Match details
3.00 pm, Saturday, 8 May
Morrie Breen Oval, Wallarah Rd, Wyong [Gorokan]
Meet the players
Photographic highlights
NSW Cup ladder [end of last round]
Jets well off the pace against Centurions
This year's Newtown Jets NSW Cup team is proving to be a model of inconsistency.
After beating the competition leaders Canterbury-Bankstown on the 1st of May, the Jets travelled to Wyong last Saturday and were thrashed 48-26 by the NSW Cup's cellar-dwellers, the Central Coast Centurions.
The Centurions are the Newcastle Knights reserve team and they scored most of their nine tries from breaks made down the left and right edges of Newtown's defence.
The Jets led 18-12 after 35 minutes but conceded two tries in as many minutes just prior to halftime, going in at the break 22-18 in arrears.
Centurions explode in the last 10 minutes
The result was still in the balance with Newtown trailing 30-26 just ten minutes from fulltime, but the Centurions laid on a barrage of three converted tries to claim their second win of the season by a most convincing margin.
Three players coming back from injury
Newtown had fielded a considerably changed team from the previous weekend, with Sydney Roosters players Martin Kennedy, Tom Symonds and Steve Naughton returning after layoffs through injury, while Johnathon Ford and Russell Aitken formed a new combination in the halves.
The Jets' completion rate for the match was in excess of 80% - usually an indicator of a team with sufficient possession to take charge of a game - but the Centurions found and exploited defensive lapses on either edge of Newtown's defence with maximum impact, scoring several long distance tries in the process.
Coach's assessment
Coach Greg Matterson pinpointed his side's backline defensive problems, adding that the Jets needed to work harder and to communicate better as a team.
He was adamant that the Jets were in the right frame of mind prior to kick-off and that they had not treated the road-trip as two points there for the taking.
Player performances
Matterson nominated back-rower, Tinirau Arona, as being the Jets' standout player, and he also singled out Tom Symonds and Luke Towers for praise. The quicksilver Towers is proving to be one of the season's finds with his dashing runs from fullback.
Charlie Leaeno to move to Super League club, Wakefield Trinity
The Newtown Jets have announced the release of big front-rower, Charlie Leaeno, to take up a full-time playing contract with the English Super League club Wakefield Trinity. The club wishes Charlie and his family all the best for the future.
Match summary
Newtown Jets 26 [Luke Towers 2, Brad Barrett, Tinirau Arona, Chris Tuatara-Morrison tries; Chris Tuatara-Morrison 3 goals]
Central Coast Centurions 48 [9 tries; 6 goals]
Half-time: Central Coast Centurions led 22-18.
Referee: Luke Phillips; Touch Judges: Brendan Wood, Jason Walsh.
Next game
The Jets will be back at Henson Park next Saturday, 15 May, for a 10th round NSW Cup match against Cronulla-Sutherland. The match starts at 3.00pm.
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