Not only did the weekend of footy proved to be successful for the nib Newcastle Knights in the NRL, but so too was it for our junior representative as all five grades picked up victories.
With the competitions beginning to come to a close, a win for each side has now helped their case for acquiring finals spots.
Here’s a wrap-up of our each team’s triumph came about over the weekend.
SG Ball
Knights 22 (Veaila 2, Toloi, Crowther) def. Roosters 14
The under 18’s SG Ball side continued their unbeaten season with a grinding victory over the Central Coast Roosters at Cessnock.
The Knights only led by two points at the half-time following two tries to Chis Vealia and two conversions from Jonah Pezet keeping them 12-10 ahead.
The visitors put up a fight in the second half but two tries in the early second half to second rower Tevita Toloi, and winger Kodi Crowther meant the Roosters were chasing the game the whole way through.
A late try didn’t faze the hosts as they ran out 8-point victors and kept their strong position at the top of the ladder.
Next week the side is up against the Balmain Tigers at Cessnock, who currently sit in seventh place with only one loss to their name.
Tarsha Gale Cup
Knights 30 (Trapman 2, Keys, Beagan, Morris) def. Raiders 4
It had been a rough start to the season for the Tarsha Gale Cup side having gone their first four games without a win, however they bounced back in a big way on the weekend with a dominant victory over the Raiders.
Although the visitors scored the first points of the game after just eight minutes, our girls weren’t rattled as a try to halfback Morgan Keys put the team in front, before Lexi Beagan extended their margin to eight points at half-time.
The second half began the same way the first ended with the Knights making the most of their opportunities and prop forward Janaya Trapman proved the main woman scoring back-to-back tries before crafty dummy-half Monica-Lee Morris put the icing on the cake with a four pointer near full-time.
Mia Middleton nailed all five conversion attempts to help the side gain their large win, pulling themselves off the bottom of the ladder and back into contention for a spot in the finals.
Next week they too come up against the Tigers.
Harold Matthews Cup
Knights 14 (Ferguson, Collins, Sharpe) def. Raiders 0
For the first time this season, the under 16s Harold Matthews Cup side has attained back-to-back victories following their shutout against Canberra.
Big centre Ethan Ferguson scored the first points of the match with a try out wide after 19 minutes, and less than ten minutes later, his winger Harper Collins grabbed a try as well to double their lead.
With an 8-0 lead at half-time, the boys’ defence continued to thrive in the second stanza and in turn their attack continued to find the try-line as halfback Fletcher Sharpe scored their third and final four-pointer.
The side managed to keep the Raiders to nil and remain in fifth place on the ladder, but just four points from the top.
They’ll face the eleventh-placed Balmain Tigers next weekend.
Andrew Johns & Laurie Daley Cup
Johns: Roosters 12 def. by Knights 14 (Norris 2, Spruce Conn)
Daley: Roosters 20 def. Knights 22 (Butterfield, Walker, Miller, Hunt)
The Country Rugby League junior representative sides travelled down the M1 to the Central Coast for the weekend and left with two wins next to their names.
The under 16s Andrew Johns Cup team started off well with Kai Spruce Conn scoring out wide after just six minutes of footy, before scoring once more through Justin Norris later in the half to cancel out the Roosters’ try.
Leading 8-6 at the break, Norris crossed over for a second time along with a successful conversion from Lauchlyn Spicer which proved to be the difference as they held on for a tight two-point win.
The under 18s Laurie Daley Cup side also picked up a narrow victory following an exciting back-and-forth contest.
