Junior Rep draws released
The NSWRL have released 2022 season draws for the under -17 Matthews Cup, under-19 SG Ball and under 19’s women’s Tarsha Gale competitions.
Kicking off on February 5, the three Sharks teams have drawn difficult assignments in round one matches, with the two boys outfits to tackle the Illawarra Steelers at PointsBet Stadium, while the Tarsha Gale girls get their season underway with a game at home against the defending champions the Dragons.
The Matthews and Ball Sharks, who are both well and truly into their pre-season preparations, will be looking to improve on disappointing season’s in 2021, where for the first time in a number of years both failed to qualify for the competition finals.
For the SG Ball Sharks, their first up clash is against the runners up from 2021, with the Steelers losing the Grand Final 18-14 to the Canberra Raiders earlier this year.
Such is the quality of the under-19 competition, two Steelers players in Junior Amone and Tyrell Sloan were promoted to the Dragons full time squad where they made their NRL debuts later in the year.
A handful of Cronulla players from the 2021 SG Ball team, including Kade Dykes, Sam Stonestreet, Ryan Rivett, Jordan Samrani and Joshua Finau, are currently training with the Sharks NRL squad.
In the Matthews Cup, the Manly Sea Eagles were successful in taking out the under-17's title in 2021, beating the Parramatta Eels in the Grand Final.
The Matthews Cup and SG Ball Sharks have home games against the Steelers (rnd 1), Dragons (rnd 5), Sea Eagles (rnd 6) and the Raiders (rnd 7), with all matches scheduled for PointsBet Stadium.
They both have round three byes.
In relation to the Tarsha Gale Cup, the Sharks have a challenging opening round match when they play the Dragons at PointsBet Stadium.
The Sharks under-19 girls were sixth in 2021, before bowing out in week one of the Finals to the Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy side.
The Tarsha Gale Cup competition has expanded from nine to 12 teams in 2022.
The finals of all three competitions will commence on the weekend of April 16.
For the complete draws for the three NSWRL Junior Representative competitions, go to the below links.
Matthews Cup – CLICK HERE
SG Ball – CLICK HERE
Tarsha Gale Cup – CLICK HERE
NOTE: The Sharks will be playing their first trial matches this Friday night, against Souths at Mascot Oval, with the Matthews Cup trial kicking off at 5.30pm, the SG Ball match to follow at 7.00pm.
