Jets overcome a slow start and run up a big win over the Rabbitohs

The Newtown Jets edged closer to a place in the 2024 semi-finals after defeating South Sydney 38-16 in the 22nd round fixture played at Henson Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Jets are now in fourth place after the weekend’s round of matches but they have the New Zealand Warriors, Penrith and St George-Illawarra close behind them on the competition table.

There were a number of changes to Newtown’s playing line-up against South Sydney. Liam Ison and Jayden Berrell both played for the Jets on Saturday after having made their NRL debuts with the Cronulla Sharks on the previous weekend. The young Sharks front-rower Lachlan Jake Crouch made his NSW Cup competition match debut on Saturday after having played with the Jets in a trial match back in February. The big front-rower Salesi Ataata was also back with Newtown for Saturday’s assignment. The multi-skilled Jayden Berrell played at five-eighth with Siteni Taukamo moving back to the wing.

The Rabbitohs belied their position on the competition table with two early tries, taking advantage of some bewildered Newtown Jets defence as they ran up a 10-0 lead in as many minutes. In fact, Newtown did not get down to South Sydney’s end of the field until the Rabbitohs made a handling error in the 19th minute inside their own twenty metre zone.

The Jets quickly took advantage of this favourable field position as Niwhai Puru and Liam Ison put on a rapid left side manoeuvre, with a well-judged cut-out pass from Ison sending Siteni Taukamo over in the south-east corner. Puru continued his good goal-kicking form and converted from the sideline for Newtown to trail by 10-6.

Souths continued to threaten the Jets and were held up by desperate defence close to the Newtown tryline on at least three more occasions. The Jets had made their defensive task harder by conceding several penalties, including being marched back an extra ten metres for back-chatting the referee’s decision.

Newtown took their chance following Souths turning over the ball. The Jets made ground downfield and scored a classy try in the 35th minute, with Berrell and Billy Magoulias combining to send Puru racing over to score near the Sydenham Road end goal posts. Magoulias’s back of hand pass to put Puru through a defensive gap was a sight to behold. Puru converted his own try to put Newtown ahead 12-10, the first time they had led in the match.

The Jets were in the ascendancy and made further good ground into Souths territory, and a six again call from the referee gave Newtown more attacking opportunity. Right in the shadow of halftime Puru, Jordan Swann (who off-loaded a deft pass) and Berrell combined to send Kristian Dixon across to score in the south-west corner. Puru converted again from the sideline, sending Newtown into the halftime break with an 18-10 lead. The hard-working Jets middle forward Brad Fearnley had left the field midway through the first half for a HIA assessment and didn’t return to the playing field for the rest of the game. Newtown’s two tries in quick succession close to halftime had really changed the outlook of the game.

Newtown began the second half with a barrage of points that almost certainly put the Rabbitohs out of contention in this match. Souths had a shocker of a start to the second half by knocking on the kick-off, with the Jets scoring from a set play from the scrum. The ball moved through quick hands to the left-side and Ison positioned Taukamo to score his second try. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Another burst of fast supporting play saw the impressive Jordin Leiu, Sam Healey, Salesi Ataata and Liam Ison carry the ball right to the South Sydney tryline. From a quick play the ball Niwhai Puru threw a soaring cut-out pass to Kristian Dixon who scored his second try (with Puru’s spiralling pass immediately drawing comparisons to the superb Sam Healey-Kristian Dixon try against Parramatta on the previous Saturday).

The Jets points-scoring onslaught continued, with the livewire Liam Ison dummying his way past the Rabbitohs outside backs to score near the posts. Newtown had now scored five tries in the space of five minutes before and nine minutes after the halftime break.

With Newtown now in the lead 32-10, the match looked like developing into a rout. The Jets nearly scored again soon after Ison’s try, with the ball being thrown about (along with a couple of adventurous grubber-kicks) in a style that led one Newtown old-timer in the crowd to observe that “the Jets were playing like the 1951 Frenchmen!”

South Sydney’s defence tightened up considerably and Newtown’s points-scoring blitz was slowed down. Midway through the second half Puru directed a grubber-kick towards the left-hand upright that was snapped by the ever-alert Blake Hosking who scored Newtown’s seventh try. Puru’s conversion took Newtown’s lead out to 38-10, which proved to be the Jets last points for the game.

Souths scored in the 67^th minute, their first points since the tenth minute of the first half. Newtown had a couple of more scoring chances late in the game but Souths improved defence and some erratic ball-handling by the Jets saw the score remain at 38-16 in Newtown’s favour.

The Jets will take on some tough opposition when they meet the competition leaders North Sydney on Sunday, 11^th August at North Sydney Oval, with this much-anticipated match kicking off at 3.00pm. This game is also the deciding leg of the 2024 Frank Hyde Shield series.

Match Details:

NSWRL Knock-on Effect NSW Cup
Round 22
Saturday, 3^rd August 2024
Henson Park
Newtown (in 4^th place) v South Sydney (in 11^th place)
Kick-Off: 3.00pm.
This match was livestreamed on NSWRL TV.

Weather: Sunny, 18 degrees, no breeze.
Playing Surface: Excellent.

Referee: Martin Jones
Touch Judges: Mitchell Stone and Luke Heckendorf
Referees Coordinator: Matt Treneman

Match Result: –
Newtown 38:
Siteni Taukamo 2, Kristian Dixon 2,

Niwhai Puru, Liam Ison, Blake Hosking tries;
Niwhai Puru 5 conversions
defeated
South Sydney 16:
Leon Te Hau, Peter Mamouzelos, Shaquai Mitchell tries;
Brent Hawkins 2 conversions.

Half-Time: Newtown led 18-10.

NSWRL TV Highlights || NSW Cup, Round 22 || Newtown v South Sydney || Henson Park || Saturday, 3^rd August 2024:

https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2024/08/03/nswrl-tv-highlights–nsw-cup-jets-v-rabbitohs—round-22

A great ball from Niwhai Puru: Puru’s floating pass finds winger Kristian Dixon unmarked and he grabs his second try of the day:

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup competition table after 22 rounds:

https://www.nswrl.com.au/ladder/?competition=113&round=22&season=2024

Did you miss the game on Saturday? Here are all the Newtown Jets tries:

https://x.com/newtownrlfc/status/1820372221048824320



Newtown’s team:
Fullback: Liam Ison
Wingers: Siteni Taukamo, Kristian Dixon

Centres: Chris Vea’ila, Jordan Swann
Halves: Jayden Berrell, Niwhai Puru
Lock: Blake Hosking
Second-Rowers: Kyle Pickering, Billy Burns (Captain)
Front-Rowers: Lachlan Jake Crouch, Brad Fearnley
Hooker: Sam Healey
Interchange:
Jordin Leiu, Billy Magoulias, Salesi Ataata, Josh Cook
Reserve: Tyla Tamou
Blue Shirt Trainer: Tom Haberecht

Yellow Shirt Trainer: Fletcher Graham
Orange Shirt Trainer: Chris Moubarak

Coach: George Ndaira.

South Sydney:
Fullback: Bayleigh Bentley-Hape
Wingers: Leon Te Hau, Izaac Tu’itupou Thompson
Centres: Adam Christensen, Leonard Skelton
Halves: Jarrett Subloo, Brent Hawkins
Lock: Liam Le Blanc
Second-Rowers: Matthew French, Henry O’Kane,
Front-Rowers: Shaquai Mitchell, Brock Gray
Hooker: Peter Mamouzelos (Captain)
Interchange: Ryan Gray, Yileen Gordon, Chase Chapman, Vasili Tsikrikas
Reserve: Toesami Toe Vai
Blue Shirt Trainer: Tyrone McCarthy
Yellow Shirt Trainer: Danny Pasasuwan
Orange Shirt Trainer: Bernie Chau
Coach: Joe O’Callaghan.

Match Timeline: –
First Half:
South Sydney kicked off with Newtown running to the Sydenham Road end.
4^th minute: Leon Te Hau try.
Not converted. South Sydney 4-0.
12^th minute: Peter Mamouzelos try.
Brent Hawkins conversion. South Sydney 10-0.
19m30s: Siteni Taukamo try.

Converted by Niwhai Puru. South Sydney 10-6.
24^th minute: Brad Fearnley – HIA.

34^th minute: Niwhai Puru try.
Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 12-10.
37m30s: Kristian Dixon try.

Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 18-10.
39^th minute: 18^th player activated.

Tyla Tamou on, Brad Fearnley off.

Half-Time: Newtown led 18-10.
Second Half:
41^st minute: Siteni Taukamo try.
Not converted. Newtown 22-10.
45^th minute: Kristian Dixon try.
Not converted. Newtown 26-10.
48m30s: Liam Ison try.
Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 32-10.
62m30s: Blake Hosking try.
Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 38-10.

67m30s: Shaquai Mitchell try.

Converted by Brent Hawkins. Newtown 38-16.
Full-Time: Newtown 38 defeated South Sydney 16.



Match Statistics: –
Newtown (N), South Sydney (SS).

Top performing players: –
Blake Hosking (N): Most tackles – 33
Kristian Dixon (N): Most run metres – 195
Siteni Taukamo (N): Most line breaks – 4.

Possession: N 59%, SS 41%
Time in possession: N 25.50s, SS 17.50s
Completion rate: N 79%, SS 68%
All runs: N 187, SS 120
All run metres: N 1657, SS 996
Post-contact metres: N 446, SS 347
Line breaks: N 10, SS 3
Tackle breaks: N 12, SS 25
Average set distance: N 48.7, SS 31.2
Kick return metres: N 157, SS 97
Average PTB speed: N 3.7s, SS 3.3s
Offloads: N 13, SS 6
Receipts: N 400, SS 269
Total passes: N 234, SS 146
Dummy passes: N 3, SS 0
Kicks: N 17, SS 9
Kicking metres: N 325, SS 237
Forced drop outs: N 2, SS 1
Kick defusal: N 100%, SS 67%
Bombs: N 5, SS 1
Grubbers: N 8, SS 1
Effective tackles: N 236, SS 297
Missed tackles: N 25, SS 12
Ineffective tackles: N 11, SS 20
Errors: N 10, SS 10

Penalties conceded: N 8, SS 6
Ruck infringements: N 0, SS 3
Inside 10 metres: N 1, SS 0

On report: N 1, SS 0

Interchanges used: N 7, SS 8
HIA: N 1, SS 0.

Newtown’s next game:
NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
23rd Round
Sunday, 11th August 2024
North Sydney Oval
North Sydney (in first place) v Newtown (in fourth place)
Kick-Off: 3.00pm.

This match is the deciding leg of the 2024 Frank Hyde Shield series. (North Sydney won the first leg 16-12).

Sunday’s game will be livestreamed on NSWRL TV.