Newtown Rugby League Football Club - 1908-2008
Jets left to ponder their missed chances
as they go down to Norths - Game 1 of the Frank Hyde Shield [12-22]

4.30 pm, Saturday, 19 April

North Sydney Oval

NSW Cup highlights on Fox Sports from May.

Commemorative poster

Download a copy of the commemorative Frank Hyde Cup poster [pdf 330 Kb] as a memento of this centenary year event.

North Sydney defeated Newtown 22-12 in the VB NSW Cup Centenary Heritage match played at North Sydney Oval on Saturday evening.

In summary

There was a good crowd in attendance at one of Rugby League's most picturesque venues as these two 1908 Foundation Clubs faced off.

Mickey Paea amidst a pack of Bears

Norths led 12-0 after twenty minutes and 12-6 at half-time, and then defended a narrow 16-12 lead for much of the second half.

A runaway try to the Bears three minutes out from full-time made the result safe for Norths after the Jets had blown several chances to grab the lead in the second half.

Disrupted preparation

Newtown had a disrupted preparation for this NSW Cup top of the table clash with the late withdrawals including steadfast team captain and lock forward Jimmy Andersen.

Newtown's errors and penalties gave Norths great field position to enable the Bears to bound away to a 12-0 lead, but the Jets pulled back with a converted try five minutes before the break.

Strong second half fails to gain Newtown victory

Norths took their lead out to 16-6 soon after play resumed but Newtown looked more dangerous with the ball and had the territorial advantage for most of the tense second half. It was very much a case of "what might have been" as the Jets created opportunities for themselves but missed at least three try-scoring chances.

Newtown's lack of patience with the ball and a few impetuous plays took the pressure off the Bears at critical moments.

Norths remain the unbeaten competition leaders but this under-strength Newtown team had taken the Bears right to the wire.

Player performances

Prop Mickey Paea was once again the Jets' "Rock of Gibraltar" and his commitment to hard graft was in the best traditions of tough Newtown front-rowers from the past one hundred years.

His front-row partner Ray Moujalli made his share of ground-gaining runs and the young back-rowers Hep Cahill, Daniel Green and Khalid Deeb all contributed in the hectic second half.

New signing Sean Rudder made an impressive debut given that this was his first game back in Rugby League for 18 months. Luke Branighan, Byron Ford, Albert Hopoate and Rhys Pritchard were Newtown's best backs.

Next game - Newtown needs YOUR support

The Jets are home again at Henson Park next Saturday (26th April) for a local derby against our neighbours the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs - a local derby that goes all the way back to 1935.

This Round 7 NSW Cup match kicks off at 3.00pm.

The Newtown RLFC has designated this Saturday at Henson Park as: Boost the Crowd Day.

There are a lot of our friends and supporters out there who haven't been to see the Jets play at home this season and we really need your help this Saturday against the Bulldogs.

We call on you to come along this Saturday and bring along any of your family members, friends and work-mates who might like to give the Jets a big boost by swelling the crowd at Henson Park for what is a very important match for our players.

NSW Cup ladder
[end of last round]

Who played?

Lock and team captain Jimmy Andersen aggravated a hamstring injury in the pre-match warm-up and was replaced by Jai Ayoub.