The Newtown Jets make a triumphant return to Allianz Stadium.
Match Report:
The Newtown Jets made a triumphant return to Allianz Stadium (formerly known as the Sydney Football Stadium) last Sunday afternoon, a venue that they had not graced since the 19th July 2014.
The Jets defeated the Sydney Roosters by 30-12 in this 2026 NSW Cup Round 16 fixture, after leading 20-0 at half-time. Newtown was made to work hard for this victory, even though the Jets had built up a match-winning lead midway through the second half, and that the Roosters had scored their two tries in the last five minutes of the game.
Giant Newtown Jets prop Tuku Hau Tapuha on the charge.
Newtown fielded a strong team against the Roosters, boosted by the availability of hooker Jayden Berrell and front-rower Tuku Hau Tapuha and Sam Stonestreet on the wing.
The upgrading and modernisation of the new-look Allianz Stadium in comparison to the former Sydney Football Stadium (which itself was only opened in January 1988) is quite astounding. It certainly was the type of venue that the Jets wanted to make a real statement in, by playing in a curtain-raiser here.
Tough Newtown middle forward Brad Fearnley is right in the thick of the action.
Back in July 2014, Newtown had made somewhat of a statement in their curtain-raiser at the Sydney Football Stadium against the top of the table Penrith. The Jets trailed by 30-6 fifteen minutes into the second half, and then stormed home to win by 31-30 with a Scott Dureau field goal in the dying moments of what was an amazing match.
The Jets made a great start on Sunday by way of a slickly executed try in the 4th minute, with winger Kristian Dixon crossing untouched in the south-west corner. Newtown had quickly taken advantage of a Roosters error at their own end of the field. Riley Pollard’s conversion from the sideline gave Newtown an early 6-0 lead.
Kristian Dixon and Jaxon Lavender have grounded this Roosters player.
The Jets were over again in the 9th minute, with lead-up work by Sam Stonestreet, Jayden Berrell, Taj Ford and Riley Pollard sending Riley Jones over, with this try not being converted.
Newtown spent considerable time in the Roosters territory in the first half and were energised by receiving several penalties at the Tricolours end of the field. The Roosters might have been on the rack at this stage but they defended resolutely and the Jets did not score in this period of the first half.
Indeed, the flow of the game swung to the Roosters when they had an extended spell in possession deep in Newtown’s territory. Riley Jones made a superb tackle in the north-western corner that prevented a Roosters try.
Riley Jones after scoring for Newtown in the first half.
Newtown’s playmakers got to work late in the first half when Taj Ford put Sam Stonestreet over in the south-east corner, after there had been top-class lead-up work by Jayden Berrell and the two young props Sam McCulloch and Felix Faatili.
Close to half-time, Stonestreet caught a high kick and flicked a good pass to centre Michael Gabrael who scored wide out. Pollard converted for Newtown to lead at half-time by 20-0.
The strong cohort of Jets supporters in attendance at Allianz Stadium would have been pleased with the 20-0 lead, but no doubt would have recalled the Roosters running down big Newtown leads in matches between the two NSWRL 1908 foundation clubs in recent years.
The Jets had the added spur of knowing that a loss in this game would have seen them drop out of the NSW Cup top five.
Sam Stonestreet running with the ball.
Taj Ford went close to scoring in the 49th minute, and the referee’s denial of the try brought on this forthright aside from the BarTV commentator: “It looked like a fair try for all money.”
The classy duo of Berrell and Ford combined to send Gabrael in for his second try, when he pounced on a well-weighted grubber kick into the Roosters in-goal.
Newtown’s captain and fullback Liam Ison was in fine touch with metre-gaining kick returns and his safe handling of high kicks. He also made an outstanding and unflinching head-on tackle on a runaway gigantic Roosters forward.
Liam Ison strives to evade a would-be Roosters tackler.
With just over ten minutes left Jones, Stonestreet, Ford and Ison combined superbly for Ford to score the best try of the game. The Roosters finished the game with two converted tries in the last five minutes, ironically outscoring Newtown in the second half by 12-10.
Newtown’s best backs were Ison, Stonestreet, Gabrael, Ford and Pollard. In the forwards Berrell, Tuku Hau Tapuha, Brad Fearnley, Harrison Hassett and Faatili were prominent.
Newtown has a bye in Round 17 (this coming weekend) and then has playing commitments every weekend for the remainder of the competition rounds.
Newtown’s next match will be against North Sydney on Sunday, 5th July at North Sydney Oval.
Taj Ford gets a kick away despite the attention of several Roosters opponents.
Match Details:
NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round 15
Saturday, 13th June 2026
Go Media Stadium, Auckland
New Zealand Warriors v Newtown
Kick-Off: 4.45pm NZST
Weather: 14 degrees, cloudy, sharp breeze
Playing surface: Excellent surface, slightly slippery.
Match Officials:
Referee: Liam Kennedy
Touch Judges: Paki Parkinson, Jack Phegan
Back row:
Tuku Hau Tapuha, Khaled Rajab, Brad Fearnley, Joe Nadenic, Taj Ford, Felix Faatili, Sam McCulloch, Jayden Berrell, Harrison Hassett, Sam Stonestreet, Jaxon Lavender.
Front row:
Blake Stanton (ballboy), Michael Gabrael, Liam Ison (Captain), Jontay-Junior Betham-Misa, Kristian Dixon, Riley Jones, Riley Pollard.
Absent: Blake Hosking (injured).
Photo: Mario Facchini, mafphotography.
Match Details:
NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round 16
Sunday, 21st June 2026
Allianz Stadium, Moore Park
Sydney Roosters v Newtown
Kick-Off: 3.45pm.
Match Officials:
Referee: Kieren Irons
Touch Judges: Brad Kiehne, Mitchell Stone
Standby: Blake Williams.
Weather: Cloudy, 18 degrees, slight breeze.
Playing surface: Excellent.
Match Result: -
Newtown 30:
Michael Gabrael 2, Kristian Dixon, Riley Jones,
Sam Stonestreet, Taj Ford tries;
Riley Pollard 3 conversions
defeated
Sydney Roosters 12:
Benaiah Ioelu, Hayden Barton tries;
Jake Elliott 2 conversions.
Half-Time: Newtown led 20-0.
The Teams: -
Newtown:
Fullback: Liam Ison (Captain)
Wingers: Kristian Dixon, Sam Stonestreet
Centres: Riley Jones, Michael Gabrael
Halves: Taj Ford, Riley Pollard
Lock: Blake Hosking
Second-Rowers: Jaxon Lavender, Harrison Hassett
Front-Rowers: Tuku Hau Tapuha, Brad Fearnley
Hooker: Jayden Berrell.
Interchange:
Sam McCulloch, Jontay-Junior Betham-Misa
Felix Faatili, Khaled Rajab
Reserve: Joe Nadenic.
Coach: George Ndaira.
Sydney Roosters:
Fullback: Owen Flaherty
Wingers: Fetalaiga Pauga, Trey Peni
Centres: Junior Tupou, Brooklyn Heath
Halves: Jake Elliott, Jackson Stewart
Lock: Jaxson Rahme
Second-Rowers: Hayden Barton, Max McCathie (Captain)
Front-Rowers: Taylor Losalu, De La Salle Va’a
Hooker: Benaiah Ioelu
Interchange:
Jaxson Allen, Aston Warwick
Kanaan Nagele, Charleston Te Rore.
Reserve: Emery Jolliffe.
Coach: Brett Morris.
Match Timeline:
First Half:
Newtown kicked off to the SCG end of Allianz Stadium.
4th minute: Kristian Dixon (Newtown) try.
Riley Pollard conversion. Newtown 6-0.
9th minute: Riley Jones (Newtown) try.
Not converted. Newtown 10-0.
35th minute: Sam Stonestreet (Newtown) try.
Not converted. Newtown 14-0.
38th minute: Michael Gabrael (Newtown) try.
Converted by Riley Pollard. Newtown 20-0.
Half-Time: Newtown led 20-0.
Second Half:
Sydney Roosters kicked off to the SCG end of Allianz Stadium.
56th minute: Michael Gabrael (Newtown) try.
Not converted. Newtown 24-0.
69th minute: Taj Ford (Newtown) try.
Converted by Riley Pollard. Newtown 30-0.
75th minute: Benaiah Ioelu (Roosters) try
Converted by Jake Elliott. Newtown 30-6.
77th minute: Hayden Barton (Roosters) try.
Converted by Jake Elliott. Newtown 30-12.
Full-Time: Newtown 30 defeated Sydney Roosters 12.
Match Statistics:
Top Performing Newtown Players:
Most tackles: Jaxon Lavender – 35.
Most run metres: Kristian Dixon – 240
Most line breaks: Sam Stonestreet – 3.
Team Statistics:
Newtown (N); Roosters (R )
Possession: R 45%, N 55%
Time in possession: R 24 min, N 29m20s
Completions: R 80%, N 81%
All runs: R 152, N 203
Metres run: R 1523, N 1993
Post-contact metres: R 553, N 666
Line breaks: R 4 , N 6
Tackle breaks: R 34, N 40
Average set distance: R 43.5, N 46.35
Kick return metres: R 115, N 233
Average PTB speed: R 3.9s, N 3.65s
Offloads: R 13, N 12
Receipts: R 383, N 478
Total passes: R 207, N 262
Dummy passes: R 2, N 1
Kicks: R 21, N 23
Kick metres: R 617, N 450
Forced drop outs: R 2, N o
Kick defusal: R 67%, N 50%
Bombs: R 2, N 10
Grubbers: R 5, N 6
Effective tackles: R 86.6%, N 82.6%
Tackles made: R 376, N 285
Missed tackles: R 40, N 34
Ineffective tackles: R 18, N 26
Errors: R 13, N 8
Penalties conceded: R 5, N 3
Ruck infringements: R 2, N 3
Inside 10 metres: R 0, N 1
Interchanges: R 8, N 8.
Newtown’s next game details are: -
NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round 18
Sunday, 5th July 2026
North Sydney Oval
North Sydney v Newtown
Kick-Off: 3.00pm.
This will be the first leg of the Frank Hyde Shield series for 2026.