Another weekend of junior representative rugby league saw our teams travel to different corners of the state and country as the SG Ball side ventured to Perth, while the Tarsha Gale and Harold Matthews teams visited Wollongong, and the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup teams played in Ballina.
While two of the teams secured victories away from home, unfortunately three Knights teams picked up defeats, one of which was a Grand Final rematch for our girls.
SG Ball
Pirates 4 def. by Knights 60 (Davis 2, Myers, Aoake, Nailagoliva, Nean, Pezet, Williams, Cant, Johannssen, Veaila)
Coming off the back of a tight draw before enjoying the bye last weekend, the U18s SG Ball team put the Pirates to the sword over in West Australia with a massive 56-point win.
Although the team conceded an early try, they were able to shut out West Coast for the rest of the game while racking up 11 tries to ten different scorers.
Halfback Jonah Pezet finished with an impressive 20 points to his name while Jacob Davis managed to grab a double as well.
The big victory sees the Knights move into second place on the ladder.
Tarsha Gale Cup
Steelers 30 def. Knights 0
It’s been a tough start to the season for Tarsha Gale Cup side as they went down again to a tough opponent in last year’s premiers, the Illawarra Steeler, in Wollongong.
The Steelers defeated the girls in the 2019 Grand Final and we were unable to enact payback going down five tries to naught.
While the team currently sit at the bottom of the table with zero points having played two of the top teams in the competition, they’ll be confident of bouncing back against the eighth-placed Bulldogs next weekend at home.
Harold Matthews Cup
Steelers 10 def. by Knights 34 (Ferguson, Perry, Sharpe, Langdon, Hughes, Collins, Metcalf)
The U16s Harold Matthews team managed their second win from as many games in Wollongong on the weekend defeating the Steelers by 24 points to continue their positive start.
Ethan Ferguson and Brody Perry both crossed for unconverted tries in the first half leaving the scoreline 8-4 at the break with everything still to play for.
The second half saw the side spark into action though, as they put their foot down with five tries from five different scorers blowing out the margin and secure the two points.
The Knights sit fifth on the ladder and next week face the ladder-leading Bulldogs.
Andrew Johns Cup & Laurie Daley Cup
Johns: Titans 28 def. Knights 22 (Talaileva 2, Conn, Sausaofai)
Daley: Titans 54 def. Knights 16 (Rose, Robinson, Martin)
It was a tough weekend for our Country Rugby League Knights sides in the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup as both tasted defeat in Ballina.
The Andrew Johns U16s were defeated in a neck-and-neck contest despite leading in the first half and two tries from Philip Talaileva.
The news was bad for the U18s team in the Laurie Daley Cup side as well, after losing big to the Titans.
Knights trailed all game but did manage to show their mettle late in the second half scoring two consolation tries through Sam Robinson and Lynkin Martin.
The two teams will face off with the Eels next week with the Johns Cup team sit in the middle of the pack on the ladder in seventh while the Daley Cup side are currently on the bottom of the ladder.
