Update
The Newcastle Rugby League has postponed Saturday’s game between Central Newcastle and Macquarie amid ongoing concerns about the health of Butcher Boys prop Jake Finn.
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Earlier
MACQUARIE Scorpions will host the Newcastle Rugby League’s co-competition leaders Central Newcastle at Lyall Peacock Field on Saturday.
Last Saturday, the Scorpions travelled to Cessnock and defeated the Goannas 20-10 after leading 10-nil at halftime.
That win followed the Scorpions’ come-from-behind 18-14 victory against co-competition leaders Western Suburbs in Round 4, in the traditional Old Boys encounter at Toronto.
Macqarie football secretary Stephen Woodbridge said the back-to-back wins had consolidated the Scorpions’ spot at third on the competition ladder.
“And that is with a game in hand against South Newcastle which was deferred as a result of the Scorpions playing in the NSW Challenge Cup final,” Woodbridge said.
Macquarie coach Adam Bettridge said the win over Cessnock was hard earned.
To come away with the two points was very pleasing as Cessnock will win more games than they lose up there.
- - Adam Bettridge
“I was extremely happy with the way we defended against Cessnock who, although at the bottom of the competition, have a very strong side and are very hard to beat up at Cessnock,” Bettridge said.
“To come away with the two points was very pleasing as Cessnock will win more games than they lose up there.”
Bettridge said Mitch Manson was very strong and safe at fullback, Scott Briggs was impressive again, and Nathan Hinton continued to improve in every game.
“Nathan will be very good for us as the season progresses,” Bettridge said.
“It is also very pleasing for our reserve grade side to be undefeated after four rounds of the competition and shows that we have depth in the club to cover injuries which is very important later in the year when injuries start to impact on the playing roster.”
Bettridge said this Saturday’s clash against Central Newcastle would be a test for his men.
“Although Central went down 30-14 to Wests last week, they have been the competition front runners. They will be very tough on Saturday as they will want to put the loss to Wests behind them,” Bettridge said.
The action starts on Saturday at 11am with the Ladies League Tag.
That game will be followed by the under-19s and reserve grade, with first grade to start at 3pm.
In other Round 5 results, a South Newcastle field goal was trumped by a Kurri Kurri penalty in the dying stages. The Bulldogs beat the defending premiers 24-23.
And Maitland defeated Lakes 40-1 at Maitland Showground.
In rep matches, Newcastle Rebels played North Coast at Cessnock on Saturday with the under-23s squad progressing to round three of the NSW Country Championships with a 50-18 win, while the ladies league tag team were eliminated by a 20-10 loss.
LADDER: Wests, Central 8, Macquarie 6, Maitland, Kurri, Lakes 4, Souths 2, Cessnock 0.