Over the weekend’s action, the Roosters affiliate clubs experienced mixed results, as the Glebe Dirty Reds and Ipswich Jets suffered bruising defeats, and the North Sydney Bears were crowned NSW Cup Minor Premiers with a narrow victory.
Glebe Dirty Reds
In the Ron Massey Cup, the Glebe Dirty Reds fell to a crushing 32-6 Qualifying Final defeat against Wentworthville Magpies on a wet Sunday afternoon at St Mary’s Leagues Stadium.
The Dirty Reds struggled to stamp their authority in the early stages, conceding a try in the opening minute and allowing the Magpies to score again in the opening minutes after a sloppy pass led to a 90-metre intercept try.
Glebe found themselves trailing by 16 points at the break and failed to mount a comeback in the second half, their only try coming late in the match when Salesi Malu scored after some magical play by Harry Mckeon.
The Dirty Reds will look to keep their hunt for the Ron Massey Cup alive next week when they take on Hills Bulls in a do-or-die semi-final on Saturday afternoon at St Mary’s Leagues Stadium.
Ipswich Jets
In the Queensland cup, the Ipswich Jets were handed a heavy defeat by Tweed Seagulls on Sunday Afternoon at Piggabeen Sports Complex, conceding 13 tries in a 72-8 rout that ends their season as a winless one.
On an afternoon with few positives, back rower Jerome Veve put out an impressive performance off the interchange bench for the Jets, scoring a double that took his try scoring tally for the season to four.
A bye in the final round of the season means the Ipswich Jets will finish at the bottom of the Queensland Cup ladder, and despite the difficult year, there were several promising performances throughout the season that the Club will look to build on in 2024.
North Sydney Bears
In the NSW Cup, the North Sydney Bears secured the minor premiership with a hard-fought 18-10 victory over the Sydney Roosters at North Sydney Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Tries to Allan Fitzgibbon, Elie El-Zakhem and Tuipulotu Katoa were enough to secure victory over a gutsy Roosters side, who gave the Bears a scare with a try five minutes from full time that narrowed the margin to eight points.
The Bears will now look to test themselves further against the Penrith Panthers next Sunday afternoon at North Sydney Oval as they prepare to head into the NSW Cup finals series in pole position.
