Ron Massey Cup / Sydney Shield 2017

[Timmah]

Given how bit-part both RMC & SS have been this season, it would make some sense to just cut it to one competition. How that's managed is anyone's guess.

 

[Tigers1986]

I'm sure I read it back in February as part of the new reshuffle of the NSWRL competitions, the Shield competition would be axed.

To be completely honest the problem isn't the competitions, it's those in charge of the management of them. If the right person/people got in place to organise it, both the RMC and SS could be an amazing 2-tiered competition that had a definitive 'link' between the NSW Cup and local grade competitions. Could even manage a promotion/relegation system that would entice some involvement from CRL teams.

 

[rightleftin]

The NSWRL started the SS in 2010 (only 5 teams) because Mounties, Wenty and Cabra were banned from playing in the Parramatta A Grade as this has become an amateur recreational comp. Similarly the days when the top 4 teams in the Penrith A Grade had about 15 ex first graders between them are long gone.

East Campbelltown were banned from playing in Group 6, Belrose wanted out of the Manly comp because they were sick of the forfeits. Although Cabra has hit hard times, all these clubs need SS because there is nowhere else to go,

One of the 8 ex ARL, NRL or ESL players to appear in SS this year is Willie Mataka. Mounties left him out of the RMC at the start of the season but he has played several games in NSW Cup lately. Where would he have gone if the SS did not exist?

 

[rightleftin]

Saia Tanginoa and Tulsa Saumamao played for Blacktown SS earlier this season. Tanginoa is now playing RU for Sydney University and Saumamao is playing for Manly Brothers.

 

[Tigers1986]

Don't get me wrong, I love the Shield competition and see it as a tremendous concept. However, it doesn't have the appropriate organisation to catapult it into being 'great.'

Hopefully with the redesign, they make it legitimate. Have the winner of the Shield play off against the RMC wooden spooner to gain entry into the RMC. Yes, it prevents teams from contesting both grades, but you'd want to have some incentive to win the Shield and further challenge your players and raise the profile of your club.

 

[rightleftin]

There are so many happening that it is easy to miss one. Wenty are the largest recipient of the Blacktown defectors with Nick Kasssis becoming the 5th Workers player to join Wenty in the last month. Kassis played against Hills last Sunday.

 

[rightleftin]

The wests vs Mounties games have been switched from Campbelltown to Aubrey Keech tomorrow. The SS game Belrose and Moorebank has been deferred to 25 June.

 

[rightleftin]

Results | Ron Massey Cup Round 15
Western Suburbs Magpies 38 (T Capper 3, B Goodman 2, T Mapesone, C Yassmin tries; M Farrell 4, C Yassmin goals) def Mounties 6 (J Steadman try; J Steadman goal)

Cabramatta 18 (D Thompson, B Anderson, T Tamou tries; D Thompson 3 goals) def Guildford Owls 16 (L Brown, H Hunt, M Ryan tries; D Vasek 2 goals)

Wests went into the game with 2 wins while Mounties had lost only 2 and yet it was Wests that did the flogging. Wests played well but Mounties showed nothing in the first half to trail 24-0 at the break. The Mulga looked far more competitive in the second period but still could not land blows, so much so that in one set they just failed to score 3 times before a poor pass saw Wests run the length of the field to score.

Cabra continued their recent good form in notching their 2nd win from 11 starts to level with Auburn who have 2 2ins from 8 starts. Cabra remain at the bottom with an official F/A of -170 compared to Auburn's -166 but these figures should be -174 and -162 as one of the NSWRL ground manager gave one of Auburn's conversions was given to Cabra when these sides played in round 11.

The other amusing aspect of the NSWRL website is that even though Cabra have played 11 games in 15 weeks they are listed as having 12 points for 6 byes instead of 4 byes so it appears that on a couple of weeks they got 2 byes.

Maybe next year every team should have a bye every week and then all teams can rack up 50 comp points without playing a game.

Results | Sydney Shield Round 15
Mounties 22 (Z Foster 2, J Goodwin, J Ellul tries; J Ellul 3 goals) def Western Suburbs Magpies 4 (H Masila try)

Guildford Owls 40 (T Shelley 2, P Fainu, N Okladnikov, F Salu, T Sapienza, A Shirley tries; T Sapienza 5, C Eyles goals) def Cabramatta 22 (J Belgrove, R Alo, T Touma, L Hughes tries; B Cox 3 goals)

 

[rightleftin]

todays results

RMC

Concord-Burwood-Glebe Wolves 16 (K Seru, K Aldridge tries; K Aldridge 4 goals) def Auburn Warriors 13 (M Mamary, J Bergamin tries; A Demetriou, M Rudolph goals; M Rudolph field goal)

Wentworthville Magpies 24 (B Cook 2, N Kassis, D Barakat tries; J Walsh 4 goals) def Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles 14 (S Fitzgerald, S Kiel, S Fatiaki tries; B Fritz goal)

SS

Wentworthville Magpies 58 (B Walsh 3, J Miller 3, M Aonga, K Mackenzie, J Goring, R Tuipolotu, N Soloa Toomata tries; B Newton 7 goals) def Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles 4 (J Wharerau try)

East Campbelltown Eagles 20 (C Moustakas 2, B Baker, A Soultan tries; E Connor 2 goals) def Hills District Bulls 6 (T Black try; J Horvat goal)

 

[rightleftin]

RMC Wrap Week 15

The Western Suburbs Magpies pulled off the upset of the Ron Massey Cup season to date with a stunning 38-6 trouncing of double defending premiers Mounties in their match at Aubrey Keech Reserve last Saturday.

After the match was transferred from Campbelltown Stadium 24 hours before kickoff to ‘save’ the surface for the NRL match played between Wests Tigers and the Sydney Roosters last Sunday, the Magpies showed a return to their 2016 form to stun the Mulga.

After Mounties had early chances, the Magpies opened the scoring in the sixth minute when on the next tackle after a long Josh Davis break, a Blake Goodman cross field kick found Tana Mapesone for the opening try and a 6-nil lead after Mason Farrell’s conversion.

The Magpies doubled the lead in the next set from the restart when another Davis break found fullback Tom Capper for his first try and a 12-nil lead after Farrell added the extras.

Good buildup by the Mapgies saw Goodman beat the nonplussed Mulga defence to score Wests’ third try in the 21st minute for an 18-nil lead when Farrell added his third conversion.

Wests completed a remarkable first half in the 27th minute when Mapesone burst through the Mounties defence behind the ruck before sending Christian Yassmin away for his try. Farrell’s fourth conversion gave the Magpies a remarkable 24-nil lead at half time.

With the words of coach Mark Speechley ringing in their ears from a half time blast, the Mulga came out and dominated opening stages of the second half, before a left side spread against the run of play by the Magpies nine minutes into the second stanza saw Capper score his second try to give Wests a 28-nil lead.

Mounties finally got on the board six minutes later when Jake Steadman scored and converted his own try to make the score 28-6.

Mounties then launched themselves at the Wests defence over the next 15 minutes – coming close three times in one attacking set with nine minutes to play before a loose pass was picked up by Goodman who bolted 90 metres to score his second try and win the match for the Magpies.

Wests put the icing on the cake with two minutes left when 2016 Shield Player Of the Year Brendan Waters cut through to send Capper away for his hat trick and complete the Magpies win with Yassmin’s conversion.

Cabramatta scored their second win of the Massey Cup season when they edged out Guildford 18-16 at New Era Stadium last Saturday Night.

The Owls got the opening try when half Lazarus Brown opened the scoring in the seventh minute for a 6-nil lead after Daniel Vasek converted, before the Two Blues took the advantage for the rest of the first half.

Fullback Don Thompson continued his good recent form when he got Cabramatta’s reply in the 17th minute to level the scores with his own conversion, before winger Brent Anderson gave the Two Blues the lead with his try eight minutes from half time. Thompson’s second conversion gave Cabramatta a 12-6 lead at the break.

Cabramatta extended their lead in their first set of six of the second half centre Tyla Tamou scored for an 18-6 lead with Thompson’s third conversion from three attempts.

Guildford then came back strongly.

First evergreen centre Harmony Hunt scored 10 minutes into the second half to get the Owls back to within six points after Vasek converted.

Then skipper Matt Ryan finished of a Guildford attack midway through the second half to score wide out. Vasek missed the conversion and Cabramatta held an 18-16 lead.

The Two Blues then held on in defence through a frantic last 15 minutes as both sides had chances in the closing stages without success – making it two wins from their last three games to revive their season.

Concord-Burwood-Glebe kept their place in the Cup’s Top Eight when they scrambled home 16-13 over the Auburn Warriors in poor conditions at North Sydney Oval last Sunday.

The Warriors started by far the better of the two sides as showers threatened – dominating the early exchanges.

Lebanese international prop Mitch Mamary crashed over from close range near the posts on the back of that early dominance in the fourth minute to give the Warriors a 6-nil lead with Addison Demetriou’s conversion.

Both sides then were guilty of dropping the ball amdist defence that bordered on brutal at times as the heavens opened mid way through the first half.

The Warriors then again worked their way on top with Demetriou going close to scoring, before Darren Maroon’s men scored a critical try five minutes from half time.

Just as former Blacktown Workers and Manly half Manaia Rudolph was being bundled into touch in a four man Wolves tackle, the Warriors playmaker was able to flop the ball out the back to winger Josh Bergman – who picked up the loose pass to dash 30 metres through the gap left in the defence to score.

Rudolph converted and the Warriors had a handy 12-nil half time lead.

That lead started to look more than handy as the rain got heavier in the second stanza – seeing the error rate (and penalty count from referee Ryan Jackson) climb as both sides continued to struggle with the conditions.

The match then turned when giant Wolves interchange forward Kem Seru burst away down the left from a Kurt Aldridge pass to score in the 57th minute to get the Wolves back to 12-6 with Aldridge’s coversion.

The former Blacktown Workers half then scored a super solo try next to the posts four minutes later – converting to level the scores at 12-all to set up a tense finish.

The Warriors then regained the lead with nine minutes left when Rudolph to snapped a 20 metre field goal for a 13-12 advantage – which again appeared to be enough for Auburn given the conditions.

However, the Warriors’ frustration with slow play the balls and a skinny ten metres boiled over in the closing stages as they finished on the wrong end of a 15-8 penalty count against them – culminating in giving away two penalties in the last five minutes that cost them dearly.

First, with five minutes left, an offside penalty saw Aldridge convert from 25 metres out to give the Wolves a 14-13 lead.

Then in a bitter postscript, another penalty off the ball on the Wolves’ next attacking set with under three minutes left saw former Newtown Jets and Cabramatta forward Ahmed Ellaz rush out from his defensive position towards the Wolves players on his side of the field – just as Aldridge was stepping in to attempt another kick at goal from this second penalty.

A push and shove melee followed before referee Jackson sent Ellaz from the field on his Touch Judge’s report of the incident. Aldridge then converted the penalty attempt to complete a controversial 16-13 win – as the Warriors could not get the ball back from a short restart with their 12 men for the last 60 seconds of the match.

Finally, the Wentworthville Magpies moved back into third place on the Cup table with a 24-14 win over the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles at Ringrose Park last Sunday.

After the match started over 35 minutes late due to delays in the earlier Sydney Shield fixture, the Magpies opened the scoring in the seventh minute when backrower Blake Cook scored his first try for a 6-nil lead with Jake Walsh’s conversion.

In a tight first half in the wet, greasy conditions Blacktown worked their way to a reply when winger Shaun Fitzgerald crossed over wide out to score.

Both side’s defences then cancelled each other out for the rest of the first half to leave the Magpies with a 6-4 lead at the break.

The Magpies then won the match with a seven minute burst of attack at the start of the second half to open up a match winning lead.

Cook got his second try six minutes into the second half, before Lebanese international forward Nick Kassis crashed over to score against the club he started the season with five minutes later.

Fellow Lebanese international Danny Barakat then scored Wenty’s third try in seven minutes on the Magpies’ next set from the restart to blow the lead out to 24-4 with Walsh’s fourth successful conversion 15 minutes into the second half.

Blacktown then steadied in the last 20 minutes to save a second straight blow out against them in successive weeks.

Blacktown five eighth Shane Kiel scored wide out with 12 minutes left, before prop Sarafu Fatiaki crashed over from close range with five minutes left for the last try of the day to make the final score 24-14 after Ben Fritz converted.

The Cup’s top two sides – St Marys (26 points) and Hills District Bulls (24 points) – both had byes to consolidate their places at the top of the table, with Wentworthville (24) up to third and Mounties (22) back to fourth with their shock loss.

Cabramatta joined the Warriors on 12 points at the bottom of the table with their win.

This weekend’s last round before the Representative game against the Queensland Rangers outfit on the Gold Coast on Sunday week sees four matches scheduled.

Saturday’s two matches are both at Leichhardt Oval at the end of a huge day of league where matches in all three NSWRL senior competitions will be played.

Wests take on the Auburn Warriors at 5pm, before Concord-Burwood-Glebe play the third of their heritage matches in the Glebe ‘dirty reds’ jumpers against Guildford at 6:45pm.

Sunday’s two games see Hills District Bulls take on Cabramatta at Crestwood Reserve, while glamour sides St Marys and Mounties do battle in the clear ‘match of the round’ at St Marys Leagues Stadium.

 

[rightleftin]

SS Wrap week 15

The Wentworthville Magpies easily thrashed the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles 58-4 in the Sydney Shield ‘match of the round’ at Ringrose Park last Sunday – but the win was shrouded in controversy.

The match started over 35 minutes after the scheduled 1:00pm kick off time when the designated Doctor provided by the Magpies as the home team for the match – and the Ron Massey Cup game that followed as per the competition guidelines for all Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield matches – advised NSWRL and Wentworthville officials shortly before kickoff that he was running late.

Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles officials were then quick to claim a forfeit once the 30 minute grace period after the scheduled 1:00pm kickoff time passed without the Doctor’s presence – under the same competition guidelines above.

This forfeit was allegedly declined by ground officials when the designated doctor finally arrived at Ringrose Park for duty – with the Workers Sea Eagles then playing the match under a protest that was formally lodged after fulltime. This protest will be looked at and considered by NSWRL Competition Officials this week.

When play finally got under way, it didn’t take long for the Magpies to take control with prop Mana Anonga crashing over in the third minute for the opening try.

The Magpies then slowly worked their way on top in a grinding next 15 minutes before centre Jack Miller got his first try in the 21st minute to continue his rich vein of try scoring form.

Wenty then extended their lead late in the first half with tries to KJ MacKenzie (back in his usual position of centre) and fullback James Goring to give the Magpies a handsome 22-nil half time lead.

Wenty winger Braydon Walsh then got the first of his three tries four minutes into the second half to extend the Magpies lead, before Blacktown fullback Jaydan Wharerau got the visitor’s only try seven minutes later too get the Workers Sea Eagles on the board at 28-4.

However, once Walsh got his second try in the 56th minute, the match then became a procession for Wentworthville against a distracted Workers Sea Eagles outfit.

Miller completed his hat trick with his 10th and 11th tries for the season in the space of three minutes to decide the on-field result, before Walsh completed his hat trick with 12 minutes left.

Opposite Wenty winger Rameses Tuipulotu then scored to bring up the Magpies’ 50 points with eight minutes left, and bench player Nicki Toomata got the last Wenty’s 11 tries in the last minute to complete the rout on the scoreboard – with the two points to be ultimately confirmed off the field.

Competition leaders Mounties had to work extremely hard – including having to play for 52 minutes with 12 men – before overcoming a game Western Suburbs 22-4 at Aubrey Keech Reserve last Saturday to record their 10th straight Sydney Shield win this season.

After the match was transferred from Campbelltown Stadium 24 hours before kickoff to ‘save’ the ground for the Wests Tigers NRL clash with the Roosters last Sunday, a tight, scoreless first 15 minutes showed that the young Magpies outfit were up for the contest.

Mounties prop Jake Goodwin finally broke the deadlock in the 17th minute when he powered over from close range for the opening try and a 6-nil lead after Maltese international Jye Ellul converted.

The game’s flash point came 11 minutes later when Mounties fullback Corey Makelim was sent off by referee Martin Jones for a dangerous throw when making a tackle – reducing the Mulga to 12 men for the last 52 minutes of the match.

Lifting their game with their 12 men, Mounties almost scored in the shadows of half time when former Belrose forward Jett Hobbs lost the ball over the line in a tackle.

The Mulga then took their next chance on their next attacking set when a left side spread saw Ellul finish for a try in the corner and a 10-nil half time lead.

The 12 man Mounties outfit then were happy to stay in the grind with Wests through the middle, and extended their lead when a Ben Whitehouse bust sent five eighth Zeik Foster away for a critical try midway through the second half for a 16-nil lead after Ellul converted.

Wests were finally rewarded for their efforts with 16 minutes left when after running the ball on the last tackle, Justin Frain put a kick in behind for bench forward Hala Masila to pick up and score – giving Wests some hope at 16-4.

Mounties then worked their into field position on the back of a couple of penalties for Ellul to convert a penalty goal with 10 minutes left to extend the lead to 18-4, before Foster scored a brilliant solo try to complete his double with two minutes left to complete the Mulga’s hard fought 22-4 win.

The Guildford Owls kept their place in the Shield’s Top Eight with they came away in the second half to beat Cabramatta 40-22 at New Era Stadium last Saturday.

After hooker Tyrone Shelley opened the scoring in the ninth minute to give the visitors an early lead, the Two Blues dominated the rest of the first half in their best period of the match.

Centre Jay Belgrove got the Two Blues’ first try to give the home side the lead in the 18th minute with Brendan Cox’s conversion, halves Ray Alo and Trent Touma each scored a superb try at the back end of the first half to give Cabramatta a handy 18-4 lead at the break after Cox landed all three of his first half conversion attempts.

Stung into life by coack Todd McKeown at the interval, the Owls came out smoking to start the second half. First, bench player Peni Fainu scored five minutes into the second half to get the visitors back in the game.

Shelley then completed his double five minutes later, before centre Nick Okladnikov scored Guildford’s third try in just six minutes from the restart set to reel in the half time deficit and regain the lead at 22-18.

Two Blues centre Lachlan Hughes levelled scores with his try in a quick Cabramatta response to set up a thrilling finish at 22-all with 20 minutes left.

Both sides had chances as the match reached the last 10 still deadolocked, before Guildford prop Frank Salu crashed over to give the Owls the lead for a decisive third time.

Classu Owls half Todd Sapienza scored on Guildford’s next attacking set two minutes later, before bench player Abel Shirley made sure of the two competition points when he scored the game’s last try with four minutes left.

Finally, defending premiers East Campbelltown kept their place in the Shield’s Top Four with a workmanlike 20-6 win over the Hills District Bulls at Crestwood Reserve in rainy conditions last Sunday.

With the heavy ground under foot and intermittent showers making the game a grind through the middle, the match started off in tight fashion until 2015 Shield Player Of the Year Ben Baker continued his positive return to the Eagles with the first try of the match in the 14th minute.

Eagles winger Craig Moustakas doubled the visitors’ lead when he scored his first try in the corner seven minutes later.

Then the Bulls got on the board when fullback Troy Black – one of six players ‘dropped back’ by the home side from their Ron Massey Cup squad the previous week to take advantage of their Massey Cup bye – finished a movement wide out in the 25th minute to reduce the Eagles’ lead to 8-6 with James Horvat’s conversion.

Eagles second rower Adam Soultan then scored what became a critical try in the wash up from close range five minutes from half time. Sean Connor converted and the visitors had a good 14-6 lead in the conditions at the break.

The grind continued – laced with more than its share of errors – in the second half as both sides struggled with the conditions.

Moustakas completed his double 10 minutes into the second half to extend East Campbelltown’s lead to 18-6, before the match meandered through the rest of the second stanza while both teams ground the game out through the middle.

Connor converted a penalty goal with 10 minutes left to give the visitors a match winning 14 point lead at 20-6 – a lead that East Campbelltown comfortably held to final whistle.

Asquith and St Marys enjoyed byes, while the Belrose match against Moorebank at Lionel Watts Reserve was postponed by mutual agreement between the clubs last week until Sunday, June 25.

Mounties still lead the Shield on 26 points from Wentworthville and St Marys (24 each) – with Wenty’s two points from the weekend now under protest. East Campbelltown round out the Top Four on 20 points.

Moorebank now again have two games in hand at the bottom of the table for their foiur points.

This weekend sees a full round of six games scheduled for the first time in a month – starting with the Wests clash with Moorebank at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday at 3pm as part of a bumper day of league where matches in all three NSWRL senior competitions will be played.

The pick of Sunday’s five games involve the Top Four teams – St Marys play Mounties in a blockbuster at St Marys Leagues Stadium at 11am, while East Campbelltown take on Wentworthville at Waminda Oval at 2:30pm.

 

[rightleftin]

Todays results from Leichhardt Oval

RMC

Auburn Warriors 31 (A Demetriou 2, D Minute, M Morgan, A Ha'angana tries; A Demetriou 4, M Rudolph goals; O Slaimankhel field goal) def Western Suburbs Magpies 12 (T Capper, J Key tries; M Farrell 2 goals)

Guildford Owls 36 (M Achurch 2, J Farlow, H Hunt, C Hunt, C Eyles, L Ngaluafe tries; D Vasek 4 goals) def Concord-Burwood-Glebe Wolves 16 (S Latu 2, K Aldridge tries; K Aldridge 2 goals)

The early game saw another sharp form reversal as Wests, who last week hammered Mounties 38-6 had conceded a 30-0 lead to Auburn in the first 43 minutes of the game. With the lower teams picking up the occasional win it is possible that all teams could catch Blacktown, who have 1 win from their last 6 starts.

SS

Moorebank Rams 28 (Z Hetherington 2, S Matavesi 2, B Cassell tries; C Matthews 3, Z Hetherington goals) def Western Suburbs Magpies 26 (S Aiga, H Taala, D Petralia, K Coakes, N Tui tries; B Higgins 3 goals)

Moorebank produced their initial win in the competition.

 

[Tigers1986]

Wests have no consistency this season - smash Mounties then get lapped by Auburn.

 

[rightleftin]

RMC

Hills District Bulls 36 (T Robinson 2, J Horo 2, A Weston, J Fraser, M Filimona tries; J Horo 4 goals) def Cabramatta 22 (T Taliauli, T Ahovelo, I Montgomery, D Thompson tries; D Thompson 2, T Touma goals)

St Marys 18 (T Satini 2, J Hill tries; M Place 3 goals) def Mounties RLFC 14 (W Asotasi, C Taripo, S Tavita tries; J Steadman goal)

Mounties looked like they might upset the hot favourites for 2017 when they ran up a 14-0 lead at half time, with the first 2 tries scored by players promoted from SS but St Marys stormed home in the second period to maintain their status.

Auburn halfback Manaia Rudolph has now played for 6 clubs in the last 3 seasons -
2015 Manly
2016 Mounties, Wests Tigers, Wests Magpies
2017 Blacktown, Auburn

SS

St Marys 38 (F Enese 2, J Toby, R Tuisese, R Jeffery, A Glanville, J Conroy tries; A Glanville 5 goals) def Mounties RLFC 0

Wentworthville Magpies 26 (S Sisifa, B Walsh, N Soloa-Toomata, J Miller tries; B Newtown 5 goals) def East Campbelltown 24 (C Moustakas 2, S Kimi-Ioane, A Tovio, J Da Silva tries; B Baker 2 goals)

Asquith Magpies 30 (A Taylor 2, A Nicholls-O'Neill, A Tani, J Palmer, R Williams tries; J Palmer 2, V Ngaro goals) def Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles 20 (K Manu, J Wharerau, K Wyld, P Aupaau tries; K Manu 2 goals)

Guildofrd Owls 38 (N Oklandikov 2, Julian King, Jeremy King, A Shirley, J Field, S Hunt tries; C Mazzelli 3, T Sapienza 2 goals) def Belrose Eagles 14 (R Goodwin 2, B Valu tries; W Tangiiti goal)

St Marys remain the only team to beat Mounties this year but todays result is astonishing.

Asquith ran up a 16-0 lead in the first half but had a fight on their hands when Blacktown ran in 3 tries in the 13 minutes after the break. The Blacktown side was far more like the sides they fielded at the start of the season with the inclusion of 9 players from the RMC team that lost to Wenty last week as well as Kelepi Manu and Tyler Cassel, who have played NSW Cup in recent weeks.

 

[Timmah]

Mounties losing 38-0 in Shield WTF

 

[rightleftin]

Mounties losing 38-0 in Shield WTF

The NSWRL have today named a strong Ron Massey Cup Representatives side for the annual clash with the Queensland Rangers at Pizzey Park on the Gold Coast this Sunday.

With the best available squad selected, the NSWRL will look to post a maiden win in the fixture, having lost the first two editions since first introduced to the Rugby League calendar in 2015. This year has seen a departure from the policy of at least one player from each team being selected in the squad, as was the case in the last two years.

In a side that has lashings of Intrust Super Premiership NSW experience this season, competition leaders St Marys provide the greatest representation with six players named in the 18-man squad.

Freakish try scoring winger Maika Sivo earns his first representative jumper in Australia as the headline name of the Saints’ six, with Intrust Super Premiership NSW experience in centre Tony Satini and second-rower Aaron Pene amongst the other Saints’ teammeates in the side.

Hills District Bulls provide the next biggest representation with four players – with the surprise selection of regular half Chad O’Donnell at five-eighth leading the Bulls' quartet.

Western Suburbs, Mounties, Concord-Burwood-Glebe and Wentworthville have each earned two selections in the squad. 2016 Ron Massey Cup Player of the Year Brendan Waters has been named halfback.

The 2017 Ron Massey Cup Representatives side is as follows:

1. Don Thompson (Cabramatta)
2. Maika Sivo (St Marys)
3. Tony Satini (St Marys)
4. Atini Gafa (Wentworthville)
5. James Gammidge (Wentworthville)
6. Chad O’Donnell (Hills District Bulls)
7. Brendan Waters (Western Suburbs)
8. Rodney Coates (Mounties)
9. Soni Luke (St Marys)
10. Jason Thompson (Cabramatta)
11. Tom Freebairn (Concord-Burwood-Glebe)
12. Aaron Pene (St Marys)
13. Jerry Key (Western Suburbs)
14. Cowen Epere (St Marys)
15. Jamal Hunt (Hills District Bulls)
16. Joshua Tangitau (Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles)
17. Tom Young (Hills District Bulls)
18. Henry Seumanu (St Marys)

Coach: Mark Speechley (Mounties)
Assistant Coach: Paul Griffin (Hills District Bulls)

The match will be played at 11:45am AEST on Sunday at Pizzey Park, Burleigh Heads as the curtain-raiser to the Queensland Intrust Super Cup match between the Burleigh Bears and the Ipswich Jets. Stay locked on NSWRL.com.au for a full wrap of camp and Sunday's match.

It is a pity that so few players make themselves available but certainly 6 players from St Marys is appropriate. Actually, Wenty have 3 in the team as Josh Tangitau is one of the 25 players that left Blacktown in the last 2 months. It is interesting that 8 of the players named have played Sydney Shield at some stage this year.

 

[Timmah]

To be fair there are two games on in Shield this weekend which might be impacting player availability

 

[rightleftin]

To be fair there are two games on in Shield this weekend which might be impacting player availability

Belrose vs Moorebank and
Blacktown vs Asquith

Belrose were hammered last week and Moorebank produced their first win for 2017. In positive news for Belrose, USA international, Dave Marando came out of retirement and should benefit for the run under his belt.

Asquith and Blacktown repeat last week's clash but Asquith should have an easier time as the listed Blacktown side has halved the 11 RMC players that played last week, although it still includes Tyler Cassel, who played for Scotland against England in the 4 Nations last year.

 

[kbw]

Whats interesting about that rep side is that there is not one player from last years side.
Hope they go well

Any one know the times of the SS games on the weekend ?

 

[rightleftin]

Whats interesting about that rep side is that there is not one player from last years side.
Hope they go well

Any one know the times of the SS games on the weekend ?

Belrose vs Moorebank at Lionel Watts Sunday 3pm
Blacktown vs Asquith at Laybutt Sunday 1pm