RED AND BLACK REPORT 2024: EDITION NO.6
The Red and Black Report shines a spotlight on Canterbury Rugby League juniors featuring in Australia’s elite and lower-grade competitions.
Canterbury products were in action in the sixth round of the NSWRL SG Ball Cup (under-19s) and Harold Matthews Cup (under-17s), as well as the opening weekend of the NSWRL Jersey Flegg Cup (under-21s) and the second-tier NSW Cup and Queensland Cup competitions, and the remainder of NRL Round 1.
NRL
It was a tough 2024 NRL premiership kick-off for Aranui Eagles product Jamayne Isaako and Burnham Chevaliers junior Kodi Nikorima, whose Dolphins were trounced 43-18 by North Queensland Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium.
Winger Isaako, the NRL regular season’s top tryscorer and pointscorer in 2023, slotted three goals from as many attempts and chalked up 162 running metres from 15 carries. Five-eighth Nikorima put in plenty of work on both sides of the ball, making 29 tackles and nine runs.
West Coast Kiwi Griffin Neame, who previously played for Halswell Hornets in the CRL juniors, contributed 11 runs for 95 metres and 23 tackles without a miss to the Cowboys’ victory in his 44th NRL appearance.
NSW CUP
Missing out on the Warriors’ NRL Round 1 side, Burnham Chevaliers junior Jazz Tevaga responded in the best way possible: chewing off an incredible 25 runs for 228 metres and 40 tackles in the club’s last-gasp 28-24 NSW Cup win over Newtown Jets.
Partnering Tevaga in the front-row was teenaged Halswell Hornets product Tanner Stowers-Smith, who racked up 10 runs for 90 metres and 18 tackles in 35 minutes of game-time to underline his promise.
Versatile Aranui Eagles product Daejarn Asi lined up at five-eighth in Parramatta’s 38-36 loss to Canterbury-Bankstown, making a line-break. Asi played 10 NRL games for the Eels in 2023 after stints with the Cowboys (10 games) and Warriors (eight games).
WATCH WARRIORS V JETS HIGHLIGHTS HERE
WATCH EELS V BULLDOGS HIGLIGHTS HERE
QLD CUP
Former Hornby Panthers and Canterbury Bulls game-breaker Caius Faatili made an enormous impact on club debut for Sunshine Coast Falcons in a 30-24 opening-round win over Brisbane Tigers.
The powerhouse forward, who played in one of Melbourne Storm’s NRL trials (the Falcons are a feeder club), scored two first-half tries off the bench to go with eight runs for 73 metres, four tackle-breaks and 19 tackles without a miss.
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Veteran former Northern Bulldogs forward Shelton Pitama helped Redcliffe Dolphins to a 28-16 victory over Souths-Logan Magpies from the second-row, playing the full 80 minutes and getting through eight runs for 73 metres and 32 tackles.
JERSEY FLEGG CUP
West Coaster Callum Donaldson, a South Island Scorpions age-group regular who also played for Halswell Hornets, made his Jersey Flegg debut for Canterbury-Bankstown at lock in a 30-6 win over Parramatta.
A Jersey Flegg regular for Cronulla in 2023, Hornby Panthers junior Felix Faatili came off the bench and scored the last try in the Sharks’ emphatic 36-10 win over the Warriors in Pukekohe on Sunday.
Riccarton Knights prop K-Ci Newton Whare graduated to the Jersey Flegg ranks in Melbourne last year after starting 2023 in SG Ball and started at prop in the Storm’s season-opening 36-14 loss to the Dragons.
SG BALL CUP
Hornby second-rower Sosaia Alatini’s impressive tryscoring form for Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs’ SG Ball side continued, crossing in the second half of a 50-18 thrashing of Cronulla Sharks. Linwood winger Chelden Hayward missed his first match of the season for the Bulldogs, but Northern five-eighth Bronson Reuben – who was part of the club’s Harold Matthews Cup title success in 2023 – was named as 18th player for the first time this year.
Linwood Keas CRL premiership winner Te Kaio Cranwell came off the bench as Newcastle Knights held off Parramatta Eels 20-16 at home on Saturday.
Papanui’s Jason Salalilo has been a mainstay in the front-row for the Warriors’ SG Ball side and lined up in a 32-24 defeat to Illawarra Steelers in Pukekohe on Sunday.
WATCH SG BALL CUP ROUND 6 HIGHLIGHTS HERE
HAROLD MATTHEWS CUP
Linwood loose foward Lennox Tuiloma’s tryscoring run dried up in Round 6 – having scored the last try in the Warriors’ previous two matches – but he nevertheless helped the side to its third consecutive win, a 26-16 result over Illawarra Steelers.
Meanwhile, Hornby and St Thomas’ Isaiah Savea – a Canterbury 16s rep alongside Tuiloma in 2023 – made his Harold Matts debut off the bench in the Warriors’ win.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, coached by Halswell stalwart Shannon Rushworth, stayed unbeaten and near the pointy end of the Harold Matthews Cup ladder with a 48-12 defeat of Cronulla Sharks.
WATCH HAROLD MATTHEWS CUP ROUND 6 HIGHLIGHTS HERE
