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We've kicked off our day two coverage. Make sure you keep coming back to get the latest news from the State Cup.
Saturday 8pm:
PORT Macquarie teams will feature at the pointy end of their home State Cup tournament, with the finals to be played tomorrow.
The men’s over-50s topped the championship division to carry momentum into the finals, while the open men’s did well in the plate division, with an 8-4 win over Taren Point late today.
The women’s 30s beat Nelson Bay 8-1 to come third in its pool.
The open mixed and women’s 20s teams were competitive at times, but have been eliminated from the competition.
Saturday 5.20pm:
NRL star Benji Marshall played with his Wests Magpies open men's teammates but Canterbury certainly weren't over-awed. They beat Benji's boys 6-3.
Marshall and the Magpies will next play on field 1 at 5.55pm.
Saturday 2.45pm
PORT Macquarie’s open women team competed well against Penrith, but went down 6-1.
The team rallied hard the whole match, and made the scoreline look much closer. And it should have been. Simone Smith was unlucky not to have been awarded a try.
The referee said she was tagged before scoring but Port coach Mick McCall thought it should have stood.
“It looked like she was there, for sure,” he said, adding he was still happy with his troops.
“They tried hard,” he said. “Penrith are a very good team. They’re going places quickly.”
Port has an even tougher assignment next up. The team takes on Easts Roosters.
“They’re the Sydney champions,” McCall said.
Earlier this afternoon, the Port Macquarie open men's team beat the Eastern Suburbs 2 side 5-1.
Saturday 12.45pm:
PORT Macquarie suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Ryde Eastwood in the women's 20s division earlier today, but the team really only lost by about two metres.
That was the distance Sinead McNamara had left between her and the tryline, after a length-of-the-field effort. McNamara took an intercept on their own line, but was tagged agonisingly short.
“We were all on our feet cheering her,” Port coach Louise Budnick said.
The team takes on Tamworth, the No.1 seed, at 1.15pm.
Saturday noon:
MANLY Sea-Eagles legend Cliff Lyons says he still goes all right for an old fella. And when you watch him play, that’s definitely true.
Lyons has played State Cup regularly since he retired from rugby league in 1999. He was even playing while still in the NRL.
“It keeps the legs going,” he said.
He played a starring role this morning as in the men’s 45s comp the Manly As beat the B team in the 11-2.
“We could always rely on a Manly victory,” Lyons said.
The As beat Newcastle 6-0 yesterday.
Meanwhile Port Macquarie men's 50s team notched a 5-3 win over arch-rival Penrith this morning. Next up is a game against bogey team, Ballina.
Saturday 11am:
FORMER Cronulla Sharks captain and lock David Hatch answered an SOS from the Moruya team to play in the State Cup in Port Macquarie this year.
Now living at Ulladulla, Hatch got a call to turn out for the Moruya men’s 50s team, and is turning out in the competition for the first time since “about 1994 or 1995.”
The team went down 4-1 to Ryde Eastwood this morning. It lost yesterday’s match too, 4-3 to Wallsend.
“No good so far,” Hatch said. “I don’t think we’ll make the finals.”
Hatch played for the Sharks between 1978 and 1990. The game has changed immensely since then, with the rise of the professional player.
“I’ve been out of the game 20-odd years,” he said. “Back then, blokes used to have to hold down a job and be a player. Now, they’re training about three times a day. We trained two nights per week."
Saturday 10am:
A MIXED start for the Port Macquarie teams this morning. The men's open team went down 4-3 to Nelson Bay, but the women's 30s beat Manly 7-0.