Newtown Rugby League Football Club - Established 1908
Rd10 - The Jets stage an upset for the ages [32-14]
Game 1 - Tom Raudonikis Cup
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Match details
3.00 pm, Friday, 22 May
Campbelltown Stadium
Meet the players
Photographic highlights
NSW Cup ladder [end of last round]
Just one week ago the Newtown Jets were the laughing stock of the NSW Rugby League, after taking a 60-10 battering at Henson Park and then having to suffer through "that try from Hell" being shown around the world via YouTube.
In a stunning reversal of form, the last-placed Jets have regrouped and decisively beaten the top of the table Western Suburbs Magpies 32-14 in the NSW Cup match played at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Always in front
Newtown led 12-0 at halftime and withstood a Magpies revival midway through the second half, before kicking away to a six tries to three victory.
The Jets clocked up an 85% completion rate for the match and worked hard on minimising their own errors.
This was very much a team effort and for once the lucky breaks went the Jets way in terms of penalties received and passes that never quite went to hand for the opposition.
Newtown used the right tactics in the slippery playing conditions and counterpunched well when Wests fought back in the second half.
Player performances
The Jets best were front-rowers, Ray Moujalli and James Koloamatangi - Moujalli finished the match with a broken nose and split eyebrow while Koloamatangi was playing in his first NSW Cup match since round one.
Fullback, Luke Hume, showed nifty footwork in scoring two tries and had an intriguing duel with his Western Suburbs counterpart.
Winger, Iwi Hauraki, returned after a layoff through injury and turned in his usual display of power running.
Coach's assessment
Coach Greg Matterson told his players that this was a standard that they were all capable of playing and maintaining, and that they had set themselves a benchmark for future performances.
Next game
This was a split round in the NSW Cup competition and so Newtown has no match set down for next weekend [30/31 May].
The Jets next playing commitment is against the North Sydney Bears at Henson Park on Saturday, 6 June at 3.00pm. This will be the first leg of the 2009 Frank Hyde Shield series.
Match summary
Newtown 32 [Luke Hume 2, Matthew Hall, Ryan Millard, Sean Rudder, Tu'U Maori tries; Chris Tuatara 4 goals]
Western Suburbs 14 [Rhys Pritchard 3 tries; Shannon Gallant 1 goal]
At half-time, Newtown led 12-0. With 23 minutes to go, Newtown led 18-10 but Wests were coming back strongly and had reduced their error rate. However, the Jets withstood the fightback from Wests and kicked on to score 3 more tries.
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