The Semi-finals of the 2023 SLE Andrew Johns Cup and SLE Laurie Daley Cup have now kicked off, with three matches played on Saturday and one more to come on Sunday 19 March. Read on to see who has already booked their spot in next week’s Grand Finals.
Strong second half helps NMR Knights to victory
Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights have produced a stunning turnaround in the second half to secure a 24-16 win in their SLE Andrew Johns Cup Semi-final clash against Monaro Colts.
Ringing in the opening weekend of finals for regional Junior Reps, the Knights flew out of the blocks for fullback Mitchell Balzer to score just four minutes into the contest.
But it was all Monaro for the remainder of the half, quickly responding in the ninth minute through lock forward Byron Cahill. Colts speedster Jet Millard followed up soon after with a try of his own, bringing the score to 10-4.
Then a few minutes out from halftime, No.14 Malachi Thompson found his way to the try-line, with fullback Cooper Johnston’s conversion taking the lead to 12 points.
It was a different story coming out of the sheds as the Knights mounted their fightback, and five-eighth Jaylan Bishop played a starring role in the second half with a pair of tries.
Among the other scorers for Newcastle-Maitland were halfback Jack Thompson and hooker Lochlan Clenton, with winger Darcy Mitchell kicking two conversions to round out the 24-16 margin.
Roosters headed to Grand Final with dominant showing
The top two in the SLE Andrew Johns Cup Northern Conference are set to go head-to-head after the Central Coast Roosters’ 28-16 victory over Macarthur Wests Tigers on Saturday.
The Roosters will now meet Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights in the Johns Cup decider next weekend.
The Tigers came up with first points when prop and captain Peter French crashed over the line in the 11th minute, with winger Aaron Paea adding the extras to lead 6-0.
At that point the Roosters found another gear, scoring four unanswered tries in a short period through fullback Jai Callaghan (20th minute), Darcy Smith (25th), five-eighth Isaac Fotu-Moala (32nd) and centre Tayte Bayley (36th).
Trailing 18-6 the Tigers managed to hit back through centre Glassie Glassie before Paea’s second goal kept them right in the contest.
But the comeback hopes were short-lived when Central Coast scored twice more via centre Kaidyn Peckham then Callaghan for his second.
Wests Macarthur scored a consolation try a few minutes from full-time when Glassie produced another four-pointer, but it wasn’t quite enough to stop a strong Central Coast outfit.
Daley Cup Colts victorious in end-to-end clash
It was a point-scoring shootout to begin the SLE Laurie Daley Cup Semi-finals as Monaro Colts came away with a 34-30 win over Newcastle-Maitland Region Knights.
Monaro scored back-to-back tries to open the contest in the first five minutes, with five-eighth Blake Hovi and centre Tui Georgievski crossing the stripe.
Opposition centre Charles Hennessy responded shortly after, before the Colts went in for another two tries through Mathias Petone Tomuli-Ah-Kuoi and lock Jayden Wolfe. Monaro led 22-6 at the break.
The Knights worked back into the contest after a Harper Collins double to start the second half, followed by a try for winger Mason Forbes.
Both sides kept trading four-pointers for the remaining 20 minutes, but it was the accurate boot of Monaro’s Blake Hovi – five from six conversion attempts – that ultimately proved the difference in a four-point win, and a matchup with six tries each.
The Colts, first through to the Daley Cup Grand Final, will now meet the winner of Sunday’s do-or-die match between Illawarra South Coast Dragons and the Northern Tigers.
Tune in to the Dragons v Tigers match from 10am on NSWRL TV via the NSWRL Facebook page.
