2010 NRL Under-20s season explained

Year:2010
2010 NRL Under-20s season
Teams:16
Count:1st
Mpcount:1st
Wooden Spoon: Parramatta
Wooden Spoon Count:1st
Matches:201
Points:10734
Mvp: Tariq Sims
Mvp Link:Player of the Year
Top Scorer: Aiden Sezer (281)
Top Try Scorer: Drury Low (22)
Prevseason Link:2009
Prevseason Year:2009
Nextseason Link:2011
Nextseason Year:2011

The 2010 NRL Under-20s season was the third season of the National Rugby League's Under 20s competition and was known commercially as the 2010 Toyota Cup due to sponsorship by Toyota. Solely for players under 20 years of age, the draw and structure of the competition mirrored that of the 2010 NRL Telstra Premiership season.

Season summary

Schedule

See also: 2010 NRL Under-20s season results.

Ladder

Finals series

HomeScore AwayMatch Information
width=24%Date and Timewidth=17%Venuewidth=11%Referee
Qualifying Finals
align=left Gold Coast Titans22 - 24align=left South Sydney Rabbitohs10 September 2010, 5:30pmSkilled ParkChris Butler
align=left North Queensland Cowboys46 - 12align=left Sydney Roosters11 September 2010, 4:15pmSydney Football StadiumGavin Reynolds
align=left Canterbury Bulldogs54 - 18align=left Canberra Raiders11 September 2010, 6:15pmCUA StadiumAdam Devcich
align=left New Zealand Warriors25 - 22align=left Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles12 September 2010, 1:45pmWIN Jubilee OvalGavin Morris
Semi-finals
align=left North Queensland Cowboys18 - 22align=left Canberra Raiders17 September 2010, 5:15pmCanberra StadiumGavin Reynolds
align=left Canterbury Bulldogs24 - 22align=left Sydney Roosters18 September 2010, 5:15pmSydney Football StadiumAdam Devcich
Preliminary Finals
align=left New Zealand Warriors23 - 16align=left Canterbury Bulldogs24 September 2010, 5:15pmSuncorp StadiumGavin Reynolds
align=left South Sydney Rabbitohs64 - 18align=left Canberra Raiders25 September 2010, 5:15pmANZ StadiumGavin Morris
Grand Final
align=left South Sydney Rabbitohs28 - 42align=left New Zealand Warriors3 October 2010, 2:15pmANZ StadiumGavin Reynolds

Grand final

South Sydney RabbitohsPositionNew Zealand Warriors
Glen Fisiiahi
James RobertsOmar Slaimankhel
Sosaia Feki
Siuatonga Likiliki
Elijah Niko
Carlos Tuimavave
Shaun Johnson
Neccrom Areaiiti
Nathan Peats (c) Henry Chan Ting
Mark Ioane
Elijah Taylor (c)
Matthew Robinson
Sebastine Ikahihifo
Bench Nafetalai Seluini
Bench Charlie Gubb
Bench Sam Lousi
Bench Daniel Palavi
Coach John Ackland

Three second-half tries in 10 minutes helped the Warriors run all over the Rabbits in Sydney. After holding a slender 12–10 lead at the break, the Warriors turned on the after-burners with halfback Shaun Johnson leading the charge through an impressive kicking and running display.

Though for the first seven minutes after kick off it was a different story, with Souths’ halfback Adam Reynolds getting an early 40/20 and showing his chipping and kicking skills to force the Warriors to line drop out early.

But, despite the early pressure from the Rabbitohs, the Warriors taught them a lesson on how to turn pressure into points and they did so with their first foray into opposition territory.

A Shaun Johnson in-goal grubber was unable to be controlled by South's fullback Malcolm Webster and Elijah Taylor was first on the scene to slap a hand on it. Johnson converted for the Warriors to lead 6–0.

Within seconds, Shaun Johnson was the architect of the Warriors second try, running the ball and offloading with an over-the-top pass for Siuatonga Likiliki to get his 19th try of the season. Johnson converted off the post from wide out for a 12–0 lead.

The Rabbitohs had their chances, held up within the first few minutes of the match and going close but for a knock on in the 20th minute, but struggled to adapt with the big warriors pack able to get 60 metres each set, skillfully followed up by the excellent kicking games of Shaun Johnson and five-eight Carlos Tuimavave.

But the big pack and wide men were caught out in the 27th minute. Souths had a scrum 70 metres out and Reynolds let loose with a kick for his speedsters to chase. Souths 17-year-old flyer James Roberts left all in his dust, nudged it over the line with his foot and fell on the pill. Reynolds converted for 12–6.

The Warriors suddenly looked rattled, kicking out on the full to hand over possession and Souths rubbed salt in a wound when Matt Mundine gave Taioalo Vaivai the space needed to stretch out and score. The conversion missed and the Warriors had a two-point lead, 12–10.

Ten minutes into the second half the Warriors took advantage of a weak Rabbitoh's blindside defence. A Shaun Johnson grubber ended up under the hand of Elijah Taylor for the stand-in captain to score his second try and the kick taking his side out to 18–10.

Two minutes later, Siuatonga Likiliki showed his class to bump off six would-be tacklers, offload to fullback Glen Fisiiahi who stepped inside to score. Johnson kept his perfect record intact and converted again for 24–10.

Then the floodgates opened – if they hadn't already.

Shaun Johnson, the classiest on the park along with Jack Gibson medal winner, Carlos Tuimavave, chipped and regathered then flung the ball out from underneath him to the man-mountain that is Sam Lousi to score. Johnson converted for a 30–10 score line.

Then it was the turn of "The Junior Beast", Elijah Niko, to force his way across the line and Johnson highlighted the total control by once again adding the extras, 36–10.

The Warriors eased, and Rabbitohs' lock Blake Judd and captain Nathan Peats managed to grab two late tries to make the score respectable at 36–22.

But the Warriors were not done, Nafe Seluini accelerating away to slide under the posts. Johnson added his seventh conversion from as many attempts for 42–22.

The match was well over when big Jack Tulemau added a consolation try in the final minutes for Souths.[1]


New Zealand Warriors 42 (Elijah Taylor 2, Siuatonga Likiliki, Glen Fisiiahi, Sam Lousi, Elijah Niko, Nafetalai Seluini tries; Shaun Johnson 7/7 goals)

South Sydney Rabbitohs 28 (James Roberts, Taioalo Vaivai, Blake Judd, Nathan Peats, Jack Tulemau tries; Adam Reynolds 4/5 goals)

Half-Time: New Zealand 12-10

Jack Gibson Medal: Carlos Tuimavave

Player statistics

Leading try scorers

Top 10 try scorers
PosNameTriesTeam
1Drury Low22 Canberra
2=Glen Fisiiahi20 New Zealand
2=Mark Kheirallah20 Sydney
2=Siuatonga Likiliki20 New Zealand
5Taioalo Vaivai19 South Sydney
6=Ryan Tongia18 Gold Coast
6=Wayne Ulugia18 North Queensland
8=Kalifa Fai-Fai Loa17 St. George Illawarra
8=Nathan Massey17 Canterbury
10=Nehe Millner-Skudder16 Canterbury
10=Hayden Hodge16 Canberra
10=James Segeyaro16 North Queensland
10=Sam Williams16 Canberra

Most tries in a game

Top 5 most tries in a game
width=20 abbr="Position" width=125 Playerwidth=150 Teamwidth=150 Opponentwidth=20 Roundwidth=20 Tries
1=Dale Copley Brisbane Sydney44
1=Nathan Gardner Cronulla South Sydney34
1=Mark Kheirallah Sydney Melbourne144
1=James Roberts South Sydney CanberraPF4
1=Omar Slaimankhel New Zealand Manly-Warringah244
1=Ryan Tongia Gold Coast Manly-Warringah144
1=Taioalo Vaivai South Sydney Canterbury44

Leading point scorers

Top 10 overall point scorers
width=20 abbr="Position" width=125 Playerwidth=150 Teamwidth=20 Twidth=20 Gwidth=20 FGwidth=20 Pts
1Aiden Sezer Canterbury121201289
2Adam Reynolds South Sydney13108-268
3Chris Medcalf Canberra11107-258
4Kyle Feldt North Queensland1586-232
5Brad Murray Sydney31023219
6Josh Jerome Melbourne972-180
7Dane Gagai Brisbane1363-178
8Jordan Rankin Gold Coast6741173
9Shaun Johnson New Zealand7695171
10Jake Mullaney Wests Tigers1350-152

Most points in a game

Top 5 most points in a game
width=20 abbr="Position" width=125 Playerwidth=150 Teamwidth=150 Opponentwidth=20 Roundwidth=20 Trieswidth=20 Goalswidth=20 Points
1=Adam Reynolds South Sydney CanberraPF11024
1=Aiden Sezer Canterbury Penrith113624
1=Aiden Sezer Canterbury Canberra232824
4=Dane Gagai Brisbane Parramatta232722
4=Beau Henry St. George Illawarra Melbourne42722
4=Jake Mullaney Wests Tigers Canberra43522
4=Jake Mullaney Wests Tigers Penrith72722
4=Brad Murray Sydney St. George Illawarra71922

Leading goal scorers

Top 10 goal scorers
PosNameGoalsTeam
1Aiden Sezer120 Canterbury
2Adam Reynolds108 South Sydney
3Chris Medcalf107 Canberra
4Brad Murray102 Sydney
5Kyle Feldt86 North Queensland
6Jordan Rankin74 Gold Coast
7Josh Jerome72 Melbourne
8Shaun Johnson69 New Zealand
9Dane Gagai63 Brisbane
10Chad Townsend55 Cronulla

Most goals in a game

Top 5 most goals in a game
width=20 abbr="Position" width=125 Playerwidth=150 Teamwidth=150 Opponentwidth=20 Roundwidth=20 Goals
1=Brad Murray Sydney Melbourne1410
1=Adam Reynolds South Sydney CanberraPF10
3Brad Murray Sydney St. George Illawarra79
4=Dave Farkas Penrith Newcastle138
4=Jake Mullaney Wests Tigers Parramatta38
4=Jordan Rankin Gold Coast Canberra138
4=Adam Reynolds South Sydney Melbourne168
4=Aiden Sezer Canterbury Canberra238
4=Aiden Sezer Canterbury Penrith258

Leading field goal scorers

Top 10 field goal scorers
PosNameTeamField Goals
1Shaun Johnson New Zealand5
2=Matt Mundine South Sydney3
2=Brad Murray Sydney3
4=Sam Williams Canberra2
4=Chad Townsend Cronulla2

Club statistics

Biggest Wins

Top 10 biggest winning margins
PosWinning TeamLosing TeamRoundScoreMargin
1 Melbourne Newcastle262-1052
2= Canterbury Canberra2360-1248
2= Sydney Melbourne1460-1248
4= Gold Coast Parramatta2246-046
4= New Zealand Penrith656-1046
4= New Zealand Parramatta2652-646
4= South Sydney CanberraPF64-1846
8 Manly-Warringah Gold Coast750-644
9= Canterbury North Queensland2450-1040
9= North Queensland Gold Coast448-840

Winning Streaks

width=10px bgcolor="#ffcccc"Winning streak still active
Top 5 longest winning streaks
PosTeamFirst WinRoundLast WinRoundGames Won
1= New Zealand28-26 vs Newcastle23Current Streak-7
1= South Sydney16-14 vs Wests Tigers2264-18 vs CanberraPF7
1= Wests Tigers56-24 vs Parramatta324-13 vs South Sydney107
4= Canterbury30-26 vs Manly-Warringah1625-12 vs South Sydney216
4= Canterbury60-18 vs Canberra2324-22 vs SydneySF6
4= Gold Coast52-24 vs Canberra1336-30 vs Brisbane196
4= New Zealand18-10 vs Sydney1630-14 vs Gold Coast216

Losing Streaks

width=10px bgcolor="#ffcccc"Losing streak still active
Top 5 longest losing streaks
PosTeamFirst LossRoundLast LossRoundGames Lost
1 Parramatta16-32 vs Manly-Warringah220-34 vs Newcastle1512
2 Penrith10-38 vs New Zealand1840-48 vs Canterbury258
3= Brisbane28-36 vs South Sydney1422-36 vs Sydney207
3= Parramatta28-30 vs Canterbury20Current Streak-7
5= Melbourne18-42 vs Manly-Warringah616-46 vs Canterbury126
5= Penrith5-38 vs North Queensland216-42 vs Wests Tigers76

2010 in rugby league

Awards

Player of the Year

The winner of the award is decided by the most votes during the year as decided by the referee of each game on a 3-2-1 basis for each game played throughout the regular season.

Winner:

Tariq Sims, Brisbane

Team Of The Year

Voted on by the 16 Toyota Cup coaches, with the players with the highest votes in each position selected.

2010 Team Of The Year
PositionNameTeam
FBDane Gagai Brisbane
WGKalifa Fai-Fai Loa St. George Illawarra
CTDylan Farrell South Sydney
CTSiuatonga Likiliki New Zealand
WGJosh Mansour South Sydney
FEAiden Sezer Canterbury
HBSam Williams Canberra
FRTariq Sims Brisbane
HKJames Segeyaro North Queensland
FRAndrew Clayton Brisbane
SRRyan James Gold Coast
SRSam Mataora Canberra
LKEthan Cook Newcastle
IntBrad Murray Sydney
IntDale Finucane Canterbury
IntMatt Hyland Wests Tigers
IntLama Tasi Manly-Warringah
CoachAndrew Patmore Canterbury

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Junior Warriors win Toyota Cup grand final. 3News. 2010-10-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20120929003124/http://www.3news.co.nz/Junior-Warriors-win-Toyota-Cup-grand-final/tabid/415/articleID/179443/Default.aspx. 2012-09-29. dead.