Author : Tahlie Gavin NSWRL Media

Tigers seek thrilling Grand Final redemption in extra-time

The Macarthur Wests Tigers have sought redemption in the Laurie Daley Cup with a thrilling 40-22 extra-time win in the Grand Final at Port Macquarie Regional Sports Stadium.

After going down to the Illawarra South Coast Dragons last year, the Tigers have now cemented their own history taking out the premiership for the first time. The Tigers are just the second team to claim both the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup in the same season along with the 2021 Central Coast Roosters.

The Titans were first to knock the try-scoring door down, with a fourth-minute try to second rower Jack Thornton.

But the Tigers were quick to bounce back, producing three unanswered tries to lock in an 18-6 half-time lead.

In a thrilling second half, the Titans steered a late comeback scoring three consecutive tries to level the score-line and send the game into extra-time.

The Tigers managed to take control in the 10 minutes of extra-time as they carried out the victory.

“You don’t get into Grand Finals on a fluke, the Titans gave it to us and they were relentless,” Wests Tigers coach Daniel Milford said post-game.

“They came back and they put us to the test. I am just so glad our boys were prepared.”

In Titans style, they got points on the board early.

Second-rower Jack Thornton found the try-line after a last-play kick from five-eighth Trei Heterick rebounded perfectly off the Tigers’ defence and into the hands of Thornton.

Who cruised over the try-line for the first four points of the Grand Final. Heterick converted the try locking in an early 6-0 lead.

After both teams were reduced to 12-men with players in the sin bin, the Tigers found a way to break through the defensive line.

Lock Kye Penfold’s sudden change in direction saw him shudder defenders as he ran straight and strong, diving under the posts. Drake Ayers added the extras as scores were levelled 6-all.

The Tigers stole the lead in the 22nd minute with a strong run from prop Daniel Lafolafo.

Edging dangerously close to the line, Lafolafo ran straight into the defence before spinning out of their grip for the four points. Ayers’ conversion extended their lead further to 12-6.

Just four minutes later, a clinical Tigers attack saw them bring the ball back into the Titans’ red zone. Penfold’s right foot step was the key to his first half double as he wrestled to get the ball down.

Another successful conversion put the Tigers in control with 18-unanswered points to end the first half.

Opening the second half under pressure in defence, the Tigers held their ground not letting anyone through to the try-line.

A penalty followed by a line-break from second-rower Jake Gaffney, saw them rack up some attacking metres for themselves.

A perfectly placed kick from dummy-half by Keynan Pes saw the ball bounce straight back into his hands as he crossed the line, carrying the Tigers’ momentum into the second half, 22-6.

A 75-metre effort from the Titans saw them find their first points in 52 minutes.

It all began in the hands of Heterick who made a break down the short side before offloading it to fullback Ryder Nelson, who won the race down the sideline to score.

Just minutes later the Titans continued their comeback with a desperate last play.

Passing from the right wing all the way out to the left, it was the competition’s leading try-scorer Rex Savage who narrowly scored in the corner to bring is team back into the game.

Ethan Alcorn took over kicking duties to bring the score 22-16.

The Titans weren’t finished yet as a powerful Aiden Gersh forced himself over the line.

Alcorn converted to tie the game 22-all and keep their premiership hopes alive.

A penalty in favour of the Titans, not far out from their line saw them take the two points – only for the kick to be waved away, sending the game into extra-time.

After an enormous comeback for the Titans, the Tigers regained their momentum, coming out in extra-time to score four unanswered tries.

James Lanyon, Jordan Truckle, Drake Ayers, and Jake Gaffney all crossed the line as the Macarthur Wests Tigers gripped the Laurie Daley Cup with both hands.

“Believe it or not, we spoke about being prepared to play for 80 minutes in our prep,” Milford said.

“We have never had to play 80 minutes, but we just said that we were going to be in this game for 80 minutes whether we would be celebrating or in extra-time.

“I am just so happy with the double, Andrew Johns Cup and now Laurie Daley Cup, and to be able to set this precedent and a new benchmark.

“I feel like we have really dominated with both teams going undefeated and I am just really happy to celebrate with the boys.”

Full Time

Macarthur Wests Tigers 40

TRIES : Kye Penfold 2, Daniel Lafolafo, Kye Penfold, Keynan Pes, James Lanyon, Jordan Truckle, Drake Ayers, Jake Gaffne
GOALS : Drake Ayers 3, Caleb Salanoa

Northern Rivers Titans 22

TRIES : Jack Thornton, Ryder Nelson, Rex Savage, Aiden Gersh
GOALS : Ethan Alcorn 2, Trei Heterick

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The post Tigers seek thrilling Grand Final redemption in extra-time appeared first on OurFootyTeam.

Author : Margie McDonald NSWRL

Return of Lisa Fiaola Cup key to strengthening women’s pathways

Creating the link between U17s and U19s girls wanting to continue to play Rugby League was further strengthened this week at the Lisa Fiaola Cup gala day at Tuggerah’s Central Coast Regional Sporting Complex.

Harvey Norman NSW Sky Blues head coach Kylie Hilder, who is also the NSWRL’s Female Pathways Manager, was on hand to see what the talent pool looks like this year.

There were 15 sides playing on Tuesday 27 September under the watchful eye of Hilder with several Sky Blues players helping in a coaching consultant role

“We don’t have winners coming out of the day. It was more about girls turning up and having a game of footy,” Hilder said.

“We’re trying to create that next step in the pathway. We need to fill that void in that younger age group before Tarsha Gale.”

Lisa Fiaola CupBaxter and Studdon mic’d up for Lisa Fiaola Cup (Photo : Steve Montgomery)

The Harvey Norman Tasha Gale Cup for U19s has been part of the NSWRL calendar since 2018. Twelve clubs took part in the 2022 season with the Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy beating the Newcastle Knights 12-10 in the grand final.

Hilder said it was her hope that an U17s competition could be set up running in tandem with the U19s.

“We need to accommodate these younger girls and watching them today I can tell you there’s some extremely good talent,” she said.

It was the first Lisa Fiaola Cup gala day in three years – the previous two being cancelled due to COVID-19.

“There were only about five teams back then,” Hilder said. “But the standard and level here is extremely impressive. Looking at some of these girls it looks like they’ve been playing for five years already.”

Another plan on the horizon is starting a Sky Blues Academy, where players from the Lisa Fiaola would be identified and invited to train there.

This week games consisted of 10-minute halves and teams were spread across three pools. Each team played four matches with a total of 360 females taking part in the event.

Teams came from Parramatta Eels, Central Coast Roosters, Victoria Storm, Newcastle Knights, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Wests Tigers, Illawarra Steelers, Penrith Panthers, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Northern Tigers, Northern Rivers Titans, St George Dragons, North Coast Bulldogs, Western Rams, and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

Full Score Board

Round 1

Parramatta Eels 16 – 12 Penrith Panthers
Weststigers 4 – 4 Cronulla Sharks
Canterbury Bulldogs 8 – 8 South Sydney Rabbitoh’s
Central Coast Roosters 8 – 0 St. George Dragons
North Coast Bulldogs 8 – 4 Victoria Storm
Greater Northern Tigers 4 – 4 Western Rams

Round 2

Penrith Panthers 4 – 8 Northern Rivers Titans
Cronulla Sharks 12 – 8 Newcastle Knights
South Sydney Rabbitoh’s 0 – 28 Illawarra Steelers
Central Coast Roosters 4 – 20 Parramatta eels
North Coast Bulldogs 20 – 4 Weststigers
Greater Northern Tigers 12 – 4 Canterbury Bulldogs

Round 3

Northern Rivers Titans 8 – 12 St. George Dragons
Newcastle Knights 24 – 0 Western Rams
Illawarra Steelers 24 – 0 Western Rams
Penrith Panthers 0 – 12 Central Coast Roosters
Cronulla Sharks 12 – 16 North Coast Bulldogs
South Sydney Rabbitoh’s 8 – 16 Greater Northern Tigers

Round 4

Parramatta Eels 16 – 4 St. George Dragons
Weststigers 8 – 8 Western Rams
Canterbury Bulldogs 8 – 16 Western Rams
Central Coast Roosters 4 – 8 Northern Rivers Titans
North Coast Bulldogs 12 – 8 Newcastle Knights
Greater Northern Tigers 0 – 12 Illawarra Steelers

Round 5

St. George Dragons 16 – 12 Penrith Panthers
Victoria Storm 16 – 8 Cronulla Sharks
Western Rams 4 – 16 South Sydney Rabbitoh’s
Northern Rivers Titans 4 – 16 Parramatta Eels
Newcastle Knights 24 – 0 Canterbury Bulldogs

ACTION PHOTO GALLERIES

Cronulla Sharks v Weststigers 

Cronulla  Sharks v Newcastle Knights

Cronulla Sharks v VIC Storm

Cronulla Sharks v NR Bulldogs

St George Dragons v Parramatta Eels

Illawarra Steelers v Western Rams

Illawarra Steelers v Weststigers

NR Titans v Parramatta Eels

VIC Storm v NT Bulldogs

VIC Storm v Weststigers

Western Rams v Canterbury Bulldogs

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Sharks.com.au

Young Sharks on show at Lisa Fiaola Cup

Katrina Fanning Cup

Tarsha Gale Cup

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The post Lisa Fiaola Cup strengthening women’s pathways appeared first on OurFootyTeam.

Author : NSWRL

Titans snatch premiership in Grand Final thriller

The Northern Rivers Titans have completed a fairy tale premiership 24-22 win in the SLE Andrew Johns Cup after scoring a last-minute try against Macarthur Wests Tigers in the Grand Final at St Marys Leagues Stadium.

The two teams turned on a display fitting of a decider, with the lead changing hands several times throughout the course of the match.

The Tigers looked like they had secured the win after scoring back-to-back tries with less than 10 minutes remaining.

But the Titans refused to give up and scored a long-range try in the final play of the game to level the scores at 22-all.

Titans five-eighth Callum Bowles had been having a mixed day with the boot but made no mistake with the most important kick of the day to spark scenes of celebrations.

The Titans, who hail from far-northern NSW, had been affected by the recent flooding in the area.

They had been loaned “Future Titans” jerseys from the Gold Coast Titans recently after losing their own when the team bus was flooded earlier in the season.

“To find this bunch of boys is unbelievable,” Titans coach Shaun Davison said.

Northern Rivers Titan captain Zane Harrison is the Andrew Johns Cup ‘Man of the Match’ (Photo : Steve Montgomery)

They’re great representatives for the northern rivers areas

“They’re great representatives for the northern rivers areas. We talked about all the struggles back home everyone’s going through, so it means a lot.”  Titans coach Shaun Davison

The Tigers started the match in blistering fashion, after halfback Sonny Edwards-Moeke showed great speed and strength to push his way past three defenders and score in the opening minutes.

Fullback Noah McKenzie faced a tough conversion from the sideline but rode his luck after it bounced off the upright and over for a 6-0 lead.

The Titans defence was tested again after Tigers centre Cameron Nonenmacher was held up over the line before they worked their way down field to launch an attacking raid of their own.

Titans halfback Zane Harrison came close after taking on the line himself but the next play saw Cameron Bowles launch a cross-field kick with the bounce favouring centre Jackson Bennett.

Bowles missed the conversion, but the Titans had narrowed the gap to 6-4.

The Tigers worked their way into an attacking position and shifted the ball with a long spread to the right.

Back-rower Byronn Laupepa showed great skill to bump, spin and offload to Luke Fielding who fired a long pass for Levi McGuiness.

The son of former Wests Tigers player Kevin McGuiness

The son of former Wests Tigers player Kevin McGuiness, to score in the corner. McKenzie missed the sideline conversion, but the Tigers were a converted try in front at 10-4.

Northern Rivers Titan captain Zane Harrison with coaches Shaun Davidson (Photo : Steve Montgomery)

A handling error from the kick-off proved costly for the Tigers when Harrison picked up fullback Harry Chadburn with a short ball, who dummied to his outside before stepping his way back infield to crash over the line.

Bowles missed the conversion, but the deficit was reduced to 10-8.

The Titans gave themselves a chance to grab one more try before the break on the back of a good charge at the line from Riley Buchanan.

Hooker Hodson Towell took advantage of the situation when he jumped out of dummy-half to score next to the posts. Bowles made no mistake with this attempt and the Titans headed into half-time with a 14-8 lead.

Both sides dug in for the fight in the second half but were unable to capitalise on rare attacking raids.

The Tigers broke the Titans up the middle with Chase Hepi backing up a strong run with an offload for Joel Byrne to keep going but couldn’t finish it off.

The Titans also had a chance when winger Noah Waldock broke through the defence for a long run, but they too couldn’t capitalise.

The deadlock was finally broken

The deadlock was finally broken when Bowles put a kick through and the ball came loose after Tigers defenders Callum McMenemy and McKenzie were involved in a sickening head clash trying to defuse it.

Titans back-rower Billy Kilduff touched down the ball in-goal and play was stopped for several minutes before McKenzie was assisted from the field.

Bowles missed the conversion, but the Titans had some breathing space at 18-10.

The Tigers gave themselves a chance after Laupepa showed great strength to wrestle his way out of the goal-line defence and barge his way over the line.

McGuinness landing the extras after taking over the goal-kicking duties for McKenzie.

Tigers winger Riley Oitmann then helped put his side back in front with eight minutes to go.

Busting through the defence from 60 metres out and then standing up Chadburn on his way to the line. McGuiness converted again and the Tigers had their noses in front at 22-18 with time fast running out.

The Titans maintained their composure, launching raid after raid, with the final charge in the final minute paying off after Ricco Waititi made a break from 60 metres out before picking up Harrison in support, who scored close to the posts.

With the siren having already sounded, Bowles made no mistakes with the conversion to hand the Titans a remarkable 24-22 win.

“I’m just stoked for the boys they pulled that out of the fire,” Davison said.

“All year we’ve had to grind out every game, no game has come easy to us, so we talked about playing the full 60 minutes and we won on the 60th so that was really important to us.

Macarthur Wests Tigers 2022 Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final TeamPhoto (Photo : Steve Montgomery)

“I was confident, we only had two minutes to go but we know that left edge is a lethal edge, we’ve got some great players on that left edge.

“I was confident if we could just get another set; because that second-last set we showed our hand by playing there.

“The boys identified the space there and they iced it.”

Related Links

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Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final Full Results & Players’ Stat’s 

ACTION PHOTO’S Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final NR Titans v M Wests Tigers (Coming Soon – Monday arvo)

ACTION PHOTO’S Andrew Johns Cup Semi Final NR Titans v Ill SC Dragons

ACTION PHOTO’S Andrew Johns Cup Semi Final – North Region Tigers v M Wests Tigers

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The post Titans snatch premiership in Grand Final thriller appeared first on OurFootyTeam.

2022 Andrew Johns Cup GRAND FINAL

03/04/2022 24 - 22 N/A Titans vs Macarthur

Round 7 Ladder

Andrew Johns Cup Round 7 Ladder

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Ill SC Dragons	6	4	0	2	166	100	66	8
2	M Wests Tigers	6	4	0	2	152	110	42	8
3	NR Tigers	6	4	0	2	132	90	42	8
4	Titans	5	3	0	2	84	86	-2	6
5	Colts	5	2	1	2	104	102	2	5
6	CC Roosters	4	2	0	2	82	64	18	4
7	NC Bulldogs	4	2	0	2	76	88	-12	4
8	Bulls	5	2	0	3	84	132	-48	4
9	NRM Knights	4	1	1	2	66	72	-6	3
10	Rams	5	0	0	5	70	172	-102	0

Top Point Scorers

Top Try Scorers

Top Goal Kickers

Top Penalty Goal Kickers

Top Field Goal Kickers

The post 2022 Andrew Johns Cup GRAND FINAL appeared first on OurFootyTeam.

2022 Andrew Johns Cup Round 6

27/03/2022 16 - 20 N/A Ill SC Dragons vs NR Titans
27/03/2022 16 - 22 N/A NR Tigers v M Wests Tigers

Round 6 Ladder

Andrew Johns Cup Round 6 Ladder

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Ill SC Dragons	5	4	0	1	150	80	70	8
2	NR Tigers	5	4	0	1	116	68	48	8
3	M Wests Tigers	5	3	0	2	130	94	36	6
4	Colts	5	2	1	2	104	102	2	5
5	CC Roosters	4	2	0	2	82	64	18	4
6	Titans	4	2	0	2	64	70	-6	4
7	NC Bulldogs	4	2	0	2	76	88	-12	4
8	Bulls	5	2	0	3	84	132	-48	4
9	NRM Knights	4	1	1	2	66	72	-6	3
10	Rams	5	0	0	5	70	172	-102	0

Top Point Scorers

Top Try Scorers

Top Goal Kickers