In a game not to be missed, NSWRL TV will this weekend be headlined by the NSW Cup trial between the Canberra Raiders and North Sydney Bears, with teenage prodigy Joseph Suaalii to make his debut in the red and black colours for the Roosters’ feeder club.
Suaalii, 17, was a star for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2019 leading him to be crowned the Harold Matthews Cup Player of the Year before switching to the Roosters.
There will be just as much action in the 2021 Junior Representative competitions, with NSWRL TV bringing you plenty of live stream action when Round 4 kicks off on Saturday.
The first of our 10 regional matches in the upcoming round of the SLE Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups will begin at 10am on Saturday with a huge clash between Johns Cup ladder leaders the North Coast Bulldogs and Illawarra South Coast Dragons. The Daley Cup fixture will immediately follow at 11.20am.
NSWRL TV’s Round Four feature clash from the three metropolitan competitions – UNE Harold Matthews Cup, Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup and UNE SG Ball Cup – sees the Parramatta Eels hosting Illawarra Steelers at New Era Stadium in Sydney. The triple-header begins with the Harold Matthews Cup at 10am followed by Tarsha Gale Cup at 12pm and SG Ball Cup at 2pm.
Another highlight to be featured on NSWRL TV will be select opening rounds of the Men’s Country Championships and Women’s Country Championships– a four-week representative competition showcasing senior talent from regional NSW.
NSW Cup
The Bears NSW Cup team to face the Raiders at Queanbeyan will be bolstered by the inclusion of Suaalii in his first outing for the Roosters feeder club since signing with them in December last year.
The 2019 Harold Matthews Cup Players of the year recorded nine matches for 15 tries, six try-assists, 14 line-breaks, 11 line-break assists, 84 tackle-breaks, 10 offloads and 1028 run metres (114 per game).
The 196cm outside back has tried his hand at rugby union, athletics and Australian rules but has pledged his allegiance to the Roosters for two years and was also chosen in Bryden’s Lawyers NSW Blues Emerging Blues squad who came together in January.
SLE Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups
Saturday’s other matchups include NMR Knights against Northern Tigers at Cessnock Sports Ground and Northern Rivers Titans against Central Coast Roosters from Oakes Oval in Lismore. The Johns Cup kick-off times are 10am and 2.15pm with the Daley Cup at 11.20am and 3.40pm.
Four games will take place on Sunday in the SLE Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups as the Monaro Colts take on Western Rams in Canberra while Macarthur Wests Tigers face the Riverina Bulls. The two Johns Cup matches start at 10am before the Daley Cup fixtures at 11.20am.
A win for the Colts will go a long way to securing a Johns Cup finals berth with just two competition points separating them from Sunday’s opponents in the Rams. Macarthur Wests Tigers are also battling for fourth spot with the Colts – both sides currently sitting on identical win-loss records (2-1) and points differential (+28).
In the Daley Cup, the ladder-leading Rams visit the third-placed Colts in that will potentially see one of the two sides suffer their first defeat of the 2021 season. In the final Sunday game the Macarthur Wests Tigers will need a victory over the Bulls to remain in the race for the fourth position while the visitors are aiming to earn their opening victory for the year.
UNE Harold Matthews Cup, Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup, UNE SG Ball Cup
The Steelers Tarsha Gale Cup side started their season with a bye but have been unbeaten since then and will be the favourites heading into Saturday’s match against a winless Eels outfit.
In the Harold Matthews Cup, both teams have had byes in the opening three rounds - the Eels being last week, while the Steelers will be looking to win two in a row after defeating the Raiders in Round Three.
The SG Ball Cup teams will both be searching for a win, Illawarra in particular who have yet to record two points. The Eels had a narrow two-point win against the Bears in Round 2 and a win this week could see them move into the top eight.
Men’s Country Championships and Women’s Country Championships
The Newcastle Maitland Region Knights v Northern Tigers from Cessnock Sportsground at 1pm on Saturday will be the first Men’s Country Championships game showcased on NSWRLTV in 2021, and will be shown on the same stream as the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups Knights and Tigers matches earlier in the day.
The Newcastle Maitland Region Knights v Northern Tigers Women’s Country Championships match will then follow on from the Men’s game at 2:40pm.
Sunday will also be an action-packed day, with the Macarthur Wests Tigers and Riverina Bulls Mens’ and Women’s matches from Camden Oval streaming from 1pm.
Kippax Oval in Belconnen will be showing the Monaro Colts v Western Rams fixtures at 1pm as well.
*Please note – the Andrew Johns Cup, Laurie Daley Cup, Men’s Country Championships and Women’s Country Championship games between the North Coast Bulldogs and Illawarra South Coast Dragons scheduled to be played at Forster on Saturday have been postponed due to wet weather.
