Penrith Update

[Nfed]

Elimination Semi at Windsor, sunday 2.30

Blacktown (5th)

Gains: Alf Duncan, Ricky Roberts, Laurie Bamblett (Newtown JB), Mick Salafia (Yanco), Trent Robinson, Andrew Roberts (MoorePark), Dom Vea (Windsor JB), Steve Hollis (Brothers)

Losses: Willie Leyshon (retired), Steve Skinnon (WaicoaBay, NZ), John Dean (Ipswich Jets), Matt McConnell (Windsor JB), Troy McMurray (Terrigal)

Retined: Andrew Frew, Albert Peters, Ash Thomas, Brad Clews, Chris Morson, Col Redpath

St Marys (4th)

Gains: Corey Blacklock (Penrith RU), Kaine Giteau, Peter Simpson, Gurpreet Singh (Auckland, NZ), Mick Bantin (Brothers), Sean Compton (Cabramatta), Tim Howard, Dave Nimmo, Alf Marsters (Windsor), Joe Salafai (Doonside)

Losses: Wade Hupton, Wayne Gatt (Wyong), Gary Breakespear (Shellharbour), Cameron Henderson (Colyton), Nathan Barnes, Scott McLean, Scott Tyson, Jason Ison (retired)

Retained: Adam Eldridge, Adam McCrone, Anthony Capasso, Dudley Smith, Grant Bullpett, Greg Brain*, Jason Keays, Levi Russell, Phil Dunn, Mark Keon, Fred Taufua.

Qualifying Semi at Western Weekender, sunday 2.30

St Clair (2nd)

Gains: Robert Miles (Wests P/L), Jack Mazzoleni, Dom Mazzoleni, Murray Gate, Emmerson Tawhara, Esala Vute, Marc Taivangara (Wenty), Bobby Bright (Asquith JB), Trent Hayman (Doonside)

Losses: Mark Fakahua (Asquith JB), Frank Reid (LondonSkolars, UK)

Retain: Hare Terangi, Jermaine Awahou, Eddie Manuel, Montel Tehana, Jay West, Nathan Wilson, Dean Callaghan

Brothers (3rd)

Gains: Darren Baker (Windsor JB), Greg Lemon (Penrith), Dave Cahalane (Parra), Alf Betham (RU), Wales Taitua (Windsor)

Losses: Mick Bantin (St Marys), Toby Hilton (Doonside), Mitch Gow

Retined: Matt Nightingale, Luke Sloan, Ray Hunter, Adam Demanuele, Andrew Pearn*, Luke Williams, Wayne Avua

* If made available by St Marys Penrith Cougars.

Doonside (1st) - bye

Losses: Corey Pearson (retired - coaching St George flegg), Tom Rando, Jarrad Reardon (retired), Danny O'Keefe (Moore Park), Jarrod Sammut (St Marys Penrith Cougars), Trent Hatman (St Clair), Dave Johanson (Seven Hills), Mark Trudgett, Mark Beasley (retired).

Retained: Troy Wozniak, Hasan Saleh, Dave Watters, Mick Hawkings, Luke Aitchison, John Micallef

Gains: Daniel Brown (Ryde Eastwood), Mick Corrie (Sydney Bulls), Samer El Masri (Auburn Warriors), Matt Pethybridge (Wenty JB), Kyle Horo (Asquith JB), Nathan Lindner, Aaron Brown, Ali Trad (Cabramatta), Ryan Rolfe, Richard Penesini, Sala Tausa (Windsor)

Windsor and Emu Plains had only one win against each other.

Windsor (6th)

Losses: Grant Purdon (Burleigh Bears), Hamish Barclay (NZ), Ben Carney (Asquith JB), Ryan Rolfe, Richard Penesini, Sala Tausa (Doonside), Tim Clayton, John Geeves, Roger Betts (Wenty), Tim Howard, Dave Nimmo, Alf Marsters (St Marys), Paul Mizzi, Rick Kiely (Hawkesbury City)

Retained: Brent Garratt, Lucas Reilly, Chris Tormay, Col Murphy, Daniel Zybricki, James Monk, Jason Hopkins, John Arnfeldt, Ken Webb, Chanel Arama, Dylan Charman

Gains: Elias Paiyo (Sydney Bulls), Mick Carl (Penrith), Danny Chiha (North Sydney), Graeme Donovan (Doonside), Jeff Wheeler (Hawkesbury City), Adam Gatt, Anthony Sirbello, Brett Linnert, Eddie Nassim, Joel Parsons (Merrylands)

 

[2 True Blues]

Alf DUNCAN. What a fricken waste of talent in that side !!!!:crazy: :crazy:

 

[cumberlandsashes81]

There's a lot of recognisable names in this list!

Is Blacktown's Andrew Frew the same Andrew Frew who played (briefly - only a couple of 1st grade matches) for Parramatta in 1997 and then went onto fame and fortune with Manly/Northern Eagles and St George? I think he also played in the UK for someone...

Also, I can see Troy Wozniak (also played briefly for Parra)... Wow, there are a lot of high quality players in this group. Matt Pethybridge (Balmain), Hasan Saleh was playing for Wests Tigers only a couple of seasons ago...

The Penrith A-Grade competition must be of a pretty high standard?

Good to see some of these players are moving on up the RL pyramid too...

 

[2 True Blues]

If Newtown had have reached out and kept him ( not knowing the full story ) The Beam side would be totally kicking arse. The bloke would be carving it up in the Roosters NRL right now as well !!!! Top player !!!!

 

[Nfed]

Blacktown City recruited Andre Frew and Willie Leyshon from St George Illawarra in 2005. Frew spent several years with Manly and Northern Eagles and did play with Parra in about 1996. Willie had a final season with his brothers at his junior club.

The presason talk was that Owen Craigie, Nat Wood and Garth Wood would also be playing for City this year but the licenced club was forced into liquidation following an alleged misappropriation of funds. The club has one of the major banks as a sponsor allowing it to still field a competitive side.

Doonside recruited Troy Wozniak from the English Super League in 2005 after stints with Parra and Wests Tigers. They also got Corie Pearson who played about 20 games in NRL the previous season but when he got the St George Flegg coaching position he sent Nathan Brown’s brother, Daniel to do the second year of his contract. Doonside have a very generous sponsor and they have fielded 12 with NRL or ARL experience in 5 years. The word is that Craig Trindall got $20,000 sign on plus match payments in 2002 so they guys with lots of NRL experience must be on a good wicket. There may be some problems there as Coach Gary Pethybridge left the club a few weeks ago. He was coach of Windsor last year, where his son Scott (an omission from my list) was a player.

Last week Blacktown beat St Marys 64-20 and St Clair beat Brothers 36-16. This week Doonside vs St Clair at Western Weekender and Brothers vs Blacktown at Windsor.

 

[cumberlandsashes81]

I didn't realise that there was this kind of money in A-Grade league...!

What would the average match payment/signing fee be in A-Grade competitions? How does this compare to JBC?

 

[Nfed]

Varies from nothing for the pub comps to substantial amounts for star players if you have a licenced club or a good sponsor. There is a lot of interchange of players between JBC/Premier League and the top clubs in the Penrith district and a few 1st graders as well.

The Sydney Bulls were very interested in getting Doonside prop, Mick Hawkings, formerly of St Marys & Ryde Eastwood Metro and Balmain Premier League but he wasnt interested, so he is not playing for nothing.

Darren Baker played in Windsor JBC premiership team last year but went back to Brothers because they had a sponsor who would pay him a $1000 a game.

 

[2 True Blues]

Suppose they take the players that could not quite make it in the top grades like premier league and the NRL, they have to go somewhere !!!! But dead set Alf DUNCAN is a star and should have been retained by the Jets !!! Could still cut in in the top grades for sure !!!!! Thanks for the memories Alfie... You are a legend mate !!!!!

 

[Nfed]

Alf is a good mate of ex Roosters and Gold Coast utility back, Mick Salafia and although Mick originally signed with some team on the South Coast, Alf got him to come to Blacktown to play.

 

[Nfed]

James Donlan, who was playing Premier League for Souths earlier this season, is also playing for St Clair now. Donlan, Awahou and Terangi were best against Brothers. Trent Robinson dominated for City against the Saints.

 

[Nfed]

Doonside went into the major semi with Troy Wozniak, Hasan Saleh, Mick Hawkings and Sam El Masri all out for injuries. St Clair dominated to lead 22-0 before a turnaround by the backup players saw the Roos get back to 22-22. Two penalties in front of the posts to St Clair gave them a 26-22 win.

Blacktown eliminated Brothers in the minor semi and will be favoured again this week if Doonside dont get their stars back on the field.

 

[wayne challis]

Thanks Nfed for the info.

Just wondering if the Trent Robinson at Blacktown is the same Trent Robinson who played 5/8 for the Roosters in the 2002 Flegg Grand Final?

 

[Nfed]

Yes. Also played with Ryde Eastwood in 2004.

 

[2 True Blues]

Blacktown will win this for sure. I'll put a grand on it. What are the odds ?????

 

[2 True Blues]

Keep the updates coming, I love it when Im right !!!! It's rare and very appreciated...LOL...............

 

[Nfed]

My contact at Doony gave me a bum steer. Brothers beat Blacktown 34-18.

Doonside play Brothers at Western Weekender, sunday 2.30.

 

[Nfed]

Doonside had Wozniak, Hawkings and El Masri back in the side and blitzed Brothers. 5 minutes into the second half it was 32-6 but ended up 32-16. Tries to Mick Corrie, Ryan Rolfe, Dave Watters, Harry McKay and Aaron Shaw while Sam El Masri kicked 6 goals. Mick Hawkings and Richard Penesini were strong in the forwards as was Nathan Lindner at half. Jeff Lemon and Darren Baker scored for Brothers.

Grand Final: St Clair vs Doonside, Penrith Stadium, Sunday 2.30.
Reserve grade: Doonside Vs St Marys at 1pm
St Marys also in u/16, u/17 and u/19.

In the 2nd Division, A Grade was won by Blacktown Pats (Danny Mamo - capt, Dave Nugent - coach), u/19 - HLCP, u17 - Hawkesbury City, u/16 - Michinbury.

In the 3rd division, A grade - Katoomba, U/17 - Lower Mountains, u/16 - St Clair (2)

 

[Nfed]

A Grade

Doonside 41 (M Corrie 2, D Watters 2, R Rolfe, N Lindner, T Hilton tries, S El Masri 6 goals, N Lindner FG) beat St Clair 8 (G Edwards, J West tries)

Doonside went into the game with a record of 3 grand final losses in 4 years. When Jack Mazzoleni put Edwards through a gap and then West skirted around a compressed defensive line for a 8-0 score line after 4 minutes it did not look promising for the Roos.

In the next 10 minutes Mick Corrie scored twice, demonstrating that he still has lightning pace from a standing start, to give Doonside a 12-8 lead. Watters and Rolfe also scored to go in 22-8 at half time. St Clair had to strike first if the were to have any hope but Watters and Lindner scored inside the first 10 minutes to put the win beyond doubt.

Despite St Clair have a huge pack and bench I thought the most valuable player was Doonside prop Richard Penesini. Given that the backs scored 6 tries the judges gave the award to Dave Watters.

A healthy crowd included a large contingent from the Lone Wolf Motor Cycle Club, one of Doonside’s major sponsors.

Doonside
1 Samer El Masri, 2 Aaron Shaw, 3 Dave Watters, 4 Mick Corrie, 5 Harry McKay, 6 Ryan Rolfe, 7 Nathan Lindner, 17 Richard Penesini, 9 Luke Aitchison, 10 Mick Hawkings, 11 Latu Fifita, 12 Shane Bonham, 13 Troy Wozniak, 14 Hasan Saleh, 15 Kris Krueger, 16 Toby Hilton, 8 Ali Trad

St Clair
1 Grant Edwards, 2 Jay West, 3 Emmerson Tawharra, 4 Dayne Neirinckx, 5 Dean Callaghan, 6 James Donlan, 7 Hare Terangi, 18 Murray Gate, 9 Trent Hayman, 10 Jack Mazzoleni, 11 Robert Miles, 12 Jermaine Awahou, 13 Dom Mazzoleni, 8 Bobby Bright, 16 Nathan Wilson, 17 Richard Houia, 19 Emelio Tyrone

Lower Grades

Doonside beat St Marys 22-8 with a mix of experience from Daniel Brown and Marc Webber and youth in Ray Adams and Adrian Priem. Adams got the MVP.

U/19 – St Marys beat Brothers 21-14
U/17 – St Marys beat St Clair 25-10
U/16 – Windsor beat St Marys 12.10.

 

[Nfed]

2 days after the grand final, Penrith JRL announces that it will be imposing a player points system on clubs in 2007.

 

[Jonelle]

Is it true that Doonies lit both trophies up?