Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Wrap, results, standouts from round four

Check out a wrap of the action below.

KYOGLE DOWNS MULLUM IN FIERY CLASH

Kyogle has overcome a halftime deficit and a passionate Mullumbimby side to defeat the Giants 29-18 in a fiery clash at Les Donnelly Field.

Halfback Tahne Robinson was outstanding for the Turkeys, scoring two tries and helping to set up a couple more as his ran in 19 unanswered points in the second half.

Playing in front of their home fans, it was the Giants who struck first 12 minutes in with a try that saw the team travel the length of the field.

With his team defending its own line, Mullum fullback Cooper Nelson picked up a deflected grubber and found space as he charged up 40m field.

While he was pulled down by the chasing defence, in the next play centre Chanse Perham surged up field with a powerful run that saw him brush off five Turkeys before offloading to halfback Jacob Miller, who showed enough speed to run 30m down the touchline to score.

Some feeling started creeping into the game and midway through the half it boiled over when Mullum centre Tyrone Harding was sent to the sin bin for putting a shoulder charge on Kyogle’s Blake Davies without the ball.

With an extra man on the field the Turkeys wasted no time making their advantage count as centre James Torrens went over on the edge to make it 6-4.

From here Kyogle enjoyed a dominant period with multiple repeat sets on the Mullum line, however they were unable to break through for another try.

The Giants had done well not to concede again while down to 12 and they were given a boost not long after Harding returned to the field when Miller found Sammy Latu with a nice inside ball for the big winger to crash over.

While the home side had stretched out to an eight-point lead, an error in the first play-the-ball after the kick-off handed the ball over in dangerous territory.

Once again Kyogle made them pay when forward Jai Slater charged through a gaping hole close to the line to score and reduce the deficit to two.

However the tit-for-tat nature of the game continued when Mullumbimby lock Keenan Ramsden crashed over late in the half to give the home side an 18-10 lead at halftime.

Kyogle was struggling to deal with the greasy conditions early in the second half as a string of errors handed the Giants ball in dangerous territory.

And while Miller went close to going in again, the Turkeys managed to hold the home side out.

Mullumbimby appeared to be in control for much of the early stages of the second half until eight minutes in when Kyogle halfback Tahne Robinson decided to run the ball on the last.

After spreading the ball to his outside men, winger Shannon Walker did well to cut back on the inside to score and make it 18-14 with half an hour to play.

Suddenly it was the Turkeys with the momentum as the Giants started to make errors.

Robinson had been Kyogle’s best all day and he once again showed his worth to slice through the line to score before putting the conversion over to put the visitors up 20-18 with 25 minutes to play.

Tensions remained high as both sides pulled off some huge hits in defence and the referee was forced to give players from both teams a warning for their conduct.

The wet ball continued to cause problems and a big moment came 15 minutes from time when a Mullum knock-on gave the Turkeys the ball in their opponents’ 20.

After a couple of repeat sets the visitors finally broke through as Layne Hardy found winger Brock Westerman with a cut-out ball to stretch their lead out to 24-18 with just over 10 minutes remaining.

The final stages of the game were frantic as Mullum through everything at the Kyogle line. However dropped ball continued to cruel the side as it failed to break through.

Robinson had the chance to put his side eight clear after a high shot, however he put his penalty goal attempt wide.

A couple of minutes later he didn’t miss though, slotting a field goal to put the Turkeys up 25-18.

The halfback had been nothing short of brilliant for his side all day and it was apt that he put the cherry on top with a late try to cap off a gutsy win.

The victory continues Kyogle’s strong start to the season, with the Turkeys having won three of their opening four games. Meanwhile the loss was Mullumbimby’s first of the season after opening with two strong wins.

Kyogle 29 (Robinson 2, Torrens, Slater, Walker, Westerman; Robinson two goals; one field goal) defeated Mullumbimby 18 (Miller, Latu, Ramsden; Davies three goals)

CUDGEN PREVAIL IN BALLINA SMASH AND GRAB

Cudgen has extended its unbeaten start to the season to four games and in the process continued Ballina’s premiership hangover after defeating the understrength Seagulls 20-16 at Kingsford Smith Park.

The visitors were forced to turn away set after set during the second half as goalkicking and a monster two-point field goal proved to be the difference as the seesawing clash finished three tries apiece.

Despite having won just one of the three games coming into the match and missing star playmakers Tyrone Roberts and Reece McKenzie-O’Brien, Ballina started brightly and bagged first points five minutes in when makeshift five-eighth Jordan Lee dummied and stepped his way over to score.

A couple of minutes later Rohweder thought we was in after a dart from dummy-half but he was ruled to have knocked the ball on over the line.

The match took a turn a quarter of an hour in when Ballina prop Damian Sironen was sent to the sin bin for a high shot.

Despite being a man down, the Seagulls did well to turn Cudgen away and rubbed salt into the wound in the 25th minute with an excellent long-range try.

With the team defending its own line, winger Kai Saric did brilliantly to clean up a Cudgen grubber on the run before setting off up field.

With no one at home, Saric surged towards the tryline. And while Hornets fullback Jett Forbes was coming across in cover, the young gun pulled off a miraculous dive to score in the corner and put Ballina up 10-0.

The Seagulls looked like taking a lead into the break, until a moment of magic from winger Malachi Dumas got the Hornets on the scoreboard.

Lining up a cross-field kick from Harvey Moase, Dumas perfectly timed his run and jump to take the ball AFL-style and score a stunning try.

A penalty in the first set after the kick-off sent Cudgen up field again, with prop Connor Ziebell charging through some flimsy defence to go over for the team’s second in quick succession.

Just like that Cudgen were in front 12-10, and on the stroke of halftime the visitors added another two as Caleb Ziebell did his best Latrell Mitchell impersonation by kicking a monster field goal from 51m out to make it 14-10 at the break.

Ballina had seen its lead slip late in the first half but the Seagulls surged back in front just minutes after the restart when some clever work from Lee on the right edge helped put Harry Sivewright over in the corner. Oliver Regan then slotted the conversion from the sideline to make it 16-14.

The Seagulls were on a roll and were convinced they were in again shortly after when fullback Liam Green crashed over, only for the referee to rule that he was held up.

It was all Ballina as Sivewright planted the ball down for what he thought was his second, however play was called back as Cudgen fullback Forbes was ruled to have knocked the ball on and then grounded it in the lead-up.

Cudgen was compounding the situation by coughing up the ball in dangerous areas, and while the home side enjoyed multiple sets on the Hornets’ line, it struggled to break through on the back of some clunky attack.

The visitors had done well to absorb the pressure and had an opportunity to finally break into Ballina’s half after receiving a penalty deep in their own end.

After a couple of strong runs from his forwards, Rohweder darted out of dummy-half and did well to offload the ball to Elliott Speed to go over for a sucker punch and put the Hornets in front 20-16 with 12 minutes to play.

The game was far from over as Cudgen kept offering Ballina ball in dangerous areas.

And while the Seagulls threw everything they had at the Cudgen line, forward passes and errors cruelled the side as the Hornets held on for a four-point win.

The victory takes Cudgen to four from four to kick off the season, while Ballina has slumped to just one win from four in what was been a very difficult start to the season.

Cudgen 20 (Dumas, Connor Ziebell, Speed tries; Speed three goals; Caleb Ziebell two-point field goal) defeated Ballina 16 (Lee, Saric, Sivewright tries; Regan two goals)

FOUR-TRY HERO IN BILAMBIL ROUT

Bilambil has continued to set the pace at the top of the table early in the season after defeating Tweed rivals Murwillumbah 40-14 at the Murwillumbah Leagues Club ground.

Winger Blake Graham bagged four tries as the visitors completely ran away with the match in the second half to win their fourth game from as many starts to kick off the season.

The Jets came into the game in good form and they started with a bang when an early penalty gave the side good field position and fullback Josh Quinn slid over for the first try of the match after just two minutes.

Mur’bah hit back soon after when centre Adam Walker did brilliantly to take a cross-field kick from Kade Hill to level things up at 4-all after nine minutes.

It had been a lively opening and Bilambil went over again on the quarter-hour mark when winger Blake Graham got on the end of a chip kick from Harry Fitzhugh to make it 10-4.

A penalty helped the Jets extend their lead to six before tensions boiled over half an hour in.

After a big hit on Bilambil skipper Hayden Hansen that forced the ball loose, players from both teams clashed with some push and shove.

Bilambil prop Jaylen Taewa and Mur’bah’s Dan Turland were both given 10 minutes in the bin for their part in the altercation as both sides were reduced to 12.

Quinn then added another two points to the visitor’s total from the ensuing penalty to make it 12-4.

The Jets were then handed a boost late in the half with a try that started while defending well in their own half.

A solid hit from the Bilambil defence forced the ball loose, with the Jets then shifting the ball wide to centre Lachlan Hallard, who did well to skip around his opposite number before putting the foot down to run 70m to score.

However just as they’d done earlier in the game, the Mustangs hit back soon after, with centre Matt Bollard running a great line to charge over and make it 18-8 at halftime.

While the late try had brought Murbah back into the contest, Bilambil came out of the blocks strong and put the game out of reach early in the second half.

It started just seven minutes in when Graham broke through some flimsy defence on a scoot from dummy-half to score his second of the day.

A short time later a brilliant break and chip over the top from Caleb Nicholls, combined by an error from Mur’bah’s Joel Antonelli, gave Graham perhaps one of the easiest tries he’s ever scored as the winger jumped on the ball in the in-goal area to complete his hat-trick and help the Jets surge out to a 32-8 lead.

And while Cooper Wolf pulled one back for Murwillumbah midway through the half, Bilambil continued to flex its muscles in the final quarter of the game.

Hallard picked up his double after sliding in to ground a Harry Fitzhugh kick that sat up in the wet right-hand corner, before the halfback turned provided on the other side of the field, putting in a cross-field kick for Graham, who muscled past the Mustangs’ cover defence to claim his fourth try and cap off another big Bilambil win.

Bilambil 40 defeated Murwillumbah 14

EVANS DOWNS LOWER WITH SECOND-HALF BLITZ

Evans Head has placed itself in amongst the early competition frontrunners after defeating Lower Clarence 32-16 at the Yamba Sporting Complex.

The game remained in the balance well into the second until a lethal 15-minute period saw the Bombers run in four tries to record a comfortable victory.

After a scoreless opening quarter of an hour a clever bit of playmaking got the Bombers on the board.

Receiving the ball 30m out from the Magpies’ line, Evans Head five-eighth Jordan Sly took on the blind side with a well-weighted grubber that sat up in front of oncoming Lower fullback Josh Donovan and allowed Justin Bleakley to run through for the first try of the match after 17 minutes.

The try gave the Bombers some momentum and they were over again soon after when prop Aidan Kennedy showed how dangerous he is from close range by charging over to put the visitors up 10-0.

Evans looked like taking its lead into the break, however the home side hit back very late in the half when Cody Walker crashed over from a couple of metres out to make it 10-6 at halftime.

The game remained tight, but 13 minutes after the restart the Magpies took the lead with some wonderful free-flowing footy.

It started deep in their own end when halfback Vincent Williams capitalised on an Evans Head knock-on to charge up field. From here Lower threw the ball around, first right and then to the left as the Bombers’ defence struggled to get back behind the play.

The pressure paid off a couple of plays later when backrower Tristan Lumley went over to make it 12-10.

The home side had the lead and seemed to have the momentum, however an error when trying to mop up a bomb gave Evans Head a fresh set in dangerous territory.

A few moments later fullback Kiedan Hartley crashed over from dummy-half to once again put the Bombers ahead.

The game was going from end to end and Lower had a golden opportunity to hit back straight away, with forward Sanjae Unu-Kini put through a gap, only to drop the ball with the line begging.

The knock-on proved to be a decisive turning point as the visitors ran away with the game.

From the ensuing set the Bombers went the length of the field as winger Malaki Ferguson scored down the left touchline to stretch the scoreline out to 20-12.

A few minutes later Evans Head went in again when Lower failed to deal with a bomb from David Gibbons and centre Jonathon Robinson picked up the scraps to score.

Then when hooker Jesse Beauchamp darted over from the dummy-half, the Bombers had run in four tries in 16 minutes to take a 20-point lead and put the game to bed.

And while Uni-Kini scored late, it was just a consolation as Evans Head finished 16-point winners to pick up the team’s third win in four games and continue the side’s strong start of the season.

Evans Head 32 (Bleakley, Kennedy, Hartley, Ferguson, Robinson, Beauchamp tries; Gibbons four goals) defeated Lower Clarence 16 (Walker, Lumley, Unu-Kini tries; Byers two goals)

The remaining fixtures were postponed due to the rain.

Originally published as Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Wrap, results, standouts from round four