Port Macquarie Sharks sink Taree City in Group 3 season opener

The Sharks' scoring efforts were led by Wil Rosenbaum, William Ramsey, and Malachi Joseph, who all crossed over for tries. Corey Lewis contributed with the boot through a conversion and penalty goal.

The game, played in Port Macquarie on Sunday, April 28, was largely won by the Sharks' defence, according to Sharks coach Mat Hogan.

"I was pleased with our defensive effort, holding Taree to just one try," he said. "It was a bit of a scrappy game, but I was expecting that with it being the first game of the season.

"We spoke about our defence a lot throughout the week, so I was happy to see the team execute it on Sunday."

Hogan said that one area in need of fine-tuning was their attacking efforts and combinations.

"We had nine new players in the team on the weekend, and that's where I thought we were a bit clunky," he said. "We were trying to sort out our combinations during the game, and I think that still needs to click.

"But that will come with more time and experience as the season goes on.

"I think we will try to fix those little areas in attack before we go again next weekend."

The Sharks will be boosted in the coming weeks by the return of key players such as Mitchell Wilbow, Scott Grant, and Mitchell Smith, who are all set to rejoin the squad.

"They will strengthen our team when they return," Hogan said.

The Sharks also saw success in other grades, with wins in League Tag, under-18's, and reserve grade. They also debuted their first tackle team in the Mid North Coast women's Rugby League competition, marking a positive step for the club.

Hogan said he was pleased to see a large crowd attend the games on Sunday.

"We certainly didn't expect the crowd to be as big as it was on Sunday, but it just showed how eager the town was to have rugby league back and see our team kick off."