Cessnock gets off to a Magic Start

Round One of the Newcastle Rugby League 2025 Season kicked off this past Saturday and did not disappoint.

For the second year, they provided a magic round, in which all teams played one round at the same venue. The Cessnock Goannas got off to a flying start by convincingly defeating the Wyong Roos 20-10.

The first half was all Cessnock, with the first try of the match coming from the solo efforts
of their Five-Eighth Netane Masima.

However, the second half was anything but. It took quite a while for more points to flow after the break, as it was quite scrum-heavy.
The Cessnock side secured their round one victory with 6 minutes to go with a try from Winger Joe Woodbury.

Wyatt Shaw in action for Cessnock against the Wyong Roos.
Photo by Flow Studios.

My GripStar Player of the Match is Wyatt Shaw (Pictured), not just for his absolute workhorse efforts on the field, but more notably, towards the end of the match, opposing Centre Matt Ikuvalu went down with an ankle injury.
While he hobbled off the field, Wyatt walked over to Matt from the bench once he was off the field to check on his welfare,
which was an incredible display of sportsmanship, proving that Rugby league is more significant than all of us.