With only one round left to the VB NSW Cup finals, round 24 gave us a smorgasbord of exciting play and bone-crushing defence previewing what is sure to be a spectacular race to the VB NSW Cup Grand Final on September 27 at Pirtek Stadium.
The highlight of the round featured 10 try-scoring doubles - Mitchell Cornish, Brenko Lee and Stewart Mills (Mounties); Jaelen Feeney and Kerrod Holland (Newcastle Knights); Jayden Hodges, Tom Symonds and Delroy Berryman (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles); Lindon McGrady (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs); and Siliva Havili (New Zealand Warriors).
The round saw a total of 60 tries scored – with conversions that calculates to a whopping 328 points at an average of almost 55 points a game.
Bulldog Tyrone Phillips looks certain to be the leading try-scorer for 2015 with 23 four-pointers with only one round left. Phillips gets the chance to add to his tally against the Wests Tigers on Friday night at Belmore Sports Ground, kick-off at 7pm.
Of the six games of last round four home teams came away victorious, a 75 per cent success rate for the home teams.
Kurt Alridge achieved a 90 per cent success rate with the boot slotting a near-perfect nine out of 10.
The Manly Sea Eagles were the most impressive of the round demolishing the Wentworthville magpies 58-16. Their impressive statistics include an 81-per-cent completion rate and a total of 1711 run metres. Delroy Berryman made three line-breaks in the side’s biggest win of their season
Jaelen Feeney (Newcastle) and Josh McCrone (Mounties) were terrific for their teams; they provided three line-break assists each.
The top tackler for round 24 was David Bhana (Warriors) making an impressive 51 tackles. The top tacklers for the season so far are Cody Nelson for the Wentworthville Magpies and Mitch Williams for the Wyong Roos with 729 tackles each.
For hit-ups, the North Sydney Bears provided the top two for the round – Angus Crichton (18) and Nathan Brown (17).
Just one round is left to the finals. Remember, it’s always better at the game. Get out and support your team!
