Jets make it six wins in a row and now head into a sudden-death semi-final.

Match Report:

Newtown made it six wins in a row with a swashbuckling 50-16 win over Parramatta in the final competition round of the 2026 Knock-On NSW Cup, played at Kellyville last Sunday.

The Jets had to contend with an unusual kick-off time and also deal with an Eels team determined to turn on a good performance for their last game of the season.

Liam Ison joins these supporters in a photo opportunity.

Big Braden Uele opened the proceedings for Newtown in the sixth minute, followed by a try to Chris Vea’ila two minutes later. Kristian Dixon converted both tries for Newtown to lead 12-0.

The Jets fielded a very strong interchange bench for this match – Tuku Hau Tapuha, Brad Fearnley, Sam McCulloch and Felix Faatili represented a lot of firepower, interchanging with the likes of Braden Uele and Toby Rudolf. Hohepa “Hep” Puru was also available for this match and he made a big impact playing at lock forward. Parramatta was captained by the vastly experienced Jack De Belin who has 269 NRL games under his belt. 

Braden Uele on his way to scoring Newtown’s first try last Sunday.

In the 14th minute an effective raid was mounted up Newtown’s left side involving Taj Ford, Liam Ison and Chris Vea’ila, who sent Sam Stonestreet over to score.

Chris Vea’ila was sin-binned in the 20th minute for what the referee considered to be repeated off-side infringements. While Vea’ila was off the field, Kristian Dixon powered his way over in the corner and then converted his own try from the sideline.

The flying Sam Stonestreet is in the clear as he heads towards the try-line.

“Hep” Puru scored what was probably the try of the match when he and Taj Ford exchanged passes at top speed over about 50 metres. The BarTV commentary team was particularly impressed with the pace and precision of this try. The Jets “awesome foursome” involving the rotation of the four big front-rowers – Uele, Rudolf, Fearnley and Tuku Hau Tapuha – proved to be very effective in dominating the midfield and making big metres.

Hohepa Puru breaks clear to score what was the try of the match.

The Eels went close to scoring right on half-time, but Newtown took an imposing 28-0 lead into the break.

Both teams made a lot of handling errors in the second half and recorded relatively poor completion rates for the match. Parramatta put themselves on the score-board early in the second half.

The dashing Sam Stonestreet, who frequently gets on the try-scoring sheets when he pulls on the royal blue jersey, carried two Eels defenders across the line when he scored in the corner in the 54th minute. Dixon converted from wide out, and by this stage the Jets had run up an impregnable 34-4 lead.

Kristian Dixon (number 2) is airborne after scoring for Newtown last Sunday.

Midway through the second half, Taj Ford and Felix Faatili ( very much one of the in-form forwards of the NSW Cup) combined to send Tuku Hau Tapuha crashing over next to the posts, with Dixon’s conversion extending Newtown’s lead out to 40-4.

The Eels hit back with a converted try, but the scheming Jayden Berrell scored yet another of his trademark “grubber-kick from dummy-half” tries. Dixon’s conversion attempt smacked hard into an upright and bounced away, with Newtown’s lead now increased to 44-10.

Jayden Berrell is always popular with Jets supporters seeking photo opportunities.

Parra added one more converted try to round out their season, but the wily Jets halfback Khaled Rajab had the last word by way of a slick dummying try next to the posts one minute before fulltime. Dixon’s seventh conversion took Newtown’s winning margin out to 50-16.

Surprisingly, the BarTV viewers poll man of the match was a Parramatta player, despite Newtown’s overpowering dominance on the day.

Khaled Rajab leaves the Parramatta defence standing as he darts over for Newtown’s final try on Sunday.

Newtown’s forwards had paved the way for this resounding victory, with the constant “heavy artillery” rolling through the middle and proving to be just too much for the Blue and Golds. Taj Ford, Liam Ison, Chris Vea’ila, Kristian Dixon and Sam Stonestreet had been the best of the Jets backs.

Sam McCulloch takes the field against the Parramatta Eels.

The Newtown Jets now advance into the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup elimination semi-final against the New Zealand Warriors (the 2025 NSW Cup premiers), to be played at the St George Venues Jubilee Stadium, Kogarah on Saturday, 5th September at 1.00pm.

The Jets’ hopes for a third place finish (and the double-chance in the semi-finals) had been thwarted when the Newcastle Knights salvaged a late 10-all draw with “The Wahs” in Auckland last Sunday.

Former Eel Nathan Hindmarsh was spotted in the grandstand.

Match Details: -

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup

Round 26

Sunday, 30th August 2026

James Hardie Centre of Excellence Complex, Kellyville

Parramatta v Newtown

Kick-Off: 12 noon.

Weather: Sunny, cloudless sky. 19 degrees, very little breeze.

Playing surface: Excellent

Match Officials:
Referee: Daniel Luttringer

Touch Judges: William Greatbatch, Isaac El-Hassan

Standby: Jake Walsh.

Newtown was already assured of a place in the NSW Cup top five but needed the New Zealand Warriors to defeat the Newcastle Knights for the Jets to move on up into third position (and to a semi-finals double-chance).

The Warriors and the Knights drew 10-all, so Newtown has finished in fourth place and will now play the 5th placed Warriors in the elimination semi-final next Saturday (match details below).

Match Result: -

Newtown 50:
Sam Stonestreet 2, Braden Uele, Chris Vea’ila,

Kristian Dixon, Hohepa Puru, Tuku Hau Tapuha,

Jayden Berrell, Khaled Rajab tries;

Kristian Dixon 7 conversions

defeated

Parramatta 16:
Jordan Hill, Tyrese Lokeni, Devonte Vaivela tries;

Lincoln Fletcher 2 conversions.

Half-Time: Newtown led 28-0.

The teams were: -

Newtown:
Fullback: Liam Ison (Captain)

Wingers: Kristian Dixon, Sam Stonestreet

Centres: Chris Vea’ila, Joe Nadenic

Halves: Taj Ford, Khaled Rajab

Lock: Hohepa Puru

Second-Rowers: Harrison Hassett, Blake Hosking

Front-Rowers: Braden Uele, Toby Rudolf

Hooker: Jayden Berrell

Interchange:
Tuku Hau Tapuha, Brad Fearnley

Sam McCulloch, Felix Faatili

Reserve: Kobie Wilson

Blue Shirt Trainer: Tom Haberecht

Yellow Shirt Trainer: Brett Kaplan

Orange Shirt Trainer: Chris Moubarak
Game Day Doctor: Dr Daryl Wong

Coach: George Ndaira

Parramatta:
Fullback: Nathan Howlett

Wingers: Devonte Vaivela, Jordan Hill

Centres: Siamani Leuluai, Harley Walker

Halves: Lorenzo Talataina, Lincoln Fletcher

Lock: Jack De Belin (Captain)

Second-Rowers: Tyrese Lokeni, Jezaiah Funa

Front-Rowers: Kruz Niutili-Schmidt, Elijah-Shane Tapau

Bruce Ward, Chris Petrus

Reserve: Meni Luke

Blue Shirt Trainer: Ray Daher

Yellow Shirt Trainer: Mike Williams

Orange Shirt Trainer: Ben Trevor Jones

Game Day Doctor: TBA
Coach: Nathan Cayless

Match Timeline: -

First Half:
Parramatta kicked off to the southern end of the ground.

4th minute: Braden Uele try.

Converted by Kristian Dixon. Newtown 6-0.

7th minute: Chris Vea’ila try.

Converted by Kristian Dixon. Newtown 12-0.

14th minute: Sam Stonestreet try.

Not converted. Newtown 16-0.

20th minute: Chris Vea’ila (Newtown) in the sin bin.

28th minute: Kristian Dixon try.

Converted by Kristian Dixon. Newtown 22-0.

32nd minute: Hohepa Puru try.

Converted by Kristian Dixon. Newtown 28-0.

Half-Time: Newtown led by 28-0.

Second Half: -

Newtown kicked off to the southern end.

42nd minute: Jordan Hill (Parramatta) try.

Not converted. Newtown 28-4.

53rd minute: Sam Stonestreet try.

Converted by Kristian Dixon. Newtown 34-4.

57th minute: Tuku Hau Tapuha try.

Converted by Kristian Dixon. Newtown 40-4.

62nd minute: Tyrese Lokeni (Parramatta) try.

Converted by Lincoln Fletcher. Newtown 40-10.

66th minute: Jayden Berrell try.

Not converted. Newtown 44-10.

73rd minute: Devonte Vaivela (Parramatta) try.

Converted by Lincoln Fletcher. Newtown 44-16.

78th minute: Khaled Rajab try.

Converted by Kristian Dixon. Newtown 50-16.

Full-Time: Newtown 50 defeated Parramatta 16.

Toby Rudolf (left) and Hohepa Puru deal with this Parramatta centre.

Match Statistics: -

Top performing players:

Most Tackles: Harrison Hassett (Newtown): 30 tackles

Most Run Metres: Sam Stonestreet (Newtown): 169 metres

Most Line Breaks: Sam Stonestreet: 2 line breaks

Team Statistics:
Newtown (N); Parramatta (P)

Possession: P 46%; N 54%

Time in possession: P 16.41; N 19.41

Completion rate: P 63% (21/33); N 63% (23/36)

All runs: P 130; N 138

All run metres: P 909; N 1377

Post-contact metres: P 323; N 461

Line breaks: P 3; N 8

Tackle breaks: P 5; N 28

Average set distance: P 27.55; N 38.27

Kick return metres: P 44; N 181

Average PTB speed: P 3.3; N 3.4

Offloads: P 4; N 12

Receipts: P 307; N 336

Total passes: P 188; N 192

Dummy passes: P 3; N 7

Kicks: P 9; N 11

Kicking metres: P 332; N 225

Forced drop outs: P 2; N 0

Kick defusal: P 75%; N 67%

Bombs: P 1; N 4

Grubbers: P 0; N 4

Effective tackles: P 84.88%; N 94.89%

Tackles made: P 247; N 223

Missed tackles: P 28; N 5

Intercepts: P 1; N 0

Ineffective tackles: P 16; N 7

Errors: P 13; N 12

Penalties conceded: P 2; N 8

Ruck infringements: P 1; N 1

Inside 10 metres: P 1; N 2

On reports: P 0; N 1

Sin Bins: P 0; N 1

Interchanges: P 7; N 7.

Newtown’s next match details:
NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup

Elimination Semi-Final

Saturday, 5th September 2026

St George Venues Jubilee Stadium, Kogarah

Newtown (4th place) v New Zealand Warriors (5th place)

Kick-Off: 1.00pm.

Previous games against the NZ Warriors in 2026:
4th April at Henson Park: NZ Warriors 26 defeated Newtown 24;

13th June at Go Media Stadium, Mt Smart: NZ Warriors 30 defeated Newtown 22.