An outstanding defensive effort underpins the Jets hard fought win over the NSW Cup competition leaders

It was indeed appropriate that Sunday’s match was the deciding leg of the 2024 Frank Hyde Shield series played between Newtown and North Sydney, in the same week it was announced that the late Frank Hyde was to be inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame. Frank is to receive this posthumous honour along with another former rugby league broadcaster, the late David Morrow.

Newtown came into Sunday’s match with the competition front-runners without some of the Jets more experienced players who had been called up for NRL duty with the Cronulla Sharks. On the plus side, the return of centre Mawene Hiroti from injury added strength and guile to Newtown’s backline, and the availability of clever five-eighth Khaled Rajab and the powerhouse prop Tuku Hau Tapuha added to Newtown’s competitiveness in this vital game.

Norths opened the scoring with a penalty goal in the second minute, and a string of four penalties and a “six again” call to the Bears had the Jets reeling under severe defensive pressure.

A penalty in the 11th minute enabled Newtown to move into Norths territory with the ball for the first time in the game.

Newtown’s halfback and captain Niwhai Puru showed great awareness to lay on a grubber kick in behind the Bears defensive line and then win the race to ground the ball. Mawene Hiroti was back on goal-kicking duties and he converted this try from wide out for the Jets to take the lead by 6-2.

Newtown’s in-form fullback Liam Ison suffered a rib injury around the 20th minute mark but he gamely continued to play on for the rest of the match.

The Jets centre Chris Vea’ila went close to scoring, and Newtown revisited Norths left-side defence with Sam Healey and Khaled Rajab combining smartly to send the impressive edge-forward Kyle Pickering over to score, carrying three Bears defenders as he did so.

Norths had their own try-scoring opportunities in the first half and they missed a couple of chances through poor handling and wayward passes.

The teams went into the halftime break with Newtown 10-2 to the better, despite having a penalty count of 6-1 against the Jets. Newtown had defended inside their own red zone for extended minutes and the game really had all the tension of a closely-contested elimination semi-final.

The Bears made a clean break down the midfield early in the second half but the plucky Ison put his body on the line and saved a certain try. Norths went close to scoring in the north-west corner but the referee’s no-try ruling brought forth a torrent of irate abuse from the large number of Bears supporters in the Molly Dive Stand.

Newtown was put under intense defensive pressure in the early stages of the second half, with Norths having plenty of possession and favourable field position – but the Jets defensive line still held strong.

Norths were clearly becoming frustrated by Newtown’s defensive resolve and were penalised on four occasions for play the ball and tackling infringements. The referee was moved to call out the Bears team captain Kurt De Luis and issue an ultimatum that the ball stripping and holding down in tackles had to stop.

The run of second-half penalties gave Newtown much-needed possession at Norths end and Puru nearly put Vea’ila over to score. Another infringement led to the rugged Norths front-rower Tepai Moeroa, a Melbourne Storm NRL squad member and Cook Islands international, being sin binned. Barely a minute later the wily Jets forward Billy Magoulias showed strength, determination and nous to crash through to score to the right of the southern end goal posts.

The Jets had defended almost non-stop for the first 13 minutes of the second half, and Hiroti’s conversion of Newtown’s third try gave the Jets a 16-2 lead.

Norths eventually broke through some tiring Jets defence to score, by way of the Bears winger Fitzgibbon shrugging off several tackle attempts. It is worth noting that Fitzgibbon is one of the danger men of the NSW Cup, with a strike rate of 55 tries in 58 NSW Cup appearances.

The Jets tightened their defensive performance in the last fifteen minutes of the game, and the fiery Norths halfback Stevanovic was sin binned in the 72nd minute. Newtown interchange forward Josh Cook forced his way across the tryline in the 74th minute but was held up by Norths defenders. The last few minutes saw some very determined running by the Norths players, met by equally staunch defence by the Jets in response. In the last five minutes of the second half, the Jets managed to keep the Bears confined to within their own 40 metres zone.

Newtown received a penalty from another Bears play the ball infringement, and Mawene Hiroti did the honours, extending the fulltime score to 18-8 in Newtown’s favour.

Jets coach George Ndaira said after the game that next weekend’s bye gives the Newtown players the chance to regroup and get ready for the Dragons and Warriors encounters. Ndaira observed that the competition table is still very tightly contested, and he had been impressed by the willingness of his players to work hard for each other to defend the tryline for extended periods.

On a day where all the Newtown players made solid contributions to this hard-fought win, Liam Ison deserves mention for giving a very competent display while playing with a nagging rib injury; Jordan Swann had his best game of the season, and Niwhai Puru turned in a valuable captain’s performance.

The best of Newtown’s forwards were Blake Hosking, Kyle Pickering (prominent in attack and defence), Jordin Leiu, Tuku Hau Tapuha (whose size, power and work-rate made a valuable late addition to the Jets line-up), the two young front-rowers Lachlan Crouch and Salesi Ataata and the ever-scheming Sam Healey.

Next weekend (Round 24) is a bye for the Newtown Jets, followed by two tough assignments in the final two rounds – an away game to St George-Illawarra in Wollongong, and a Round 26 Henson Park home game against the New Zealand Warriors on the 31st August (the annual club reunion day).

Match Details:

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round 23
Sunday, 11th August 2024
North Sydney Oval
North Sydney v Newtown
The match commenced at 3.00pm.
This match was livestreamed on NSWRL TV.

Weather: Sunny, 19 degrees, 12 kmh wind.

Playing surface: Excellent.

Match Result:
Newtown 18:
Niwhai Puru, Kyle Pickering, Billy Magoulias tries;
Mawene Hiroti 2 conversions, 1 penalty goal
defeated
North Sydney 8:
Allan Fitzgibbon try;
Kieran Hayman 1 conversion, 1 penalty goal.
(Halftime: Newtown led 10-2).

The teams were:

Newtown:
Fullback: Liam Ison
Wingers: Tom Rodwell, Jordan Swann
Centres: Chris Vea’ila, Mawene Hiroti
Halves: Khaled Rajab, Niwhai Puru (Captain)
Lock: Blake Hosking
Second-Rowers: Jordin Leiu, Kyle Pickering
Front-Rowers: Rhys Dakin, Tuku Hau Tapuha
Hooker: Sam Healey.
Interchange:
Lachlan Crouch, Billy Magoulias, Josh Cook, Salesi Ataata
Reserve: Tony Maroun
Coach: George Ndaira.

North Sydney:
Fullback: Sualauvi Faalogo
Wingers: Tuipulotu Katoa, Allan Fitzgibbon
Centres: Kieran Hayman, Dean Ieremia
Halves: Jake Toby, Ben Stevanovic
Lock: Caleb Tohi
Second-Rowers: Matt Stimson, Ativalu Lisati

Front-Rowers: Kurt De Luis (Captain), Tepai Moeroa

Hooker: Rua Ngatikaura
Interchange:
Jayden Yates, Jerry Key, Jack Boyling, Regan Hughes
Reserve: Sione Tupouniua
Coach: Pat Weisner.

Match Highlights || NSW Cup || North Sydney v Newtown || Played at North Sydney Oval on Sunday, 11th August 2024:
https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2024/08/11/nswrl-tv-highlights–nsw-cup-bears-v-jets—round-23/

The NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup competition table after 23 rounds:
https://www.nswrl.com.au/ladder/?competition=113&round=23&season=2024

Post-match interview with the Newtown Jets head coach George Ndaira:

https://www.facebook.com/newtownrlfc/videos/1171649480726845

Match Timeline:

First Half:
Newtown kicked off, running to the northern end of the ground.
5th minute: Penalty goal kicked by Kieran Hayman. North Sydney 2-0.
12.30s: Niwhai Puru try.

Converted by Mawene Hiroti. Newtown 6-2.
28th minute: Kyle Pickering try.

Not converted. Newtown 10-2.
Halftime: Newtown led 10-2.
Second Half:
57.45s: Tepai Moeroa (North Sydney) sin binned for a professional foul.
58.15s: Billy Magoulias try.

Converted by Mawene Hiroti. Newtown 16-2.
66.30s: Allan Fitzgibbon try.
Converted by Kieran Hayman. Newtown 16-8.
72.30s: Ben Stevanovic sin binned for a professional foul.
79.30s: Mawene Hiroti penalty goal. Newtown 18-8.
Fulltime: Newtown 18 defeated North Sydney 8.

Match Statistics:
Newtown (N), North Sydney (NS)

Players statistics:
Kyle Pickering (N): 42 tackles
Tom Rodwell (N): Most run metres – 181.
Chris Vea’ila (N): 1 line break.

Team Statistics:
Possession: NS 52%, N 48%
Time in possession: NS 27.14s, N 24.40s
Completion rate: NS 76%, N 77%
All runs: NS 157, N 185
All run metres: Ns 1583, N 1673
Post contact metres: NS 517, N 493
Line breaks: NS 3, N 5
Tackle breaks: NS 50, N 30
Average set distance: NS 41.66m, N 41.83m.
Kick return metres: NS 73m, N 101m
Average Play the ball speed: NS 3.45s, N 3.57s
Passing offloads: NS 3, N 13
Receipts: NS 397, N 362
Total passes: NS 230, N 190
Dummy passes: NS 7, N 2
Kicks: NS 19, N 17
Kicking metres: NS 378, N 344
Forced dropouts: NS 4, N 2
Kick defusals: NS 73%, N 86%
Bombs: NS 5, N 8
Grubbers: NS 5, N 6
Effective tackles: NS 86.4%, N 84.5%
Tackles made: NS 298, N 311
Missed tackles: NS 30, N 50Intercepts: NS 0, N 1
Ineffective tackles: NS 17, N 7
Errors: NS 14, N 10
Penalties conceded: NS 9, N 8
Ruck infringements: NS 1, N 1
Sin Bins: NS 2, N 0
Interchanges: NS 8, N 8.

Newtown’s next game details:
NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
The Newtown Jets have a bye in Round 24
Round 24 is this coming weekend: 17th/18th August Newtown’s remaining games are:
Round 25
Saturday, 24th August, kick-off at 1.00pm.
Collegians Sporting Complex, Figtree
St George-Illawarra v Newtown

Round 26
Saturday, 31st August, kick-off at 3.00pm.
Henson Park
Newtown v New Zealand Warriors
This is the Newtown RLFC Annual Reunion Day.