Bulldogs run rampant with 10 tries

Rebecca Trbojevich

Bevan French has scored yet again for the Wentworthville Magpies as he guided his side to a 20-8 victory over the Penrith Panthers on Sunday.

It took only a matter of minutes for French to make his presence felt with a try in just the second minute of the contest before converting his own try to set a 6-0 lead.

It wasn’t long before they extended their lead through Ethan Parry and the Panthers could do little to match the stature of the Magpies faultless attacking raids.

They eventually found a breakthrough, however, when Brayden McGrady made a break down the right-hand touchline for the Panthers maiden try of the game.

A French penalty goal would give Wentworthville a healthy buffer just moments before half-time but a try to Adam Fearnley ensured the deficit would be reduced to eight.   

A penalty goal from Brad Keighran extended their lead midway through the second-half but the game was well and truly in the balance when Liam Martin crashed over with just 10 minutes remaining.

A frantic period followed as the Panthers tried desperately to
Salvage a late comeback but a try to Greg Leleisuo ensured a gallant win for the Magpies.
 

St George Illawarra Dragons v Newtown Jets

Blake Edwards

A dominant display by halfback Braydon Trindall, who scored twenty- two individual points, has helped the Newtown Jets record a dominant 36-22 victory over the St George Illawarra Dragons at WIN Stadium, Wollongong on Sunday afternoon.

Both sides were coming off generous Round 10 victories against Blacktown and Newcastle respectively, with the Dragons getting a healthy boost from first grade, with Matt Dufty and Mikaele Ravalawa dropped back to the Canterbury Cup after Head Coach Paul McGregor wielded the axe after a disappointing loss to the NRL Knights in Mudgee.

It was the Red V who troubled the scorers early through in-form backrower Jackson Ford who received a nice short ball from playmaker Adam Clune to squeeze through Newtown defenders before crashing over the stripe.

The Bluebags responded swiftly with a gift four pointer to Braydon Trindall, who found his way over the line from close range before Teig Wilton followed suit moments later to give the Jets a 12-4 lead.

Things were not getting easier for the homeside who lost prop Mitch Allgood with what looked to be a rib or chest complaint, shortly followed by Darren Nicholls. The Dragons turned it around through some counter attack with flanker Jason Saab racing down the eastern touchline to get his side back into the contest.
 
 
Saab’s momentum changer was short lived, with the Red V giving away a string of penalties inviting the visitors down their end of the park, giving away two points via a penalty goal booted by Trindall, before he found his way over the line again seconds later to extend his sides halftime lead to 20-10.
                              
Newtown continued their first half dominance, scoring immediately after the break through Matt Evans when he planted the steeden down under the sticks. Sione Kota crossed out wide minutes later, before Will Kennedy busted through the middle of the field linking with Trindall who scored his hat-trick, to make things extremely hard for the Dragons at 36-10 with just twenty to play.
 
A 65th minute try to Lachlan Maranta and Mikaele Ravalawa in the 75h minute gave the Dragons a chance to mount a late comeback, however it wasn’t to be for Mat Heads men, going down 36-22 to a red-hot Jets outfit.
 
 

South Sydney Rabbitohs v Western Suburbs Magpies

Kristy Harris

An array of NRL talent has helped the Western Suburbs Magpies claim a 30-18 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Metricon High Performance Centre on Sunday. 

The Magpies were boosted by the late inclusion of Elijah Taylor and also boasted the likes of Mahe Fonua who caused plenty of havoc for the Rabbitohs as they fell to their fourth consecutive defeat. 

Under the watchful eye of super coach Wayne Bennett for the clash, Shane Millard’s side had a blistering start with an early try to Jack Johns in just the fourth minute. 

Soon following, Wests winger Harrison O’Toole scrapped over the line in the 11th minute, starting their try-streak for the first half.

A fiery Elijah Taylor passing out the back to halfback Kauri Aupouri-Puketapu capitalised on poor defence by Souths right edge for another try seven minutes later.

Second rower Luke Garner soon followed the list of point-scorers and gave his side an early 12-point lead. 

Since Johns had scored, Souths hardly saw the ball until mindless mistakes and penalties by the opposition gifted the red and green two sets in their own 40, allowing big five-eighth Bayley Sironen to use his size and run over the defender to score with five minutes remaining, putting the scores at 18-12 to close the first half.

Fonua made his presence felt early in the second-half nailing another try for the Wests before Souths bit back when Leigh Higgins scored eight minutes later. 

Joseph Ratuvakacereivalu charged over the try-line at the 60th minute and set a 10-point lead for his side in the last quarter of the game.

Taylor had an injury concern with just 15 minutes remaining, Souths had an opportunity to charge back at the now weaker side, however, a penalty allowed Aupouri-Puketapu to successfully convert his fifth out of six goals for the day and put them in front and gift them an eventual 30-18 win. 

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Mounties

Andrew Jackson

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have run rampant with 10 tries to claim a commanding 52-22 victory over the Mounties at Belmore Sportsground on Sunday afternoon.

The Bulldogs surged back from 16-0 deficit early in the first half to claim an unlikely comeback win over the ladder leaders. 

The comeback was inspired by halfback Lachlan Lewis, who pressed his claims for an NRL recall with a try and a hand in four more. 

An early penalty handed Mounties prime field position and they capitalised, with Canterbury failing to diffuse an Ata Hingano crossfield kick and Dan Keir picking up the scraps.

Halfback Brendan O’Hagan controlled the game beautifully early in Aidan Sezer’s absence, forcing an early dropout before playing it short to Jarrett Boland who crashed over in the 11th minute.

Mounties quickly made it three tries as Tony Santini broke down the right edge and linked back inside with O’Hagan, extending their buffer to 16.

Canterbury bounced back moments later after a lovely ball from Lewis created space out wide for Kerrod Holland. He quickly linked with Isaiah Taas who was pulled up 10 out.

Holland then raced down the short side to take advantage of the break and score in the corner.

Lewis was at it again minutes later with a special cut-out ball which cut out three Mounties defenders and landed in the hands of Taas who went over untouched out wide.

With momentum in their favour, the Bulldogs then drew level when Fa’amanu Brown took on the line and sliced through. He linked back inside with Morgan Harper who then offloaded for Bronson Garlick who scored under the posts.

Lewis’ vision in attack featured once more as he put Holland in space again, this time the centre doing it all himself as he raced away to hand Canterbury the lead for the first time.

Lewis then had a try of his own as he reached out to score next to the posts.
It appeared as if those would be the last points for the half as the seconds ticked away with Canterbury inside their own half.

But another break finished with Kayne Kalache throwing it back inside for Zac Hetherington to score, capping off a stunning half for the home side as they jumped out to a 32-16 lead.

Lewis then bagged another try-assist in the 51stminute, this time putting a grubber through for Javvier Pitovao.

The Bulldogs continued to pile on the points as James Roumanos scored their eighth of the afternoon.

Fullback Connelly Leumelu then chipped ahead and Mounties couldn’t clean it up, Katoa there to dive on the ball.

Soon after they crossed for their tenth of the game as Lewis spread it to Brown who stepped back inside to stroll over.

Mounties eventually responded as Kyle Paterson barged over for a relatively soft try, but it had little difference in the final score line as the ladder leaders suffered a heavy defeat.

Warriors v Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles

Jamie Wall

Chanel Harris-Tavita has reestablished himself as the key man in the Warriors Canterbury Cup NSW side, masterminding a 20-6 win over the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles at a sunny Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Sea Eagles were their own worst enemies after the kickoff, giving away three penalties in a row. That sort of indiscipline always deserves to be punished and Sam Lisone was the man to do it after a patient build up by the Warriors. He stretched out to score next to the posts and Chanel Harris-Tavita’s conversion gave the Warriors an early 6-0 lead after only five minutes.

That woke the visitors up, and winger Abbas Miski went close after a long period of possession. Unfortunately he knocked it on over the line, and the opportunity was lost. After 17 minutes, a kick wide by Denzal Tonise just evaded the grasp of his other wing John Tohi in the corner that would have been another try.

However, the Warriors were having a few troubles of their own by now. Their attack spluttered to standstill until the 25th minute, when Solomone Kata went through a gap close to the line, only to lose the ball forward.

More bad news for the home side followed not long after, when Harris-Tavita left the field with an HIA. Tempers flared after half an hour when a late charge on Adam Keighran by Sean Keppie left the Warriors’ stand off sprawled on the turf, and both sides rushed in to test the strength of each other’s collars.

Keppie was placed on report for the hit, and Kata was sin binned by referee Damian Brady for throwing a punch.

The Sea Eagles then withstood a repeat set on their own line, as the clock ticked down to the break.

A handling error by Warriors’ second rower Jackson Frei 20 metres out gave the Sea Eagles an excellent chance, but despite a repeat set they couldn’t get across before the hooter went.

Harris-Tavita and Kata returned for the second half, as both teams initially resumed the grind that the game had now become. Sea Eagles second rower Haumole Olakau’atu looked to have slipped through a gap after seven minutes, but once again the ball was lost.

Both sides were guilty of slackness in their ball handling for the next period, as the completion rate dipped below 75 percent each. Even when the Sea Eagles did complete a set close to the Warriors’ line, they were easily defended and turned the ball over on the sixth tackle.

The Warriors made them pay by marching down the field, then Harris-Tavita picked up a lovely offload by Leivaha Pulu to score next to the posts, to push them out to a two-score lead with 20 to play.

Barely two minutes later the crucial score came. Harris-Tavita sent a perfect kick over for Adam Pompey to bat back infield for Kata, who placed the ball next to the corner flag. Keighran’s kick sailed over the black dot, and the game was now theirs to lose at 18-0.

With seven minutes to go they almost added another try to Adam Tuimavave-Gerrard, but he was held up over the line. With four minutes to go, Adam Keighran tacked on a penalty goal to make the score a commanding 20-0.

With only 90 seconds left on the clock, the Sea Eagles finally got off the mark with a sweeping try to Miski, which was a frustrating sign of what they should have been doing for the previous hour and a half. The conversion made the final score 20-6.

It wasn’t all good news for the home side, though, with Blake Ayshford suffering a suspected broken hand in the win.

Newcastle Knights v North Sydney Bears

Robert Crosby 

A hat-trick from Phoenix Crossland has seen the Newcastle Knights record their fourth win of the season, downing the North Sydney Bears, 32-14, on Friday evening at McDonald Jones Stadium to move within striking distance of the top eight.

Named in the Knights NRL development squad, Crossland showed plenty of class to help the home side overcome an early 10-0 deficit against a Bears side missing halfback Brock Lamb due to a late NRL call-up.

Chasing three wins in a row following strong showings against Western Suburbs and Wentworthville, North Sydney started promisingly with Fletcher Baker running onto a well-timed offload to opening the scoring after three minutes.

With both sides coming close to scoring during the opening quarter, replacement halfback Sam Verrills dived over from close range in the 18th minute to take the visitors out to a 10-0 lead following Drew Hutchison’s conversion from next to the posts.

Hitting back in the 22nd minute through Crossland following strong support play from Chris Randall and Tex Hoy in the lead up, the Knights five-eighth bagged his second try of the night five minutes later to lock the scores up at 10-all.

Crossing for an important try four minutes before the break, Randall dived over from close range to give Newcastle a 16-10 lead much to the delight of coach Rory Kostjasyn.

Looking to continue a strong run of form at McDonald Jones Stadium in 2019, the Knights started the second half in fine touch with Crossland bagging his third try in the 48th minute after a superb offload from captain Jamie Buhrer in the lead up.

Responding through centre James Tuitahi in the 55th minute to reduce the margin to 22-14, the Bears were unable to repel the Knights - buoyed by a strong crowd awaiting the much-anticipated first grade encounter - as winger Mitchell Andrews sealed the deal in the 65th minute with his first try of the season.

Adding a penalty goal in the 71st minute, a final barnstorming effort from Tautau Moga with five minutes to play saw the Knights run out 32-14 winners.

Next week, the Knights travel to ANZ Stadium to face the Bulldogs on Saturday evening, while the Bears host Mounties at North Sydney Oval on Sunday afternoon.