Newcastle Rugby League: Central face 'nervous wait' for Randall Briggs as Macquarie marches onwards in finals series

The Butchers Boys had a 10-game unbeaten streak snapped in Saturday's qualifying semi at St John Oval, going down 36-18 to the Scorpions who are now one win away from the 2022 decider.

At one stage the hosts were reduced to 11 men with separate incidents either side of half-time, Briggs given his marching orders before playmaker Luke Walsh spent 10 minutes in the sin bin.

Central coach Phil Williams said Briggs was "very remorseful" with charges from the match review committee expected early this week.

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The Butchers Boys, who finished second on the ladder and last lost on May 28, now play Cessnock in the minor semi-final at Townson Oval on Sunday.

"It doesn't just happen, you've got to work for it. We need to move on, lick our wounds and turn up again," Williams said.

Macquarie, who jagged third spot in the last round based on for-and-against, now tackle the top-ranked Pickers in the major semi-final at Maitland Sportsground on Saturday.

The last time the Scorpions featured in the play-offs was 2017 when they broke a long-standing title drought from Toronto's maiden success in 1991.

Macquarie missed finals in both 2018 and 2019, took a year off during COVID in 2020 and were on track to make last year's top five before the competition was abandoned because of the global pandemic.

Dean Morris nabbed a double while Jordy Mitchell, Bayden Searle, Kurt Aldridge and Joe Woodbury also crossed for the visitors.

Kerrod Holland kicked all six conversion attempts but missed penalty shots at either end of the encounter.

Macquarie, who have injury concerns with Kyle Kingston and Matt Moon, led 18-6 when Central lost Briggs just prior to the main break.

The Butcher Boys rallied via back-to-back tries from Cameron Anderson and Dom Murphy, equalising on the hour mark before the Scorpions piled on 18 unanswered points in the last quarter.

Central also had Warren Schillings put on report late in proceedings while Junior Roqica went off during the first half.

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