St Marys now have the chance for back-to-back premierships in the NSWRL Sydney Shield competition by containing a confident Penrith Brothers side 28-10 in today’s Major Semi-final.
Saints started strongly with four first-half tries but only managed one in the second against a far more resolute Penrith side.
Saints could well meet Penrith again as Brothers now face Hill Bulls in next Saturday’s Preliminary final. The winner of that match will take on St Marys in the Sydney Shield Grand Final at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in Kogarah on Sunday 3 September.
The Minor Semi-final today had Hills Bulls surviving a late scramble by Ryde-Eastwood Hawks, who scored two tries in the final six minutes, to win 26-22.
The Hawks have now bowed out of season 2023 but went down fighting hard.
Major Semi-final: (1st) St Marys 28 def. (2nd) Penrith Brothers 10
Penrith Brothers were the only team to beat St Marys in the regular club season with a 30-14 victory back in Round three.
But the home side’s potency was for all to see even before kick-off today.
Three of Saints back five – centre Michael Tuavao, winger Muong Dut and centre Mason Iaria – fill the Sydney Shield top-three try scorers spots on the 2023 stats list with a combined 39 tries between them.
And that theme continued in the first half today with Tuavao scoring a double inside 20 minutes as St Marys raced to a 16-0 lead.
Their third and fourth tries, taking them to a 22-6 lead at the break, were scored by fullback Daniel Brown off a Jedd Gordon line-break and halfback Sadee Sub Laban.
Brothers had been impressive with a 34-16 win over Hills Bulls in last week’s Qualification final.
But they could not control possession well enough in the first half today.
Centre Kytak Chan, who scored his side’s first try against Hills Bulls, opened the scoring again this week with a put-down in the left corner in the 34th minute.
The second half was a much better defensive display from Penrith, who scored the first points in the 64th minute through winger Joshua Smith to edge a little closer (22-10).
Three other occasions Penrith crossed the line but to no avail - twice held up and the other a knock-on in-goal.
Those near misses proved costly as St Marys second rower Daniel Sykes crossed in the 78th minute to seal the deal (28-10).
“Our back rowers were the real pinnacle of our momentum today,” St Marys coach Glenn Jones said.
“Just in the cycle of our defence and their lead running. We had to really step up in that second half.
“We had to know when to be ruthless and when to be professional. It’s about getting that balance right and we lost our way a little today but we found it again.”
The week’s rest would not disrupt Saints’ momentum, according to Jones.
“It can be a double-edged sword with the week off but it’s a grand final and we won’t be getting complacent.”
RESULT: St Marys 28 (Michael Tuavao 2, Daniel Brown, Sadee Sub Laban, Daniel Sykes tries; Riley Stokes 4 goals) def. Penrith Brothers 10 (Kytak Chan, Joshua Smith tries; Donovan Boney goal)
Minor Semi-final: (3rd) Hills Bulls 26 def. (5th) Ryde-Eastwood 22
Winger Joseph Jaber collected a double in the Hills Bulls narrow five tries to four win against a resurgent Ryde-Eastwood Hawks.
The men in red-and-white were down 20-6 midway through the second half but mounted a comeback scoring three of the next four tries posted.
Bulls five-eighth Dylan Marshall had a hand in three tries as he held up passes beautifully to put teammates through holes.
The Bulls led 10-6 at halftime off the back of tries to second rower Damon Smith and prop Sean Walpole.
After solid work by the forwards, the Bulls backline got into the swing in the second half with Jaber scoring twice in addition to second rower Te Orang-jade Haika.
However, the Hawks had a final flutter and nearly pulled off the upset when centre Josh Boumelhem finished off good lead-up work from Shannon Subritzky Stewart, before William Malloy and Ryan Joynes crossed.
Hills coach Matt Kelly admitted to some heart palpitations in those final minutes.
“And we’d lost a couple through injuries (including goal kicker Jacob Wright) so that makes things hard,” Kelly said.
“But we got the win and it showed some real resilience. We had a lot of juniors here and we want them to buy into what the Bulls are all about – we want to play for this club.”
Kelly watched Penrith Brothers go down in the early semi-final as he plots to give them problems in the Preliminary final.
“We played them two weeks ago when we weren’t at our best. We have a few bumps and bruises but we’ll get them in Monday and it’s full steam ahead for next weekend.”
RESULT: Hills Bulls 26 (Joseph Jaber 2, Damon Smith, Sean Walpole, Te Orang-jade Haika tries; Josh Rizk 3 goals) def. Ryde-Eastwood Hawks 22 (Cody Kelso, Josh Bounelhem, William Malloy, Ryan Joynes tries; Nicholas Ferris 2, Jacob Wright 1 goal)
