Newtown Rugby League Football Club - Established 1908
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Match details3.00 pm, Saturday, 17 August 2013Harker Oval, Hobart Road, New Lambton Browse the 2013 Newtown Jets players & staff gallery
Match summaryNewtown 10 [Adam Henry, Ryan Verlinden tries; Ryley Jacks 1 goal] Half-Time: Newcastle Knights led 22-0. Pitch: poorly grassed in places and rock-hard down middle third. Officials: Referee, Lawrence O'Donell; Touch judges, John Woods and Nathan Smith. Browse moment-by-moment game action and game highlights in Gary Sutherland's gallery. Knights head start proves too much for Jets
In a weekend of NSW Cup matches where three of the top four teams were beaten, the fourth-placed Newtown Jets lost 38-10 to the Newcastle Knights at Harker Oval on Saturday. The Jets have a bit of a history of not performing well in long-distance away games and they were in real trouble in this match when they trailed 22-0 at half-time. The Knights had scored twice from Jets handling errors inside their own quarter and poor defence gave the Knights their fourth try six minutes before half-time. Greater commitment in second halfThe Jets came out fired up at the start of the second half and scored in the 48th minute when fullback Henare Wells threw an excellent pass that sent winger Adam Henry over for a try. Newtown went desperately close to scoring on two other occasions that might have brought the Jets back into the game. Ryan Verlinden was penalised for a line-ball double movement and two minutes later Khalid Deeb surged across the line but his try was disallowed because of an infringement around the ruck area. The Knights made certain of victory in scoring from an orthodox backline movement and added another from a Jets corner kick that went awry, resulting in a 95 metres runaway try to the Knights. Big Ryan Verlinden made amends for his earlier missed try-scoring attempt when he barged over ten minutes out from full-time. The Knights then took advantage of some hesitant Newtown defence and scored their last try in the 79th minute of play. In general...Newtown paid a heavy price for a poor first half when the Knights forwards made a lot of ground midfield through some less than committed Jets defence. The recurring problem of poor finishes to sets of possession was obvious in the first half, when the Jets fought their way to the Knights end on four occasions but poor end of set decisions led to no worthwhile outcome being achieved. The Knights punished the Jets doubly-hard for two handling errors in their own quarter, and the Knights try close to half-time stretched to lead out to 22-0. This was an important win to the Knights as they moved into second place at the expense of North Sydney who lost to Windsor on the weekend. The Newtown Jets remain in fourth place but must win both of their remaining competition games to ward off challenges from Windsor and the Auckland Vulcans. Coaching assessmentThe Newtown coaching staff considers that the will to win is certainly there in the Jets ranks, but there is inconsistency in their efforts on the field and their decision making is letting them down at critical times. There will be plenty of work done at training to address these issues as it is so important to ensure a top four finish in the NSW Cup finals structure. Ryan Verlinden was judged to be the best of the forwards while Henare Wells, although he did not add to his impressive season's try tally, was very safe under several high kicks directed his way. Next gameThere is another VB NSW Cup double-header this Saturday, 24 August, at Henson Park. Competition leaders Cronulla Sharks take on Manly-Warringah at 1.00pm, while Newtown faces a danger game against the much-improved Wyong at 3.00pm |
Who played?
Interchange
Coach: Greg Matterson
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