A wrap-up of the best action from the opening round of the Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership and the NSWRL's junior representative competitions.
A winning welcome for SG Ball Warriors
The Warriors made a welcome return to the NSWRL junior representative program for the first time since March 2020, as the UNE SG Ball Cup side took on South Sydney Rabbitohs in Round One at Redfern Oval on Sunday.
The home side looked ominous early on when highly touted winger Tyrone Munro scored in the corner, untouched, within three minutes from the opening whistle. Yet that wasn’t case as the Warriors worked their way back into the contest, replying in the 11th minute with a brilliant individual play from hooker Etuate Fukofuka.
Scooping the ball on last tackle from dummy half at about 40 metres from the try-line, the No.9 chipped ahead of the retreating defence before regathering on one bounce and shrugging off the fullback to score. He converted his own try for a 6-4 lead.
Both sides added to their try-scoring tally before halftime with centre Drew Williams crossing for the Rabbitohs and winger Sio Kali for the Warriors, taking the score to 10-8.
It was a try-less second half as the two teams went close to scoring on several occasions, but the Warriors held on for the win after surviving a pair of late penalty goal attempts from the visitors.
Click here for more UNE SG Ball Cup results.
Sharks take the spoils in Grand Final replay
The Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership kicked off the season on Saturday with a Grand Final replay between Wests Tigers and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at Campbelltown, and the visitors were up for the challenge.
With the Sharks looking to exact some revenge from last year’s Golden Point defeat, those plans hit a hurdle when the Tigers scored two converted tries just moments apart through lock Najvada George (14th minute) and No.9 Ebony Prior (18th).
The Sharks returned serve in no time with back-rower Tayla Curtis and winger Brandi Davis Welsh finding the try-line by the 26-minute mark. Halfback Maddie Studdon converted on both occasions to even the scores.
The second half began with a try for Wests hooker Sophie Curtain, again converted by fullback Jessica Whelan, but Cronulla-Sutherland found another gear from that point on.
The Sharks produced four more tries via winger Ella Barker (scoring a double), centre Monique Donovan and second-rower Rhiannon Byers, running away with a 30-18 victory to kickstart their campaign.
Click here for more Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership results.
Colts too strong for Roosters in Johns Cup
Monaro Colts proved a tough task for the Central Coast Roosters in their Round One SLE Andrew Johns Cup clash at NSWRL Bruce HQ in Canberra on Sunday.
The Colts galloped out of the blocks with four tries and a 20-nil lead in little over 20 minutes. The first of them came from a bustling effort by centre Jonah Alaia, followed by winger Jet Millard dotting down in the left corner, fullback Cooper Johnston grabbing a bomb between the posts, then Millard scoring a second soon after.
The change of ends had more of the same to start as Jamie Cowling, Colts five-eighth and captain, snatched a loose ball from his own kick to score beneath the uprights.
The Roosters eventually found themselves on the scoresheet in the 40th minute when No.1 Jai Callaghan fired a floating ball to winger Tali Kolofale on the right touchline.
But hopes of a potential comeback were quickly dashed – Monaro heading back up the other end seven minutes later with prop Daniel Moananu crashing over from close range.
Central Coast managed a late consolation with two quick tries through Kolofale – for a double – and Callaghan, juggling his way under the sticks. Centre Tayte Bayley’s conversion brought the final score-line to 32-14, rounding out a dominant win for the Monaro side.
Click here for more SLE Andrew Johns Cup results.
Click here for SLE Laurie Daley Cup results.
Click here for UNE Harold Matthews Cup results.
Click here for Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup results.
