NSWRL Junior Reps: Latest results from round five of Harold Matts, Lisa Fiaola, SG Ball, Tarsha Gale Cup
The halfway point of the NSWRL Junior Reps season is here as teams look to make their move. Catch up on the latest results from the fifth round across all four major grades.
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The halfway point of the NSWRL Junior Reps season is here with the fifth round underway as teams look to make their move.
Stay up to date with the latest information and results from around the grounds with our rolling coverage of the four grades.
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Lisa Fiaola - Tarsha Gale - Harold Matthews - SG Ball
LISA FIAOLA
PANTHER LANDS HAT-TRICK
A hat-trick to Patricia Heihei has seen Penrith score its third win of the season with a 28-0 shutout of the winless North Sydney Bears.
Menacing from the outset, the mobile lock opened the scoring at Rooty Hill with a dashing solo effort in the 13th minute. Not long after, the No. 13 bumped away a couple of defenders before outpacing the cover defence over 80m.
Up 8-0, fullback Anita Ropati scored the first of her two second half tries in the 33rd minute before Heihei scored her third in Penrith’s six-try outing.
UNBEATEN EELS
Parramatta extended its unbeaten run to four with a 20-6 victory over the Sharks at Cronulla High School.
In what shaped as an even contest, the Eels scored the only points of the first half when centre Georgia Wansey dived over in the 20th minute following a brilliant set from a 20m restart.
Parra quickly put the result to bed with the first three four-pointers after halftime to make it 16-0. Winger Freedom Crichton Ropati showed a clean pair of heels down the right touchline, before Wansey and Sienna Bonello kept the score ticking over.
Manawanui James scored a consolation for Cronulla in the 56th minute before Ropati notched her second just before the final siren.
BULLDOGS POWER ON
The Canterbury juggernaut rolls on after the Bulldogs overpowered Manly 44-8 at Hammondville Oval.
This time last year Canterbury came within a converted try of scoring a century against the Sea Eagles, and the scoreline looked headed down a similar path when Asha Taumoepeau-Williams and backrower Aliahana Fuimaono dashed across either side of the ruck to make it 12-0 after eight minutes.
But Manly weren’t about to roll over, and immediately met fire with fire when Maude Moon Havea crashed over to make it 12-4.
It was as close as the Sea Eagles would get as the premiers headed to the sheds with an 18-point buffer and struck with regular succession after the break in an eight tries to two performance.
Taumoepeau-Williams notched a hat-trick and was largely untouchable on the left edge, her third coming from a 90m effort through centrefield.
In a bright finish for the Sea Eagles, winger Katie Andrews rounded out the scoring following a tidy exchange of passes towards the right corner.
TIGERS’ HALF CENTURY
The Wests Tigers capped off their third victory of the season with a 54-0 drubbing of St George at Jubilee Stadium.
One way traffic from the get-go, the Tigers shot to a commanding 34-0 lead with seven first half tries before taking the foot off the accelerator and adding another four after the break.
Charlotte Withers grabbed a hat-trick and the winger was joined by Mia Tonga as the other multiple try scorer. Super-boot five-eighth Agnews Faaui added five conversions.
KNIGHTS CLAIM BIG SCALP
Newcastle is keeping its hopes of a top-two finish alive after taking down Illawarra 18-0 at Collegians.
The Knights were able to survive an intense early period in the contest before Shikynah Peason broke the deadlock in the 12th minute.
Ella Koen and Keira Callaghan were able to add to the tally to put them ahead by 12 at the break.
The start of the second half was a defensive battle between the two, before Lily Porter broke the deadlock 11 minutes from full-time to put the Knights ahead further and seal their fourth win from five games.
ROOSTERS ROLL ON
Central Coast kept its unbeaten start to the season alive in comprehensive fashion, smashing South Sydney 84-6 at Woy Woy Oval.
Mia Vaotuua caught the defence out with a scrum play in the fourth minute, sparking an avalanche of points.
Ayva Papalii scored two in quick succession including a 70m solo effort, before Star Arthur-Clarke tried to match her with a 60m burst that ballooned the score out to 24-0.
Vaotuua added a double, before the Rabbitohs scored against the run of play as Alexus Gordon pounced on a mix-up at the back.
The Roosters recovered and piled on more pain, including a third to Vaotuua as they led 46-6 at halftime.
Marley Gristwood kept it going straight after the break and by the time Vaotuua added a fourth the margin was 50.
Coco Butcher went on to score a hat-trick, Vaotuua finished with five and Meg McPhail kicked 12/15 conversions in the one-sided contest.
TARSHA GALE
SHARKS SEND STATEMENT
Cronulla has sent shockwaves through the Tarsha Gale Cup with a dominant 36-14 defeat of Parramatta at Cronulla High School.
The Eels came into the contest with a perfect record, but it became clear that was in serious jeopardy very early.
By the time the clock struck 12 minutes they were already trailing 16-0, with star forwards Manilita Takapautolo and Felila Fakalelu helping push that margin to 26 at the break.
Ryvrr-Lee Alo struck first for the Eels to give them some hope, before Mikayla Langer and Ariann Ruwoldt quickly responded in the space of minutes to shut the door on any chance of a comeback, sealing the impressive victory.
Jessamine Aloalii posted a late double for the away side.
PENRITH MAINTAINS PACE
The Panthers have the top-six in their sights after making it back-to-back wins courtesy of a 28-16 victory over North Sydney at Rooty Hill.
Penrith looked to be in full control up 12-0 courtesy of tries to Aaliyah Nikua and Danica Talitonu, before Charis Toli hit back for the visitors to keep them within striking distance down eight at the break.
The Panthers were able to swiftly put the game to bed after returning for the second half, with Lani Alofia, Kyra-Lee Westland and Malena Lavea scoring in a 13-minute stretch to seal the win.
Toli finished with four tries in an encouraging sign for the visitors.
BULLDOGS SURVIVE SCARE
Canterbury was forced to pull out all stops to sweep aside a stubborn Manly to prevail 24-14 at Hammondville Oval.
Shafenior Lui struck first for the home side before the winless Sea Eagles responded in great fashion through Jaydanaye Anguna and Elise Parsonage to take the lead.
The Bulldogs struck back through Tia’ane Tavita Fesolai to make it 8-all, setting up an intense second half.
Offloads early in the second half were unable to be contained, and Faith Masina pounced with a spread on Manly’s line putting Canterbury ahead once again.
It didn’t last long however, as multiple penalties saw the visitors camped on their line, with Twilla Tofa breaking the line off a Katie O’Mara short ball, despite appeals for a forward pass, putting Manly ahead 14-12 with 16 to play.
Not to be outdone, Bulldogs captain Shaquaylah Mahakitau-Monschau took advantage of a compressed defensive line to put Rastalia Smith into space and her team in front.
The class of the Bulldogs stood tall late, with Simina Lokotui and Masina adding her second to pull away with it late.
TIGERS HOLD OFF DRAGONS
Wests Tigers have claimed a much-needed victory, outlasting a gallant Dragons outfit 10-4 at Kogarah.
The Dragons were riding high on the back of their drought-breaking win in round four and posted the only points of the first half through Ana Ahmat to leave the Tigers shell-shocked.
The visitors came out of the sheds with a renewed vigour, and swiftly took the lead as Tiresa Leasuasu and Olivia Saley put them ahead 10-4 in a six-minute stretch.
It proved the difference on an afternoon where defence came to the fore.
ILLAWARRA POWERS PAST KNIGHTS
The Steelers came out on top in a rematch of last year’s Tarsha Gale grand final, downing Newcastle 26-4 in Wollongong.
Seriah Palepale and Tori Shipton played their part in opening up a 14-0 advantage in the shadows of the break, before Brandy Simpson kept the Knights in the contest to trail by 10 with a half to play.
Illawarra weathered the early storm and extended on the 40-minute mark through Billie Va’a to push the margin beyond two converted tries.
Maria Paseka put the cherry on top in the dying stages to round out the comprehensive win and put an end to Newcastle’s winning run of two games.
ROOSTERS RUN RIOT
The Sydney Roosters made it three-straight wins after defeating South Sydney 46-6 in Woy Woy.
The Roosters were already rolling at 12-0 when Souths suffered a setback, with Te Koha Te Rito sent to the sin bin for a professional foul in denying a quick restart.
George Barrett scored in the ensuing set and Tyra Ekepati helped to complete a solid half as they led 24-0.
They were never tested throughout the second half as they ran rampant in the end, piling on eight unanswered tries including a hat-trick to Mahlie Cashin.
Kiara McGregor put the visitors on the board in the concluding stages.
HAROLD MATTHEWS
REDFERN BOILOVER
A gutsy Sea Eagles have come from behind to end South Sydney’s perfect start to the season with a 24-12 boilover at Redfern Oval.
Sitting pretty at the top of the table, Souths were on track for a fourth consecutive victory when Payton Tarau and Charlie Bateup shot the home side to an eight-point lead nine minutes before the interval.
Needing to strike before the break, interchange forward Lukas Butler turned a restart to the tackle count into a try when he barged under the posts to make it 8-6.
A try to Robert Simms upon resumption saw the Rabbitohs jump six clear, a lead they looked like holding on to until Manly surged to the finish post with three late tries to land an unlikely third win of the season.
Jack Kalms raced across for the first with nine minutes to play, and the rangy sub put Manly ahead in the 56th when he backed up centre Boston Byrne to score out wide.
Up by six, hooker Ashton Large pounced from dummy-half to score Manly’s fourth try as the final siren sounded.
KNIGHTS HOLD ON
In another heavyweight clash, Newcastle held off a fast finishing Roosters 24-20 at Wentworth Park.
With both sides evenly poised on two wins apiece, the contest carried plenty of weight. Although when hooker Zane Hopkins cruised through several soft tackles in the third minute, the Knights had visions of an easy day out.
And so it proved when Callum Elsley made it 10-0 after as many minutes. However, the locals stemmed the flow and struck back through prop Charleston Te Rore to trail 16-6 at halftime.
Newcastle’s Curtis Mulherin proved a handful on the right edge, and it was 22-6 when the backrower powered over for his second with just over 20 minutes to play.
A penalty goal to Chase Butler extended the lead to 18. But it was the Roosters who would finish the stronger.
Bastion Armstrong hit back for the Tricolours, and they trailed by four when Te Rore scored his second with less than two minutes remaining.
The Roosters made easy metres from the restart, but a last-gasp play for points was derailed by a handling error.
ST GEORGE DEFIES DOGS
St George has caused a minor upset in the U17s, knocking off Canterbury 20-16 at Hammondville Oval.
Looking for just its second win of the season, St George started on fire and struck with the opening three tries to leave Canterbury scrambling down 14-0.
Then the comeback happened.
A nine-minute burst started by Mikal Papalii-Talanai and finished by Pietro D’Aprile on either side of halftime saw them take a slender lead.
Then St George was able to strike through Jasias Ah Kee, putting the Dragons ahead by four with 12 minutes remaining.
Canterbury had their chances over the concluding stages, but St George showed plenty of spirit in defence to hold them out and grind out the two points.
CENTRAL COAST BRINGS UP HAT-TRICK
In a battle of two teams looking for three wins in succession, Central Coast came out on top 38-6 on the back of a dominant first half against Balmain.
Kai Watts gave them a hot start with a tick over five minutes on the clock, before they finished the first half with a burst.
Cooper Gibbs, Blessing Foini and Zaylen Ekepati all scored in a nine-minute window to open up a huge 22-0 advantage.
The Roosters ran rampant in the second half to completely put the Tigers to the sword, with Foini bringing up a double and Carter Mareko adding 14 points of his own.
BURTON’S LATE HEROICS LIFT STEELERS
Illawarra has produced some last-ditch heroics to down Western Suburbs 16-12 in Wollongong.
Wests came into the contest on the back of two-straight defeats, but they started well and had the early advantage courtesy of Yacoub Ali Jida.
The home side was able to get into the grind and soon after Mason Andrews had them back on level pegging.
Illawarra had a one-man advantage early in the second half when Alfred Epati was sent to the sin bin for a late shot on Jett Brookfield.
Despite the setback it was Wests who broke the deadlock as Joshua Vella sliced through the defence on the short-side.
With time winding down it looked like the Magpies would hold solid. But Jaxon Ballinger had other ideas, touching down in the corner off the back of a wide spread, and Tayler Humphries slotting the sideline conversion.
The comeback was completed when Oliver Burton took a charge on his own 25m line, busting straight through the defence and burning off the fullback to score.
EELS FIND THEIR BEST
Parramatta has revived its finals hopes with a crushing 38-10 win over Penrith at Eric Tweedale Stadium.
A mistake from their opening set of six gave Parramatta a scrum 40m out and they took full advantage, with a quick shift putting Cyrus Bloomfield into space for Cobi McCloskey to score.
Daniel McBride extended the margin for the Eels before Zack Fitzgerald got Penrith on the board minutes later, as they trailed 14-4 at the break.
Samuel Polley gave the home side a dream start to the second half as they edged further ahead, before Fitzgerald kept the Panthers in the fight with his second.
A brilliant solo effort from close range from Talen Risati following the sin binning of Cordell Arama for starting a push and shove, pushed the Eels out further in front, before his second in a matter of minutes sealed the game.
SG BALL
RABBITOHS RECOVER IN STYLE
South Sydney has hit back from its first defeat of the SG Ball season to put an end to Balmain’s winning run, prevailing 52-4 at Redfern Oval.
The opening try came in somewhat controversial circumstances, with Balmain believing they had completed the tackle on Matthew Humphries, only for the referee to rule play on and for the halfback to get up again and score.
Balmain had their best opportunity on the back of multiple set restarts and Marc Tannous took advantage, lobbing a cutout over the top for Filipe Huahulu to score in the corner.
The home side didn’t have to wait long to respond as Taj Alvarez hit back, before Jacob Fong scored in the final stages of half to give Souths a comfortable 16-4 buffer at the break.
A freak passage of play helped the Rabbitohs extend their margin just 90 seconds into the second half, with a Tannous bomb toed ahead by Fong.
It was regathered by Blake Van Drie, who was tackled from behind by Fong, with the loose ball falling into the arms of Joshua Ballard who raced 95m to score.
The result was as good as over when Dayne Jennings fended off three defenders in a brilliant 50m solo effort to get South Sydney’s season back on track.
The Rabbitohs ran up the score late, including Elijah Keung scoring a double in the nine-try demolition.
KNIGHTS OUTLAST CHOOKS
Newcastle came out on top in an SG Ball epic, prevailing 38-32 in a 13-try thriller over the Sydney Roosters in at the Newcastle COE.
Aidan Gow maintained his incredible tryscoring form by opening the scoring within three minutes. It came off the back of a lovely Zahn McKay offload to put him into space and race down the touchline.
It was Toby Rodwell who hit back for the Roosters, with the side able to regather his bomb and get it back to the halfback, who was too big and strong from close range in broken play.
Things weren’t tied for long, as another backline movement put Gow into a small window of opportunity, who used his electrifying pace to post his second.
Haami Loza helped push the margin beyond a converted try, before the Roosters finished the half with a flurry, with Jackson Stewart and a second to Rodwell putting them ahead 16-14.
The Knights needed a spark and they had it less than 90 seconds into the second half as a Jaylan Bishop bomb forced a mistake at the back for Wil Hope to pounce and score.
That advantage didn’t last long as James Finegan clean broke through the line to find new recruit Itula Seve backing up.
A Rodwell cutout then found EJ Mahu-Delamere to touch down in the corner, before Finegan crashed over to make it a 12-point margin.
Just as things threatened to get out of hand, a powerful effort from Sosaia Latu helped cut the margin back to six with 18 left on the clock.
SHARKS EYE OFF FINALS
Cronulla has picked up a vital win in the run to the finals, downing North Sydney 46-10 at Cronulla High School.
Bailey Leach and Daniel Louka had the Sharks ahead by 10 through the opening eight minutes to cap off a hot start.
By the time Oliver Lester scored they held a comfortable 22-6 lead, before Brodie Alerdice got the Bears back within 12 at halftime.
Blake Watman was able to steady the ship soon after the break as the Sharks took control heading into the final quarter of the game.
Lester was able to cross for his second and put the result beyond any doubt to help the Sharks keep in touch with the top six.
Callum Grantham scored late to finish with a personal haul of 18 points.
GF RIVALS SPLIT POINTS
Canterbury has staged a remarkable late comeback to split the points with St George in a 28-all thriller at Hammondville Oval.
In a rematch of last year’s U19s decider, the Dragons scored against the run of play in the fifth minute with a brilliant individual effort from Christopher Makhlouf.
The winger received the ball one off the ruck on his own 5m line, breaking through an offside defender, fending off the fullback and then powering through the tackle of Paul Johnson to reach out and score.
The Bulldogs eased their way into the game and eventually tied it up through Bronson Reuben, before Zac Nachar sold a dummy out of hooker to catch out the defence and put the Red V back on top.
Canterbury again tied things up in the 27th minute after Alex Conti took the line on to great effect, before the Dragons took the lead at the break after Viliami Hikila landed an off-balance flick pass onto the chest of Risiate Smythe to score.
Taj Jelacic made it a 10-point lead for the Dragons in the opening stages of the second half after he injected himself into the backline to bust through the defence.
The Dragons were in full control at 28-16 in the 63rd minute, before the Dogs launched late.
Chayde Geros ran out of dummy half and found Jai Callaghan who popped a pass inside to Reuben to cut it to six with four minutes to go.
Then it was Conti who bombed and forced a mistake, with the halfback then taking on the line a few players later to snatch a draw.
RAIDERS IMPROVE RECORD
Canberra has moved to outright first on the SG Ball standings after overcoming Manly 32-16 at Belconnen.
Hardy Glover gave the Raiders a dream start inside the opening two minutes before Hugo Hart quickly responded for Manly.
A tackle gone wrong resulted in a crusher on Luke Tuialii and Simione Laiafi spending time in the sin bin, with the Raiders taking advantage soon after through Jamie Cowling.
Tamoko Berryman-Duff and Cowling traded scores before the break to see Canberra into the sheds with a slender advantage.
Benjamin Keene-O’Keefe gave the Sea Eagles their first lead of the afternoon immediately after the break, before the Radiers clicked into gear.
Mitchell Brophy scooted out of dummy half to score, before Braydan Darmody toed ahead a bouncing bomb and spectacularly touched down just before the dead-ball line to score.
The match was put beyond doubt when Ezra Leota saw the defence scrambling and got out of dummy half to seal the win.
MAGPIES ON THE UP
Wests have shown they aren’t done in the U19s yet with a season-defining 42-14 win on the road to Illawarra.
On the back of their first win of the season, Wests had an early advantage when Tom Kirk was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.
The Magpies took full advantage as Christian Taupau-Moors and Saint Fuatimau scored with the extra man to open up a 10-0 lead.
Joshua Patrick extended that beyond two converted tries, before Drew Langdon gave the Steelers a much-needed boost when he proved too powerful from close range, and soon after they were back within a try after Daniel Meafou scored.
Just as the Steelers were building momentum, Heamasi Makasini made it 18-10 on the stroke of halftime in favour of the visitors.
Wests carried that into the second half as Riley Oitmann scored in the opening stages to make the task tougher for Illawarra.
Oitmann soon added a double as the Magpies were able to seal a win that keeps their season alive.
Originally published as NSWRL Junior Reps: Latest results from round five of Harold Matts, Lisa Fiaola, SG Ball, Tarsha Gale Cup
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