Jets loss to the Dragons costs them the chance to take the competition lead

Newtown missed the opportunity of moving to the top of the NSW Cup competition table when they were defeated 34-24 by St George-Illawarra, in the 25th round NSW Cup match played at the Collegians Sports Complex (Figtree) on Saturday.

Both the Canberra Raiders and North Sydney lost their matches on the weekend and the Jets would have moved into first place had they accounted for the Dragons.

Newtown must now defeat the New Zealand Warriors in this Saturday’s 26th round encounter at Henson Park for the Jets to finish in the top three, thereby ensuring themselves the double-chance in the NSW Cup semi-finals.

The Jets went into the match against St George-Illawarra decidedly understrength, with a long list of changes from the team that had defeated North Sydney back on the 11th August, (with the Jets having had a bye on the weekend of the 17th/18th August). Newtown had been hit by a number of injuries as well as call-ups into the Cronulla Sharks NRL squad.

The Dragons were always going to be a difficult proposition, as they have been one of the NSW Cup’s form teams in recent weeks. St George-Illawarra has now beaten three of the top four NSW Cup teams in the past four weeks, as well as having the second-best defensive record of all the teams in the NSW Cup competition.  The Dragons also had the powerful incentive of needing to win Saturday’s match to have any chance of qualifying for the final five.

Newtown opened the scoring on Saturday when lock Blake Hosking won the race to ground a grubber kick into the in-goal dispatched by the Jets halfback and captain, Niwhai Puru.

The Dragons dominated possession and field position in both halves, and the unusually warm late Winter’s day made the going doubly-hard for the Jets having to cope with the extra tackling workload.

An unusual feature of the first half was that Newtown had scored both of their tries (the second try being scored by centre Jackson Ferris) on the only two occasions the Jets had been in possession and on the attack at the Dragons end of the field.

St George-Illawarra scored three tries in the first half to lead 18-12 at halftime, with one try from dummy-half close to the Jets tryline being the subject of some controversy.

A similar scoring pattern prevailed in the second half, where Newtown made good use of the limited possession they had to score tries on the only two occasions they had possession inside the Dragons twenty-metre zone. Second-rower Jordin Leiu scored Newtown’s third try in the 51st minute, and it wasn’t until three minutes out from fulltime that front-rower Tuku Hau Tapuha picked up a dropped pass and crashed over for Newtown’s fourth try. Niwhai Puru converted all four of Newtown’s tries.

All three of the Dragons second half tries came from high kicks into the in-goal, and they had the game won when they opened up a 34-18 lead with just six minutes left to play.

Newtown’s attack in the second half had been somewhat pedestrian, but in fairness this was a team that had relatively limited time together in preparation for this match against one of the competition’s form teams.

The Jets best backs were Niwhai Puru, Jackson Ferris and Tom Rodwell. One of Newtown’s best forwards in recent weeks, back-rower Kyle Pickering, suffered a foot injury on Saturday and left the field prior to halftime.

The third-placed Jets are at home to the fourth-placed New Zealand Warriors this Saturday, 31st August at Henson Park with the match kick-off at 3.00pm.

Saturday’s match is the final home game at Henson Park for the 2024 NSW Cup season, and it is also the annual Newtown Jets reunion day.

Match Details:

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup

Round 25
Collegians Sporting Complex, Figtree
Saturday, 24th August 2024
St George-Illawarra v Newtown
Kick-Off: 1.00pm
This match was livestreamed on NSWRL TV.

Weather: Fine, sunny, 23 degrees.
Playing surface: Very good.

Referee: Cameron Turner
Touch Judges: Braydon Hunt and Nic Beashel.

Match Result:

St George-Illawarra 34:
Savelio Tamale, Connor Muhleisen, Benjamin Johnson,
Ashton Ward, Jonah Glover, Dan Russell tries;
Jonah Glover 5 conversions
defeated
Newtown 24:
Blake Hosking, Jackson Ferris,

Jordin Leiu, Tuku Hau Tapuha tries;
Niwhai Puru 4 conversions.

Half-Time: St George-Illawarra led 18-12.

The teams: –

Newtown:
Fullback: Tyla Tamou
Wingers: Tom Rodwell, Siteni Taukamo
Centres: Jordan Swann, Jackson Ferris
Halves: Khaled Rajab, Niwhai Puru (Captain)
Lock: Blake Hosking
Second-Rowers: Jordin Leiu, Kyle Pickering
Front-Rowers: Rhys Dakin, Tuku Hau Tapuha
Hooker: Joshua Cook.
Interchange:
Kurt Dillon, Lachlan Crouch, Brad Fearnley, Chaz Jarvis
Reserve: Salesi Ataata
Coach: George Ndaira.

St George-Illawarra:

Fullback: Haele Finau

Wingers: Savelio Tamale, Mikaele Ravalawa

Centres: Benjamin Johnson, Hayden Buchanan
Halves: Ashton Ward, Jonah Glover
Lock: Hamish Stewart

Second-Rowers: Dan Russell, Raymond Faitala-Mariner
Front-Rowers: Joshua Coric, Luke Jnr Pasifiki Tonga
Hooker: Connor Muhleisen
Interchange:
Dylan Egan, Declan Purcell, Alec Tuitavake, Viliami Fifita
Reserve: Cyrus Stanley-Traill
Coach: Ben Woolf.

NSWRL TV Highlights || NSW Cup, Round 25 || St George-Illawarra v Newtown || Played on Saturday, 24th August 2024 at the Collegians Sports Complex:
https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2024/08/24/nswrl-tv-highlights–nsw-cup-dragons-v-jets—round-25/

The NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup competition table after 25 rounds:
https://www.nswrl.com.au/ladder/?competition=113&round=25&season=2024

Coach Chat: George Ndaira dissects last Saturday’s loss to the Dragons:

https://www.facebook.com/newtownrlfc/videos/1541912753070923

The Newtown team manager Jason Pritchard interviews the veteran Jets front-row forward Kurt Dillon:
https://www.facebook.com/newtownrlfc/videos/874770940738948

Match Timeline: –

First Half:
St George-Illawarra kicked off with Newtown running to the southern end of the ground.

8th minute: Blake Hosking try.
Niwhai Puru conversion. Newtown 6-0.
16th minute: Savelio Tamale try.
Jonah Glover conversion. 6-all.
19.40s: Jackson Ferris try.
Niwhai Puru conversion. Newtown 12-6.
27th minute: Connor Muhleisen try.
Jonah Glover conversion. 12-all.
37.45s: Benjamin Johnson try.
Jonah Glover conversion. St George-Illawarra 18-12.
Halftime: St George-Illawarra led 18-12.
Second half:
Newtown running to the northern end.
49th minute: Jordin Leiu try.
Niwhai Puru conversion. 18-all.
56.40s: Ashton Ward try.
Jonah Glover conversion. St George-Illawarra 24-18
62nd minute: Jonah Glover try, not converted. St George-Illawarra 28-18
63rd minute: Joshua Cook HIA, Chaz Jarvis on for Newtown.
72.30s: Dan Russell try.
Jonah Glover conversion. St George-Illawarra 34-18.
77th minute: Tuku Hau Tapuha try.
Niwhai Puru conversion. St George-Illawarra 34-24.
Fulltime: St George-Illawarra 34 defeated Newtown 24.

Match Statistics: –

St George-Illawarra (St G), Newtown (N).

Player statistics:
Most tackles: Blake Hosking (N) – 42
Most run metres: Tom Rodwell (N) – 154
Line breaks: Jordin Leiu (N) – 2.

Possession: St G 59%, N 41%
Time in possession: St G 27m, N 19.10s
Completion rate: St G 87%, N 84%
All runs: St G 177, N 117
All run metres: St G 1822, N 1135
Post contact metres: St G 567, N 361
Line breaks: St G 5, N 3
Tackle breaks: St G 42, N 15
Average set distance: St G 44.5, N 35.5
Kick return metres: St G 303, N 59
Average play the ball speed: St G 3.32s, N 3.2s
Offloads: St G 7, N 4
Receipts: St G 407, N 298
Total passes: St G 223, N 154
Dummy passes: St G 6, N 1
Kicks: St G 22, N 19
Kicking metres: St G 406, N 603
Forced dropouts: St G 2, N 0
Kick defusal: St G 57%, N 80%
Bombs: St G 3, N 5
Grubbers: St G 3, N 4
Effective tackles: St G 91%, N 85.5%
Tackles made: St G 256, N 342
Missed tackles: St G 15, N 42
Ineffective tackles: St G 10, N 11
Errors: St G 8, N 9
Penalties: St G 4, N 7
Inside 10 metres: St G 3, N 2
Interchanges: St G 6, N 7
HIA: St G 1, N 1.
This Saturday’s match details: –

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round 26
Saturday, 31st August 2024
Henson Park
Newtown (in 3rd place) v New Zealand Warriors (in 4th place)
Kick-Off: 3.00pm.

A reminder that this Saturday, 31st August, is the annual Newtown Jets players reunion at Henson Park.

This match will be livestreamed on NSWRL TV.