Newtown Jets errors and poor discipline punished by the Parramatta Eels

Last Saturday’s splendid Autumn weather brought out a big crowd for the second versus third place showdown between the Jets and the Eels.

The buzzing atmosphere at Henson Park should have inspired the Jets to a standout performance – instead it was Parramatta who seized the moment to run out 28-18 winners.

Parra came to Henson Park with the undoubted impetus of having won four games in a row, along with having a number of players with considerable NRL match experience in their playing records.

There were no points scored until the 18th minute, when Parramatta took full advantage of a handling error at Newtown’s end, and scored in the following set of possession to open up a 4-0 lead.

The Jets responded with a well-constructed try, scored by lock Blake Hosking who burst through to score near the southern end goal posts. Niwhai Puru’s conversion gave Newtown a 6-4 lead, the only time the Royal Blues would lead during the game.

Parramatta took advantage of a gap in Newtown’s left-edge defence and the Eels turned on an exhibition of smart passing that ended in a try.

Parra once again attacked through their dangerous right edge and added a converted try, which enabled them to take a 16-6 lead into the halftime break.

The Eels added two more converted tries in the second half to run up a 28-6 lead. The pace of the game picked up in the second half, but despite some likely looking attacking sorties, the Jets never looked likely to overhaul Parramatta’s 22-points lead.

Newtown did score two converted tries in the last ten minutes, with left-side winger Eli Clark scoring a well-made try in the corner, and the two Puru brothers turned on a thrilling combination and high-speed exchange of passes for Niwhai to score under the posts close to fulltime.

At best, Newtown’s late rally of two converted tries gave their big crowd of fans some notion of what might have been.

Jets coach George Ndaira described Newtown’s performance as disappointing, especially when there was a healthy home crowd in attendance.

The Jets errors and poor discipline played into Parramatta’s hands, with the Eels taking advantage of several of Newtown’s mistakes to open up a match-winning lead.

Newtown’s next game is part of the NSW Rugby League’s 2025 Magic Weekend promotion, with the Jets travelling to Scully Park, Tamworth to play the 4th-placed St George-Illawarra (another in-form NSW Cup team) at 11.00am on Sunday, 11th May.

The match will be livestreamed on Bar TV.

Match Details:

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round Nine
Saturday, 3rd May 2025
Henson Park
Newtown v Parramatta

Kick-Off: 3.00pm

Weather: 19 degrees, sunny, no breeze
Playing surface: Excellent

Referee: Daniel Luttringer
Touch Judges: Brad Kiehne, Luke Saldern


Match Result:

Parramatta 28:
Haze Dunster 2, Dean Hawkins 2,

Richard Penisini tries;

Dean Hawkins 2, Joash Papalii,

Ronald Volkman conversions

defeated
Newtown 18:
Blake Hosking, Eli Clark,

Niwhai Puru tries;

Niwhai Puru 3 conversions.

Half-Time: Parramatta led 16-6.

The Teams: –

Newtown’s team:
Fullback: Josh Latham
Wingers: Kristian Dixon, Eli Clark
Centres: Chris Vea’ila, Michael Gabrael
Halves: Khaled Rajab, Niwhai Puru
Lock: Hohepa Puru
Second-Rowers: Kyle Pickering, Jordin Leiu
Front-Rowers: Jontay-Junior Betham-Misa, Tuku Hau Tapuha

Hooker: Jayden Berrell (Captain)
Interchange:
Max Bradbury, Blake Hosking
Billy Magoulias, Josh Cook

Concussion Substitute: Riley Pollard

Blue Shirt Trainer: Tom Haberecht

Yellow Shirt Trainer: Fletcher Graham
Orange Shirt Trainer: Chris Moubarak
Game Day Doctor: Peader MacSuibhne
Coach: George Ndaira.

Parramatta’s team:
Fullback: Joash Papalii
Wingers: Jake Tago, Haze Dunster
Centres: Araz Nanva, Richard Penisini
Halves: Ronald Volkman, Dean Hawkins (Captain)
Lock: Ryan Matterson

Second-Rowers: Bryce Cartwright, Will Latu
Front-Rowers: Saxon Pryke, Matt Doorey
Hooker: Kruz Niutili-Schmidt

Interchange:
Kayne Kalache, Meni Luke
Teancum Brown, Brock Parker
Concussion Substitute: William Lewis
Blue Shirt Trainer: Ray Daher
Yellow Shirt Trainer: Mike Williams

Orange Shirt Trainer: Ben Trevor Jones
Game Day Doctor: Zoran Avarian

Coach: Nathan Cayless

Video Clips:

George Ndaira’s post-match comments:
https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=684967174113585

Match highlights, Newtown v Parramatta:
https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2025/05/03/the-knock-on-effect-nsw-cup-highlights–round-nine—jets-v-eels/

The NSW Cup competition table after 9 rounds:
https://www.nswrl.com.au/ladder/?competition=113&round=9&season=2025

Match Timeline:

First half:
Newtown kicked off, running to the Sydenham Road end
4th minute: Saxon Pryke (Parra) HIA, no return
Replaced by Kayne Kalache
17m30s: Haze Dunster (Parra) try
Not converted Parra 4-0
20th minute: Bryce Cartwright (Parra) on report
26m30s: Blake Hosking try
Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 6-4
32nd minute: Dean Hawkins (Parra) try

Converted by Dean Hawkins. Parra 10-6
38th minute: Richard Penisini try
Converted by Dean Hawkins. Parramatta 16-6
Half-Time: Parramatta led by 16-6

Second Half:
44th minute: Teancum Brown on report
54th minute: Dean Hawkins try

Converted by Joash Papalii. Parramatta 22-6
68th minute: Haze Dunster try
Converted by Ronald Volkman. Parramatta 28-6
71st minute: Eli Clark try
Converted by Niwhai Puru. Parra 28-12
76th minute: Niwhai Puru try

Converted by Niwhai Puru. Parra 28-18.
Full-Time: Parramatta 28 defeated Newtown 18.

Match Statistics:

Newtown player statistics:
Most tackles: Kyle Pickering – 30
Most metres run: Blake Hosking – 140
Most line breaks: Eli Clark – 1
Team Statistics:
N 48%, P 52%
Time in possession: N 22.40, P 25.00
Completions: N 71% (27/38), P 75% (31/41)
All runs: N 150, P 206
All metres run: N 1287, P 1591
Post contact metres: N 401, P 536
Line breaks: N 5, P 8

Tackle breaks: N 31, P 33
Average set distance: N 33.9, P 38.8
Kick return metres: N 119, P 119
Average play the ball speed: N 3.14s, P 3.58s
Offloads: N 7, P 17
Total passes: N 194, P 233

Dummy passes: N 6, P 14
Kicks: N 15, P 20
Kick metres: N 325, P 502
Forced dropouts: N 1, P 4

Kick defusal: N 62%, P 100%

Bombs; N 5, P 5

Grubbers: N 2, P 5
Effective tackles: N 83.7%, p 86.4%

Tackles made: N 309, P 274
Missed tackles: N 33, P 31
Intercepts: N 0, P 1
Errors: N 16, P 10

Penalties conceded: N 4, P 6
Ruck infringements: N 2, P 2
On report: N 0, P 2

Interchanges: N 8, P 8.

Newtown’s next game details:

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round 10
Sunday, 11th May 2025
Scully Park, Tamworth
St George-Illawarra (4th place) v Newtown (3rd place)Kick-Off: 11.00am

This match will be livestreamed on BarTV NSWRL.