Jets winning sequence comes to an end

The Newtown Jets recent march up the Canterbury Cup NSW competition table hit a major obstacle at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Canterbury Bulldogs, the defending premiers from 2018, turned on an impressive display in seeing off the Jets by 40-28, and have moved into first place on the competition table after 15 rounds.

The Jets came up against a well-drilled and in-form Bulldogs team that effectively shut Newtown out of the game in the first half . The Bulldogs dominated possession and field position and ran up a 24-10 lead by halftime. The Jets first half tries were scored by on-debut centre Tyrone Phillips and fullback Will Kennedy.

Newtown hit back early in the second half through a second try to Kennedy, but Canterbury reasserted control and extended their lead to 40-16 with ten minutes left to play. The Jets competed gamely to the end and scored two more tries before fulltime. Second-rower Siosifa Talakai and halfback Braydon Trindall were the try-scorers late in the second half.

Newtown’s best players were Greg Eastwood, Siosifa Talakai and Billy Magoulias in the forwards and Jack A. Williams and Will Kennedy in the backs.

The Jets return to their Henson Park headquarters next Saturday, 6^th July, when they meet St George-Illawarra in the 16^th round of the Canterbury Cup NSW competition. This match is timed to start at 3.00pm.

Match details:

Canterbury-Bankstown 40:

Jayden Okunbor 2, Christian Crichton 2, Danny Fualalo, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Morgan Harper, Renouf Toómaga tries;

Morgan Harper 2, Jesse Marschke 2 goals

defeated

Newtown 28:

Will Kennedy 2, Tyrone Phillips, Siosifa Talakai, Braydon Trindall tries;

Braydon Trindall 4 goals.

Halftime: Canterbury Bulldogs led 24-10.

Referee: Darian Furner.

Touch Judges: Tim Hannon and Benjamin Teague.

Weather: Sunny, scattered clouds, 17 degrees.

Playing surface: Excellent.

Newtown’s team yesterday was:

Will Kennedy, Sione Katoa, Tyrone Phillips, Matt Evans, Aaron Gray, Jack A. Williams, Braydon Trindall, Wes Lolo, Billy Magoulias, Jaimin Jolliffe, Teig Wilton, Siosifa Talakai, Scott Sorensen.

Bench: Josh Carr, Luke Polselli, Tyla Tamou, Greg Eastwood.

Coach: Greg Matterson.

Classy centre Ronaldo Mulitalo was a late withdrawal and was replaced by Tyrone Phillips. Phillips had signed for Newtown during the week after having previously played with Canterbury-Bankstown and Penrith.

Canterbury-Bankstown’s team:

Toa Mataáfa, Christian Crichton, Morgan Harper, John Olive, Jayden Okunbor, Jesse Marschke, Connelly Lemuelu, Danny Fualalo, Ben Marschke, Renouf Toómaga, Bronson Garlick, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Kayne Kalache.

Bench: Dalton Smith, Jack Nelson, Austin Dias, James Roumanos.

Coach: Brad Henderson.

Some indicative match statistics: –

Completions:

First half: Newtown 6/10, Canterbury 15/18.

Second half: Newtown 8/15, Canterbury 10/17.

Possession:

First half: Canterbury had 67% of possession.

Second half: Canterbury had 56% of possession.

The Bulldogs had 62% of possession overall for the match.

Bear in mind that the Bulldogs have one of the biggest packs of forwards in the Canterbury Cup NSW competition.

Congratulations to Newtown Jets players (and Cronulla Sharks development system products) Teig Wilton (NSW Under 20s), Ronaldo Mulitalo (Queensland Under 20s) and Braydon Trindall (Queensland Under 20s) on winning selection in the State of Origin Under 20s match to be played at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday, 10^th July.

Congratulations also to Peter Baumgart who recently celebrated his 50^th birthday. Big Pete is an immensely popular former Newtown Jets player from the 1990s and early 2000s. Several of Peter’s Metropolitan Cup premiership-winning team-mates were in attendance at the birthday celebrations, including his former team coach Colin Murphy.

Newtown’s next match details:
NSWRL Canterbury Cup NSW – 16th Round
Saturday, 6th July 2019
Henson Park
Newtown v St George-Illawarra
Kick-Off: 3.00pm.
This is the deciding match for the 2019 Tom Kirk Cup.