Leeton pulls off surprise to start season as City and Aggies score big wins

Looking to complete their first season in the top grade since 2019, the Phantoms didn't even let low numbers let them get off to a shaky start.

Instead they put the competition on notice with a 32-20 win over Waratahs at Conolly Rugby Complex.

Even with a number of players backing up from second grade, the Phantoms had too much fire power for Waratahs.

Mesulame Navakaya opened the scoring with the first of his three tries to put Leeton in front and they were never headed.

President Stuart Stout was thrilled with their performance after making the trip to Wagga with less than 30 players.

"The boys have been training really hard, they've been training three times a week, most on Tuesday and Thursday and then another group of night workers who come in on Saturday, so they've really showed commitment to the start of the season," Stout said.

"Even today with a number of people backing up against the Waratahs was awesome.

"Not having everyone fresh for first grade, with people having to play two games, and still getting away with a really great victory is absolutely awesome for our club."

Leeton jumped out to a 15-3 lead before Lachlan Condon scored Waratahs' first try.

However Leeton kept captialising on mistakes from the premiers, including Eminoni Tabuaura completing a length of the field try off line out infringement.

Warataths kept fighting with tries to new recruits Niko Tawake and Aiden Sauer closing the gap to seven points with around six minutes left to play.

However Waratahs made a mistake of the restart before Navakaya scored his third to seal the win.

He was just one who impressed Stout.

"He's just a powerful player and a powerful runner," Stout said.

"Everyone is looking at what he is doing and it feeds to the others."

It was far from an ideal start to their premiership difference however Waratahs coach Nick McCarthy

"We probably set a few simple goals this week and didn't really achieve any of them," McCarthy said.

"From my point of view I probably got our tactics wrong early in the game with kicking as we expected some we weather, so I have to wear that on the chin, but when he did start getting the game going we found some good phases.

"When we could hold the ball we looked quite dangerous but I just think our energy was a bit down today.

"It may be a bit of a reflection of last year's premiership but it's round one and we'll tidy it up, get on the video and work out how we need to get better."

Waratahs will be looking to hit back when they host Albury at Conolly Rugby Complex on Saturday while the Phantoms are on the road again to tackle Reddies.

A big delay didn't stop Ag College from keeping Reddies scoreless to start the season.

After taking a 26-0 lead into half-time at Beres Ellwood Oval on Saturday, Aggies only scored one more try in the second half.

Coach Tom Lamond admitted his side struggled to regain momentum after the clash was stopped for Reddies prop Jonathon Cudaj waited on treatment from paramedics on a suspected neck injury after a scrum.

Regardless of their second half, Lamond was pleased to start the season on a positive note.

"It was cracking as we always have two goals going into every game - that's scoring four tries to get a bonus point and keeping the other team to zero," Lamond said.

"Ticking them both off today was a huge start for the season."

Reddies will not only be sweating on Cudaj but also have replacement player Aiden Carl off to the judiciary.

Carl was given a red card in the dying minutes of the game after reacting to a tackle from Mitch Pattingale, which resulted in a yellow card.

It's the first time Ag College have scored a win in the opening round since Lamond joined the club four years ago.

Wagga City got their campaign off to a fast start with a big win over Tumut at Jarrah Oval on Saturday.

Despite their Port Macquarie 10s success being their only type of pre-season hit out, the Boiled Lollies always looked in control.

While they had Noa Rabici and Mikaera Smylie yellow carded at various stages, Wagga City were able to score a 37-10 victory.

They shared things around too with seven different tryscorers.

Meanwhile a Jisharn Harrison penalty goal with around 17 minutes to play was all that separated Griffith and Albury at Exies Oval on Saturday.

Reuben Sarkis opened the scoring for the Steamers however the Blacks hit back with a try to new Brothers recruit Apensia Driti.

Harrison then kicked truly for Griffith to take a 10-7 victory.