Round 16 of the VB NSW Cup saw major shifts in the ladder mixed with some quality games of rugby league – backed up by various statistical individual performances.
New Zealand Warriors leapfrogged Mounties into second position thanks to a hatrick from David Fusitu’a, as well six conversions from six attempts by Mason Lino. Fusitu’a also ran for 197 metres while Nathaniel Roache clocked up 185 metres. Glen Buttriss and Mitch Barnett made over 40 tackles each for Mounties, while Mitch Cornish led round for try assists with three.
Wyong Roos upset competition leaders Penrith Panthers, and in doing so had an 80% completion rate whilst running a round high 1,741 metres as a team. Tyler Cornish made two linebreak assists and two try assists, while Omar Slaimankhel broke 11 tackles. For the Panthers, Eddie Aiono led the round in running metres with 225, while Brendan Attwood made 48 tackles.
John Olive and Cody Walker scored two tries each for the North Sydney Bears in their 26-8 victory over Wests Tigers, while Olive also ran for 194 metres and made three linebreaks. Cameron McInnes made the most tackles last round with 50, and also made a linebreak, scored a try and broke six tackles.
Tyrone Phillips increased his try-scoring tally to 15 after he bagged a double for the Bulldogs in their 44-28 win over Illawarra Cutters. David Minute, Antonio Kaufusi, Jacob Loko, and Adam Elliot each got away three offloads each, yet completed at 80% despite the large amount of second phase play. Justin Hunt ran for 198 metres and made eight tackle breaks for the Cutters, while Kiti Glymin also broke eight tackles.
Beau Henry set up two tries and three linebreaks in the Wentworthville Magpies 16-12 win over the Newcastle Knights. Sam Gorman clocked up 44 tackles while Daniel Alvaro made 39. Honeti Tuha scored the only two tries for the Knights, while Nathan Ross ran for 171 metres and broke 13 tackles.
Nathan Gardner was the star in Newtown Jets 28-20 win over Manly Sea Eagles, as he scored a try, set up three, broke nine tackles, made four linebreaks while kicking four goals. Dylan Kelly scored a hatrick for the Sea Eagles, while Jayden Hodges and Siosaia Vave got away four offloads each. Kurt Aldridge led the way with chargedowns last weekend with two.
