Stingrays secure consecutive wins for first time this season in dominant showing against Jets

Tallon Smith

Stingrays of Shellharbour secured consecutive wins for the first time this season with a dominant 62-10 victory over the Nowra-Bomaderry Jets at the Bomaderry Sports Complex on Sunday.

The ‘Rays ran in 11 tries to two in another sublime away performance, backing up their last start 36-point win over Jamberoo, which snapped a two game losing streak previous to that.

Stingrays co-coach Mathew Burke said his team brought its a-game for the tough road trip, with a focus on completing sets and playing the field position game ultimately rewarding the side with two competition points.

“We knew it was going to be tough down there, but we showed up today and we were pretty good,” he said.

“[We] completed at about 80 [to] 85 percent in both halves and we kicked well, and we just kept the pressure on them, we didn’t take the foot off the throat.”

Winger Dylan Hardy opened the scoring for the Stingrays following a shift off a scrum eight minutes in, with Jake Stig backing up hooker Trey Barlow to double the advantage to 12-0 soon after.

That start triggered a further four Stingrays tries, with Dom Stephens crossing in the 22nd minute, before Stig and Hardy added second tries to bookend a four-pointer to Jalal Bazzaz, opening up a 34-0 half time lead.

The Jets hit back in the second half when Keagan Solberg raced away to score seven minutes after the break, but normal transmission resumed ten minutes later when Te Umuariki Heremia-Tukere opened the floodgates again, with the Stingrays racing in four more tries for an emphatic 52-point victory.

The Stingrays endured a tough start to the season, facing the top three sides from last year in the opening three rounds (Photo: Tallon Smith)

After a 2-3 start to the season through the opening five rounds, the Stingrays have bounced back into form with wins over two mid-table sides in the Jets and Superoos to get back into positive win-loss territory.

When asked about the slow start, Burke said he wasn’t overly concerned with the side’s performance in the early rounds, given that the club drew last year’s top three teams in the first three weeks.

“We knew the first couple of rounds we were playing the defending premiers and the grand finalists as well, so we knew those first couple of rounds were going to be tough, we just needed to get through them and keep pushing,” he said.

“Jamberoo last week was a great win and again the completion rate was what has turned it around for us.

“Against them top sides we were completing at about 60 percent, now we are up around 80-85, so a lot less tackling and a lot more ball in hand, so it has been heaps better.”

As for who impressed him the most in Sunday’s game, Burke said a number of players put in solid efforts, but he couldn’t go past one of the side’s front rowers.

“Jalal Bazzaz, our front rower, was immense for us, ran for a lot of metres, [and had a] few line breaks,” he said.

“Our halves steered us around, Jake Horton had a good day, he scored two tries, [and] Jake Stig has gone from the halves to fullback, he scored three today, he also kicked nine from 11.”

Looking at other results from around Group 7 this weekend, other Sunday action saw Kiama end Berry’s two game winning streak with a 48-6 victory at the Kiama Showground, while Albion Park-Oak Flats kept its unbeaten record intact with a 60-0 win over Warilla.

Earlier, Saturday’s games saw the Gerringong Lions bounce back from last week’s loss to Albion Park with a 26-6 win over Jamberoo, while the Shellharbour Sharks held Milton-Ulladulla scoreless in a 28-0 shutout.

Former NSW centre Roberts signs with Gorillas

Meanwhile, in breaking news this evening, former NSW centre James Roberts has been announced as a mid-season signing for the Warilla-Lake South Gorillas.

The speedster played 168 games across an 11-season career with Souths, Penrith, Gold Coast, Brisbane and the Wests Tigers, and represented the Blues in all three games of the famous 2018 series, in which a young NSW team prevailed in games one and two to end Queensland’s run of 11 series wins in 12 years.

Roberts provides a much needed boost to the club, which sits last on the competition table, winless after seven rounds following its return to the first grade competition this year.

A date for his club debut has not been confirmed as of yet, with the club set to face Jamberoo at home this Sunday.