The 2023 NSW State Championships Report

The 2023 NSW State Championships (held in the beautiful Lake Macquarie region) kicked off on Friday, March 17 with an enthralling series between the NSW Residents and Victoria (for both Men’s and Mixed). On the Men’s side of things, Brock Sullivan from Newcastle lead a star-studded NSW Residents side which have now played together for many years. They certainly came into the series as favourites but the plucky Victorians did come out of the blocks firing with strong performances from Rusiate Koroi and Sam Parlane across the series. The first game was a tense affair with NSW coming out on top before the floodgates opened in games 2 and 3. NSW Residents taking the series, 3-0. Special mention to Ethan Kenny and Will Smith who were dominant on the night.

For Mixed, the series was far tighter. Each game was in the balance until the final few minutes. In the first two games, the guile and experience of Jack Whitling inspired the NSW Residents to tight victories. The side was well drilled and played in a consistent manner from start to finish. Victoria played some incredibly exciting TRL and there were a number of near misses from kicks, intercepts and line-breaks which had they come off, would have resulted in a different outcome. In game three, Victoria played with immense pride and passion and edged out their NSW rivals – a sensational girl try to Jan Caliva being the difference. Both sides will take a lot out of the experience as they build for 2024.

Saturday & Sunday Component

As we rolled into Saturday, it was fantastic to see our travelling teams from QLD as well as sides from Sydney, Melbourne (pictured below) and Newcastle, bright and early. It was a long day of TRL with each side playing 5 games. As far as Events go, this one was played in amazing spirit and with great sportsmanship from start to finish.

Mixed

In mixed, from an early point in the Tournament, it was clear there were four stand-out sides: Logan, Sunshine Coast, Wynnum and Penrith. All four sides were playing a brand of TRL aligned with the relative playing experience within the ranks of each side. For many of these players, it is not uncommon to play up to three TRL games per week at a local level. It was a great opportunity for players in our developing regions to play against these sides and learn the tricks of the trade.

Logan were dominant all weekend going through undefeated in the round stage but they were pushed at times and certainly had to play at their best to win most of their games. Wynnum and Penrith played with passion and skill, giving it their all on every play. Not surprisingly they went into the semi-final stage ranked 4 and 2 respectively. For Sunshine Coast, it was a weekend of “what-ifs”. They arguably assembled a Tournament winning roster but a combination of injury and availability (for parts of the Tournament) impacted their ability to form combinations and truly reach their full potential.

Melbourne and Lake Macquarie were competitive and narrowly missed out on the top 4. They will gain a lot of heart from the weekend and obviously use the experience to build towards the Australian Championships in October. Jacob Newton from Melbourne was dynamic all day and Jack Whitling again kept his team in the hunt across the Saturday.

During the semi finals, Logan were able to beat Wynnum Warriors (featured in below image) but did not have it all in this game. Wynnum gave it everything and will take a lot out of the game (for the future). In the other game, Penrith edged out the Sunshine Coast who had they capitalised on an early female try opportunity, may have gone on to win that game. The grand final was an epic affair. Both Logan and Penrith were in an arm wrestle right up until the final whistle – Logan prevailing 1-0.

Men’s

Logan (featured in below image) were again dominant through most of the Saturday but had tough games against Wynnum Warriors and Newcastle Rebels. These two sides played some quality TRL as did the Balmain Sauce who put in a tremendous performance given it was their first TRL experience. The Balmain team is very much ground zero for a newly minted TRL area – Inner West Sydney. Watch these guys in the years to come! The Melbourne and Lake Macquarie teams rounded out the top 6 and at times, both of these sides looked incredibly dangerous in attack.

The semi finals on the Saturday saw some epic showdowns. The Wynnum Warriors v Newcastle Rebels was a great game and the Balmain Sauce gave it to Logan early before the men in purple showed their class and experience in the final stages. The grand final was another timeless classic – Logan v Newcastle. It was locked up at 2-2 for much of the game before a final flurry from Logan saw them run away with it. High quality and exhilarating TRL.

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Individual honours

There were many individual standout performances across the entire competition but two players claimed the ultimate prizes for being crowned best male and female players of the Tournament. The award for best female player went to Logan’s Mystery Kora – Mystery dominating throughout the weekend setting up many tries and saving just as many. The award for best male player went to Ryley Drayton. Remember this name. Ryley individually kept Sunshine Coast in the hunt during many games and his speed and ball-playing ability was second-to-none across the whole weekend.

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That concludes our wrap for the 2023 NSW State Championships. With competitions about to commence in Strathfield, Campbelltown, Shellharbour, Cronulla and South Sydney, the future is incredibly bright for this Event in the years to come.

Thankyou again to our partners and in particular Lake Macquarie Council and EV2 Sportswear.

Tom Longworth