Dragons teen explodes in Lomax race as Tigers unearth 130kg beast: Reserves Wrap
A 19-year-old Dragon has thrown his put his hand up to replace Zac Lomax when the star winger departs at the end of the season to join the Eels.
Meanwhile, the Wests Tigers have an exciting 192cm, 130kg prop coming through — and he had his best game to date.
Marcelo Montoya responded to his shock axing from the Warriors’ NRL side, while Kenny Bromwich played his first reserve grade game since 2015.
Read on for the latest Reserve Grade Wrap.
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ALL EYES WERE ON...
Warriors outside back Marcelo Montoya played his first NSW Cup game since 2019 as a Bulldog after he was dropped by coach Andrew Webster.
Montoya showed his class in a statement response to the decision. He scored a try, set up another, got two linebreaks, five tackle busts and ran 172 metres. He made four tackles but did miss two.
Sitili Tupouniua was another NRL regular, who found himself in NSW Cup in the same game. Tupouniua finished with a linebreak assist, four tackle busts, 121 metres and 24 tackles — two misses — in the 26-20 loss.
And then there was veteran second-rower and 15-time New Zealand international Kenny Bromwich, who played his first reserve grade game since 2015. Bromwich was one of the Dolphins’ marquee signings last season but has been 18th man three times this year.
He was dropped to feeder side feeder side CQ Capras in what was just his sixth Queensland Cup game. Bromwich played 53 minutes, finishing with 97 metres and 26 tackles with two misses.
Rusted on Wests Tigers fans that have been keeping a close eye on the junior reps would’ve been excited to see Jordan Miller get his first start in NSW Cup on the weekend. The 19-year-old prop, who stands at 192cm tall and weighs 130kg, was a part of the Magpies’ Harold Matthews premiership-winning team in 2022 — and was the club’s Player of the Year that season.
He moved into the Top 30 this season and has been eased into NSW Cup after starting the year in SG Ball.
Miller had easily his best performance to date which included a try, a linebreak, three tackle busts and 124 running metres, as well as 24 tackles — no misses. He also punched out his highest minutes of the season (35), which is the key area he’s been working on.
Who will replace Zac Lomax on the wing for the Dragons next season? Club legend Jason Nightingale recently told the Fox League Podcast that Savelio Tamale could be in the mix and now the 19-year-old has put forward a pretty compelling case.
Tamale scored a try, set up another, got two linebreaks, seven tackle busts and ran 223 metres in the Dragons’ win over the Rabbitohs.
When asked by Fox League if he’s working towards filling Lomax’s position, Tamale said: “Yeah 100 per cent. I’m just trying to play good footy in Cup and hopefully get the chance to play NRL soon.”
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NEW SOUTH WALES CUP
The Bulldogs are on fire and over the weekend handed the Panthers their first loss of the season. Young fullback Joash Papalii carved up with a try assist, a linebreak, two linebreak assists and 191 metres. Blake Wilson — who returned from a bout of pneumonia a fortnight ago — was also busy with a try, a try assist, three linebreaks, four tackle busts and 200 metres.
Liam Knight got through a mountain of work, finishing with 166 metres and 33 tackles — two misses — while Kitione Kautoga bagged a double to take his try-scoring tally to six in the last four games.
Kautoga is facing a lengthy stint on the sideline though after he made contact with Brad Schneider’s leg while the Panther was attempting to get a kick away. Schneider played on for 15 minutes but was eventually forced from the field. Kautoga was sin-binned for the incident and has been hit with a grade three dangerous contact charge, which carries a three-game suspension with an early guilty plea or four games if he unsuccessfully challenges the charge.
The Couchman twins have consistently been the Dragons’ biggest workhorses this season. Toby was promoted to 18th man for NRL last weekend, but Ryan continue on with his red-hot form in NSW Cup, finishing with 160 metres and 35 tackles — one miss.
Michael Molo was a late addition to the pack and notched up 167 metres and 32 tackles with two misses.
Warriors playmaker Ben Farr was impressive in his side’s win, finishing with a try assist, a linebreak, a linebreak assist, five tackle busts and 122 metres.
Tigers forward Sione Fainu — older brother of Latu — had one of his best games to date, finishing with a try, a linebreak, six tackle busts, 168 metres and 26 tackles — one miss — in the Magpies’ win over the Knights.
Solomon Alaimalo dropped back to NSW Cup and bolstered the Magpies backline, scoring a try, setting another up and running 166 metres.
Meanwhile, Kade Dykes bagged a hat-trick in Newtown’s 22-16 win over Blacktown. He also got a linebreak, a linebreak assist and ran over 200 metres. Blake Hosking was also enormous in the win at lock, finishing with a try assist, a linebreak, six tackle busts and 215 metres as well as 38 tackles — two misses.
QUEENSLAND CUP
While the Panthers are facing a small halfback crisis — Nathan Cleary and Brad Schneider both injured — one of the club’s former playmakers carved up in Queensland Cup.
Kurt Falls, a Penrith junior who made his NRL debut for the club in 2022, is now in the Broncos’ system and playing for Wynnum Manly.
The 27-year-old scored a double and set up two more tries in his team’s 40-8 win over Ipswich. He also got two linebreaks, two linebreak assists, four tackle busts and ran 116 metres.
Sefa Roache-Faimalo was a handful in the centres for Wynnum Manly, scoring two tries, setting up one, getting two linebreaks and running 121 metres in what was just his seventh Queensland Cup game.
And utility forward Kalolo Saitaua was a ball of energy off the bench, finishing with a try, a linebreak, eight tackle busts, 135 metres and 20 tackles — one miss.
Townsville escaped with a one-point win over Tweed with five-eighth Matthew Wright’s field goal in the 76th minute proving to be crucial. Wright also set up a try and ran 131 metres in the win, while fullback Lennis Tovo was enormous with two tries, a linebreak, a linebreak assist, 10 tackle busts and 220 metres.
Will Brimson — older brother of AJ — was impressive on a losing side, scoring a try and setting up two more for Tweed as well as getting a linebreak, a linebreak assist and 130 metres.
Burleigh’s Kea Pere had a day out in the centres, bagging a double, getting three linebreaks, seven tackle busts and running 214 metres in his side’s win over Mackay.
Creedence Toia was important at fullback, setting up two tries and getting three linebreak assists, while second-rower Josh Patson scored a double, got two linebreak assists, 124 metres and made 20 tackles — no misses.
Joining him in the rock-solid defender category was once again skipper and veteran lock Sam Coster, who made 35 tackles with no misses, while also running 143 metres. The 31-year-old hasn’t missed a tackle in three weeks.
It was actually an incredible defensive performance from Burleigh as a whole with the team only missing a total of five tackles.
CQ Capras’ Jesse Jennings lined up in the second row along with veteran NRL veteran Kenny Bromwich, but ended up being the more dangerous player. The 24-year-old scored two tries, got two linebreak, ran 120 metres and made 34 tackles with three misses in his side’s win.
Jordan Pereira was busy on the wing for Souths Logan with a double, a linebreak, seven tackle busts and 197 metres, while five-eighth Radean Robinson made a huge impact on the game with a try, two try assists, two linebreak assists, 100 metres and 20 tackles — one miss.
The versatile Tristan Sailor didn’t get a call up by Broncos coach Kevin Walters to replace the injured Adam Reynolds. Instead, he played fullback for Souths Logan and had a big hand in their win with a try, a try assist, a linebreak, two linebreak assists and 138 metres.
Norths Devils smashed the Brisbane Tigers 62-16 with five-eighth Gerome Burns scoring 22 of their points through a try and nine conversions from 11 attempts. Burns also set up a try, got five tackle busts and ran 194 metres.
Meanwhile, Manase Kaho, Cooper Jenkins and Oryn Keely all bagged doubles, with the latter also topping the metre count for forwards (163).
SPOTTED
The Bulldogs have a backlog of up-and-coming playmakers and that’s seen Bailey Biondi-Odo fall out of favour in recent weeks. The 22-year-old has kicked off a new chapter though, making his Queensland Cup debut on the weekend with the Townsville Blackhawks.
Norths Devils welcomed back former captain Jack Ahearn out of retirement. The 31-year-old played 170 reserve grade games — 150 in the Queensland Cup and 107 of those with Norths — before hanging up the boots at the end of last season to focus on his career as a firefighter.
But he’s back and made his official return via the bench.
The Rabbitohs went down 26-6 to the Dragons, but the fight they showed is seriously impressive when you know the adversity the team has faced.
In the 17 coach Joe O’Callaghan named, only one player was training full-time — 19-year-old Liam Le Blanc, who was on NSW Cup debut. There was 72 games worth of NRL experience, but 71 of them belonged to 37-year-old Yileen ‘Buddy’ Gordon.
South Sydney won the NSW Cup premiership last year but have been hit hard this season due to player departures and the injuries in first grade. With no Ron Massey Cup side, O’Callaghan filled the team with local A-Grade players from the Souths Junior competition, which only kicked off a fortnight ago. Round 2 was washed out which meant a fair chunk of the team went into the Dragons clash with just one game under their belt this year.