Ron Massey Cup / Sydney Shield 2017

[kbw]

Has anyone gone to the challenge cup game(s) ?

 

[rightleftin]

Challenge Cup results:

Illawarra Wests Devils 34 Auburn 6
Concord Burwood Glebe beat Newcastle Souths by forfeit

1st semi final
Macquarie Scorpions 40 Helensburgh 10

 

[Tigers1986]

Forfeit? Are they serious? The NSWRL would be very disappointed.

No disservice to the CRL teams but are the RMC teams fielding full strength teams? Or are these sides that much better than the RMC sides, thus adding weight to strengthening the competition in terms of areas covered.

 

[rightleftin]

Forfeit? Are they serious? The NSWRL would be very disappointed.

No disservice to the CRL teams but are the RMC teams fielding full strength teams? Or are these sides that much better than the RMC sides, thus adding weight to strengthening the competition in terms of areas covered.

As the NSWRL does not cover these games through its Live system we have no idea who is playing. There are a number of strong sides in Newcastle and Illawarra but none of the RMC sides that finished in the top 4 last year were included in the Challenge Cup.

Newcastle and Illawarra comps start next week. Instead of playing 18 games over 25 weeks in RMC, The Challenge Cup should include all the teams in the 3 comps spread over 6 or 7 weeks and then all the RMC could start in late April with 5 games every week and not have 7 weeks off.

 

[rightleftin]

RMC Wrap round 6

The St Marys Saints again established themselves as the early season benchmark outfit of the Ron Massey Cup with an emphatic 48-10 disposal of the Concord-Burwood-Glebe Wolves in the ‘match of the round’ at Goddard Park, Concord last Sunday.

From the time prop Cowen Epere opened the scoring in the fifth minute and freakish try scoring winger Maika Sivo followed suit with his sixth try of the season two minutes later to give the Saints an early 12-nil lead, Brad Drew’s men were untroubled to remain unbeaten in four starts in 2017.

Opposite winger Andy Oughtred joined the party in the 19th minute, before former Manly centre Tony Satini and Liam Coleman – son of former Souths and Wests half Craig ‘Tugger’ Coleman – got tries late in the half to give the Saints a commanding 28-6 half time lead.

Joe Dokonivalu scored the Wolves’ only first half try in the 23rd minute.

Saints fullback Mason Cerruto killed off any hopes of a Wolves comeback with his try in the first two minutes of the second half, before Jamie Hill and Thomson Tuigamala scored further tries to blow the Saints lead out to 46-6 with 20 minutes still to play.

Cerruto landed a penalty goal with 10 minutes to play during a scrappy last quarter, before Dokonivalu got his second try to give the well beaten Wolves some consolation with five mintues left.

In an emotion charged atmosphere, the Hills District Bulls won the Nathan Gremmo Memorial Shield for the first time when they thrashed the Guildford Owls 50-6 in the other feature match of the round at Crestwood Reserve, Baulkham Hills last Sunday.

Fired up by their bumper home crowd to regain the trophy named in honour of the Bulls junior who was tragically killed in a road accident in 2015, the Bulls exploded out of the blocks with early tries to Tom Young and Tom Eisenhuth and an 8-nil lead inside the first 10 minutes.

Returning North Sydney Bears winger Abbas Miski then bagged a double playing at centre, before half Chad O’Donnell touched down two minutes from half time to have the Bulls leading 26-nil at the break.

After a grinding and scoreless first 20 minutes of the second half, the Bulls then went right on with the job in the game’s last quarter, as winger Tom Perrin scored a double in the space of four minutes to seal the Shield at 38-nil with 15 minutes to play.

Julian King got a consolation try for the Owls to get the visitors on the board, before Tim Robinson and Jayden Horogot late tries in the last five minutes to bring up the Bulls’ half century just before full time.

Two late tries in the space of three minutes saw the Wentworthville Magpies stay in the Massey Cup Top Four with a grinding 28-12 win over a game Auburn Warriors at Lidcombe Oval last Saturday.

In the return of “prodigal son” Addison Demetriou back in Warriors colours, the Magpies got going early when fullback Nick Walker got the opening try in just the sixth minute.

The rest of the half was tight where both sides had chances – ‘Wenty’ made the most of theirs when NRL Rookie runner up Jordan Martin crossed six minutes from the break to give the visitors a hard earned 12-nil lead at half time.

Magpies interchange prop Kurt De Luis extended the lead to 18-nil when he crashed over five minutes into the second half.

Power Warriors prop Mitch Mamary got the Warriors on the board his try mid way through the second half, before the Magpies sealed the two competition points with tries to winger Danny Barakat and centre Josh Minhinnick – promoted from Sydney Shield – with 10 minutes left.

Minhinnick’s try gave Wenty an unbreakable 28-6 lead, before Demetriou scored a consolation try for the Warriors with seven minutes left.

Finally, a hat trick of tries from interchange hooker Jake Attard helped Blacktown Workers / Sea Eagles score a comfortable 36-10 win over Cabramatta at New Era Stadium last Sunday.

Shrugging off a three week break from byes and washouts – plus having the match transferred to New Era just two days before kickoff when Laybutt Fields became unavailable – the Workers / Sea Eagles opened the scoring when backrower George Tsikrikas got the first try in the 12th minute.

Attard then got his first two tries in the space of five minutes from good support play to extend the lead to 18-nil, before fullback Kelepi Manu scored in the shadows of half time to give Blacktown a commanding 24-nil lead at the break.

The Two Blues – ears ringing from a blast from coach Eddie Flahey at half time – launched a comeback in the early stages of the second half with tries to winger Brent Anderson and centre Isaac Montgomery to raise Cabra hopes at only 24-10 down.

Attard completed his hat trick to snuff out the comeback at 30-10 with 20 minutes left.

Henry Rawlaluii then put the icing on the cake for Blacktown with 10 minutes left with the game’s last try.

Mounties and Western Suburbs enjoyed byes last weekend.

St Marys, the Bulls and Blacktown all share the lead on the Cup table with 10 points apeice - with the Saints and Blacktown remaining unbeaten.

Cabramatta are the only winless team after five rounds – and are stranded with no points on the bottom of the Cup ladder.

All four matches in Round Seven are set down for Saturday this Easter weekend, with the clash of traditional arch rivals Mounties and Wentworthville the standout contest as part of a bumper program of Easter Saturday matches at Aubrey Keech Reserve.

 

[rightleftin]

SS tonight:

Asquith 34 (Aipati Tani 2, Alex Nicholls O'Neil, Vinny Ngaro, Jeremy Marshall, Shae Jarvis tries, Ngaro 3, Jared Palmer 2 goals) beat Hills District ( Ben Mitchell, James Horvat tries, Horvat 2 goals).

Asquith did not take the lead until the last 25 minutes but finished strongly. Nicholls O'Neill, one of the leading try scorers in RMC last year, produced his 10th touchdown for 2017.

 

[kbw]

Forfeit? Are they serious? The NSWRL would be very disappointed.
.

The game was postponed more than once I think and it seems South Newcastle decided that was enough mucking around. Fair enough I think

 

[Timmah]

Both Guildford games in RMC and SS are actually Sunday to my understanding.

 

[rightleftin]

SS today:

Mounties 40 (T Glassie, J Martin, B Speechley, C Makelim, J Toole, M Li, W Asotasi tries; J Ellul 6 goals) def Wentworthville Magpies 22 (S Sisifa 2, K Mackenzie, E Alamoti tries; B Newtown 2, J Lombardo goals)

Guildford Owls 39 (N Masima 2, A Brown 2, J King 2, R Wharewere tries; T Sapienza 5 goals; Masima field goal) def St Marys Saints 38 (J Toby 2, B Cartwright, A Oughtred, J Institoris, B Brennan, S Tuigamala tries; J Rafferty-Butfield 3, D Zammit, Toby goals)

Western Suburbs Magpies 42 (C Yassmin 2, V Vatuvei, H Tuima, A Kazzi, A Nisbet, R Armstrong tries; K Coakes 7 goals) def East Campbelltown Eagles 12 (T Leato, G Lahey tries; E Connor 2 goals)

Blacktown Workers 48 (J Rika 3, M El Boustani 3, J Wharerau, R Pohahau tries; L Chalkley 8 goals) def Moorebank Rams 26 (K Hayman, T Evans-Tsoi, C Matthews, R Monaghan tries; Hayman 5 goals)

Cabramatta 38 (J Mahara 2, S Huihahau, T McDonald, N Mataitonga, S Kaivelata, R Grkinic tries; B Cox 3, T Vella 2 goals) def Belrose Eagles 28 (B Valu 2, M Ferris, C Bate, C Roxburgh tries; J Horton 4 goals)

East Campbelltown had to front a Magpies side that included 6 players from the Wests Tigers NSW Cup squad. Mounties regained top position on the ladder when St Marys faltered in an epic struggle against Guildford.

 

[rightleftin]

Results | Ron Massey Cup Round 7

Wentworthville Magpies 22 (A Gafa 2, D Howard, J Minhinnick tries; J Walsh 3 goals) def Mounties 6 (A Mataele try; M Kennedy goal)

Blacktown Workers 48 (S Fitzgerald 2, J Tangitau 2, C Aunese-Scanlon, A Niulesa, J Hall R Lesoa tries; M Rudolph 8 goals) def Auburn Warriors 16 (H Ah Sam 2, A El-Zakhem tries; T El Masri 2 goals)

Guildford Owls 22 (L Brown, D Timoteo, T Shelley, J Camroux tries; Camroux 3 goals) def St Marys 10 (T Satini, G Daniela tries; A Davis goal)

Concord-Burwood-Glebe Wolves 30 (J Safi, N Leatigaga, J Makatoa, R Davies, J Dokonivalu, K Seru tries; Davies 2, S Williams goals) def Cabramatta 16 (B Anderson, T Harris, A Bush tries; D Thompson 2 goals)

Wests and Hills District byes.

Mounties have been very disappointing with 1 win and 2 draws from 5 starts. It was a real slugfest today but Wenty were marginally better and by securing their 3rd win from 5 games become the 4th team to qualify for the finals.

Guildford have had a huge form reversal after conceding 50 points to Hills last week to overcome the previously undefeated St Marys side.

A few veterans have been appearing in the last fortnight with Matt Utai playing the last 2 games for Auburn, Hutch Maiava making his debut for Blacktown today, as didl ex London Bronco's fullback, Zebastian Luisi for Concord Burwood Glebe tonight.

It is hard to conceive that Blacktown suffered a massive injury count last week, so it could be that many players were rested today as only half of the 34 players from last week's RMC and SS sides played today.

 

[kbw]

I was out at Hammondville oval yesterday and watched the game between Moorebank and Blacktown. It was a lot closer than the score indicates. As a new SS team they were going to struggle at times but Moorebank are def getting better.

 

[rightleftin]

Moorebank will have a good test next week when they take on the leaders, Mounties.

I thought that Blacktown showed great depth yesterday to win the SS game with only 5 regular players in the side.

 

[kbw]

There were several Manly 20s I believe and after all Blacktown have signed 1000 players for 2017.
It will be tough against Mouties but if they can reproduce their defensive effort from the Hills game it could be good.

 

[rightleftin]

Your right there were 2 backrowers from Manly and another played RMC. I think we will see the 17 players that were left out will be back in the RMC & SS sides this week when they face St Marys.

 

[rightleftin]

Interesting to see that after 3 rounds, The Entrance are running last in the Central Coast competition.

 

[rightleftin]

It appears that Pat Weisner was sacked as Blacktown's head coach during last week. Could this be the explanation why 17 players were missing from the RMC/SS teams on the weekend and many of them are not named this week.

I don't know that the players can do anything unless Cabramatta install Weisner as coach and all the players are released, in which case, Cabra would go from the out house to the penthouse.

 

[kbw]

Its more interesting that I heard the fullback originally named in the SS side last week scored 3 tries in the NSW Cup ...
Whats the story about the sacking of Weisner ?

 

[Footy Tragic]

It appears that Pat Weisner was sacked as Blacktown's head coach during last week. Could this be the explanation why 17 players were missing from the RMC/SS teams on the weekend and many of them are not named this week.

I don't know that the players can do anything unless Cabramatta install Weisner as coach and all the players are released, in which case, Cabra would go from the out house to the penthouse.

I was at Cabra when Pat left a few years back. There must have been some changes for them to have him back

 

[rightleftin]

I was at Cabra when Pat left a few years back. There must have been some changes for them to have him back

I am only speculating on possibilities and how all these players might be accommodated if they continue to refuse to play for Blacktown and Cabra have lost all 7 games so they need to do something different.

 

[rightleftin]

RMC Wrap

The Wentworthville Magpies signalled their presence as a Ron Massey Cup contender when they outplayed two time defending premiers Mounties 22-6 in the match of the round at Aubrey Keech Reserve last Saturday.

In a tight, tough first round befitting the latest instalment of meetings between the traditional second-tier arch rivals, the match was scoreless for nearly the entire first half.

Magpies backrower Danny Howard opened the scoring two minutes from the break whe he finished a right-side movement wide out for a 6-nil lead at the break.

Centre turned backrower Atini Gafa then extended the Magpies lead to 10-nil in the 49th minute with his first try from a lever Jake Walsh cross kick on the right.

The Mulga had their chances – winger Alofi Matele called back for obstruction as he was crossing to score before dropping the ball with a try on down the left in the 60th minute – before the Magpies broke the game open with Gafa’s second try from another right-side break 17 minutes from the end to give the Magpies a 16-nil lead.

A 65-metre intercept try to newly-promoted Sydney Shield centre Josh Minhinnick sealed the two points for ‘Wenty’ at 22-nil with 12 minutes left – giving Minhinnick 12 tries in six games across all grades this season.

Matele got Mounties’ consolation try with seven minutes left to add some respectability to the final score for the well beaten home side.

The Guildford Owls scored the minor upset of the Easter round with a well-deserved 22-10 win over the previously unbeaten St Marys Saints at McCredie Park last Saturday.

It seemed business as usual for the Saints when former Manly centre Tony Satini opened the scoring with the game’s first try in the fourth minute.

However, fired up for a big performance by coach Paul Fletcher, the Owls bustled the Saints’ ‘all-star’ backline into error with great defensive pressure for the full 80 minutes.

This pressure converted to points with tries to Lazarus Brown and Dom Timoteo to give the home side a 12-4 lead after 29 minutes.

Class centre Geoff Daniela broke free to get the Saints’ second try on the stroke of half time to have the Saints down 12-10 at the break.

The second half saw the Owls continue to grind the frustrated Saints down with more rock solid defence and great scramble.

Interchange hooker Tyrone Shelley burrowed over from close range in the 57th minute to extend the Guildford lead to 18-10, before centre Josh Camroux scored the critical try with 15 minutes left to give the Owls their match winning 22-10 lead.

Guildford held off the Saints comfortably enough in the closing stages to secure their win and show that the Ron Massey Cup was again wide open.

The Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles put aside off field drama that marred their week with an emphatic 48-16 win over the Auburn Warriors at Lidcombe Oval last Saturday to remain the Cup’s only unbeaten team.

In a nip and tuck first half, former Windsor Wolves winger Chris Aunese-Scalan got the first try for the visitors, before the Warriors had their best period of the match in the middle of the first half.

Fullback Abraham El-Zakhem got the Warriors replay, before interchange player Henry Ah Sam got a double in the space of three minutes to shoot the Warriors out to a 16-6 lead less than five minutes from half time.

The Warriors then replied in kind when interchange forward Alan Niulesa scored in the shadows of half time to have the Warriors leading only 16-12 at the interval.

Showing a great statement of character to shrug off the drama of the sacking of their Intrust Super Premiership coach Pat Weisner during the week, Blacktown then scored 36 unanswered points and six unanswered tries in the second half to blow Auburn away in the closing stages.

Prop Jordan Hall barged over from close range to give the visitors the lead before interchange back Shaun Fitzgerald scored his first try to extend the Blacktown lead to eight points.

In a remarkable last 20 minutes, Fitzgerald completed his double, half Josh Tangitau scored a brilliant double of his own and centre Ray Lesoa crossed the stripe to complete an emotional Blacktown victory.

Finally, the Concord-Burwood-Glebe Wolves maintained their place in the Cup’s Top Eight when they came away in the last 20 minutes to record a solid 30-16 win over Cabramatta at New Era Stadium last Saturday evening.

In another match that was nip and tuck for the first hour, Jeremy Safi got the first try for the Wolves, before Brent Anderson and Tom Harris got tries in response for the Two Blues to give the home side a 10-4 lead five minutes from half time.

Wolves interchange forward Nathan Leatigaga finished off neat lead up work to cross in the shadows of half time to level scores at 10-all at the break.

The Wolves came out on fire with the first two tries of the second half – to former Asquith centre Jeco Makatoa from a Kem Seru pass before five eighth Rhys Davies scored – to lead 18-10.

The Two Blues came back one last time midway through the second half when lock Alec Bush finished a blind side short pass on the right to get the home side back to within two points, before returning North Sydney Bears prop Joe Dokonivalu strolled though paper thin defence to score under the posts with 15 minutes left to extend the Wolves lead again to eight points.

A superb Davies cut out pass hit Seru on the chest for the game’s last try in the corner with seven minutes left.

Hills District Bulls and Western Suburbs enjoyed byes – with the Bulls’s bye and Blacktown’s win seeing them go joint top of the table on 12 points, two ahead of St Marys and Wentworthville on 10. Cabramatta are anchored to the bottom as the only winless team after seven rounds.

A complete round of five matches will be played this weekend – with three games on Saturday and two games on Sunday.

The pick of the round sees the ‘local derby’ between St Marys and the troubled Blacktown Workers on Saturday Night at St Marys, followed by Concord-Burwood-Glebe meeing the Bulls at North Sydney Oval on Sunday as the curtain raiser to the ISP blockbuster between Norths and the NZ Warriors.