waiting hands of lock Luca-Bella Ngatuere-Ongley, who couldn’t believe her luck as she raced over next to the posts.
After finishing in seventh spot, the Roosters will now look to extend their golden run all the way to the decider when they tackle Illawarra next week.
Wests created the early running and looked to have done enough to win the match.
On the back of a penalty in the opening set of the contest, Tiresa Leasuasu steamed across to score the Tigers’ first and the under-19 Maroons middle added another to make it 12-0 in the ninth minute.
The Roosters pegged one back through Tyra Ekepati before a brilliant Evie McGrath chip-chase effort saw the Tigers jump to a 16-6 halftime lead.
It remained that way until 13 minutes from full time when the Roosters struck through Manisha Seebeck.
And the winger quickly added another, and with Fletcher’s booming sideline conversion levelling the scores, the Roosters appeared headed for another extra-time finish.
In the end it wasn’t needed, following a try that will be spoken about for years to come.
FAST FINISHING EELS
Parramatta will take on heavyweights Canterbury for a spot in the Lisa Fiaola decider after the Eels downed the Panthers 26-12 in the first of three finals matches at Parker Street Reserve.
In their previous encounter Parramatta rocked their western rivals 46-0, but this was a different Penrith who led early in the second half and remained within striking distance until the final eight minutes.
One of the best on ground until she was sin-binned in the dying minutes, Penrith’s Patricia Heihei was largely unstoppable. The ferocious lock charged at the line like a wild rhino and her second try gave Penrith the inside running at 12-10 with just under 20 minutes to play.
The Eels regained the lead through Evelyn Kuwendu, and it took a moment of brilliance from Kaizen Morgan-Pritchard to keep the Eels’ season alive.
Hanging on 16-12, Parramatta swarmed in defence to force a goal line restart. In the next set, the dynamic lock delivered a magic overhead pass for winger Freedom Crichton Ropati to seal the result with a try in the right corner.
Another to Mere Sivo saw the margin blow out to 14, but the final scoreline didn’t do Penrith justice in what was a finals classic.
In the first half, Parramatta’s four-pointers came through centre Cody Tuimaseve and Morgan-Pritchard, both along the Eels’ right edge.
TIGERS STRIKE LATE TO LAND KILLER BLOW
The Wests Tigers have kicked off week-2 of the finals in grand style, downing Cronulla 24-18 in a Lisa Fiaola thriller to open a massive day of finals at Leichhardt Oval.
In an epic finish, Cronulla prop Manawanui James barged over to level the scores with several minutes to play.
But the Tigers weren’t done and fired back through Aliana Fasavalu-Fa’amausili. The menacing prop capping off a stellar performance, crashing through from close range in the final minute of play.
After finishing the preliminary rounds in fifth spot, the Tigers now face Central Coast for a spot in the grand final.
It was the Sharks who fired out of the blocks after an early Tigers error. Making the most of good field position, halfback Julliana Kolio sliced through to open Cronulla’s account in just the second minute.
The Tigers quickly settled, and with an even share of the ball began to control the middle.
Fasavalu-Fa’amausili flicked the switch, and off the back of a powerful charge, Dawn Tui scurried across to level the scores.
Tui revelled behind a dominant pack, and the hooker almost dashed over again before the ball was shifted left for backrower Saige Tautalafua to burst through to make it 10-6.
With all the running, Agnews Faaui added the Tigers’ third in the space of 16 minutes as the halftime score blew out to 14-6.
Mia Tonga continued to pile on the points after the break, the halfback cruising across for a 12-point lead.
Needing a change of fortune to keep their season alive, the Sharks struck against the run of play to get within six when Tahli Weigand ended an 80m raid under the posts.
And despite levelling in the closing stages, it wasn’t enough for a gallant Sharks outfit who were forced to bow out following a strong season.
Originally published as NSWRL Junior Reps: Full wrap of finals week two, schedule for week three preliminary finals
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