Sea Eagles hang on to win in grim struggle with the Jets

This match was primarily a battle as to which team could best handle the difficult wet weather conditions that prevailed at Henson Park on Saturday afternoon.

In the end, the Sea Eagles handled the rain and the wind marginally better in grinding out a 14-10 win over the Newtown Jets in this seventh round NSW Cup fixture.

Blacktown Workers kicked off, running to the Sydenham Road end.

Powerhouse Jets front-rower Royce Hunt went close to scoring early in the match but was held up across the line by Sea Eagles defenders.

Newtown five-eighth and captain Daniel Atkinson and fullback Kade Dykes put on a slick short-side raid involving an interchange of passes that extended over seventy metres, ending in Atkinson diving over underneath the northern end goal-posts.

The Sea Eagles hit back with two tries – the first where they broke through Newtown’s backline defence close to the tryline, and the second from a perfectly-flighted cut-out pass that put the Blacktown left-side winger over in the south-eastern corner.

The Sea Eagles took this 10-6 lead into the halftime break, with the rain starting to belt down more heavily.

Newtown centre Addison Demetriou was sin-binned in the 55th minute, causing a defensive reshuffle in the Jets backline.

Blacktown increased their lead through an unconverted try in the 57th minute, and it was evident that the weather conditions were going to make this 14-6 lead difficult to run down.

The floodlights came on in the second half as Kade Dykes went close to scoring, followed soon by second-rower Jordin Leiu pushing underneath the Blacktown tacklers to ground the ball. Newtown now trailed 14-10 with twenty minutes left to play.

It was a case of what might have been with the Jets going close on several occasions in the game’s last quarter. The Jets put some ball to ground that could have led to try-scoring opportunities, and both Royce Hunt and Daniel Atkinson crossed the line only for the tries to be disallowed. Addison Demetriou had the ball knocked from his grasp as he attempted to crash over after having returned from the sin-bin.

Big front-rower Tuku Hau Tapuha was sin-binned in the 76th minute when he put on a high tackle while trying to force an error from the opposition in the desperate final minutes.

Newtown coach George Ndaira said after the game that the Newtown team’s level of effort couldn’t be faulted, but the Sea Eagles handled the wet conditions slightly better – an aspect of the game the Jets will have to work on given the expectations of other wet game days during the winter.

Newtown had opportunities to win the game in the latter stages of the match and a couple of try-scoring chances were missed.

In conditions befitting an old-time mid-winter’s game in the North of England, this match was won and lost “in the trenches”, and the result could have gone either way. The Jets defenders put on some big hits trying to win the ball back late in the second half, and sometimes those big hits can be misinterpreted by the referee.

Ndaira believed that the Jets had shown a fighting spirit on Saturday that can be built on for the upcoming games.

Newtown’s next match is the eighth round of the NSW Cup, with the Jets drawn against the Canberra Raiders on Sunday, 28th April, with this fixture at the GIO Stadium in Canberra timed for kick-off at 1.50pm.



NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round Seven
Saturday, 20th April 2024

Henson Park
Newtown v Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles
Kick-Off: 3.00pm.

Newtown Jets:
Fullback: Kade Dykes
Wingers: Thomas Rodwell, Mawene Hiroti
Centres: Chris Vea’ila, Addison Demetriou

Halves: Daniel Atkinson (Captain), Niwhai Puru
Lock: Blake Hosking
Second-Rowers: Jordin Leiu, Billy Burns
Front-Rowers: Royce Hunt, Tuku Hau Tapuha
Hooker: Josh Cook
Interchange: Rhys Dakin, Brad Fearnley, Billy Magoulias, Sam Healey
Reserve: Tyla Tamou
Coach: George Ndaira

Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles (BWSE):

Fullback: Lehi Hopoate
Wingers: Watson Heleta, Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega
Centres: Clayton Faualo, Bailey Hodgson

Halves: Jake Arthur, Brandon Wakeham (Captain)
Lock: Caleb Navale
Second-Rowers: Brad Parker, Ben Condon
Front-Rowers: Jacob Sykes, Austin Dias
Hooker: Gordon Chan Kum Tong
Interchange: James Uesele, James Humphreys, Zane Dunford, Kobe Rugless
Reserve: Kayne Kalache
Coach: Wayne Lambkin.

Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles 14:
Clayton Faualo, Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega, Kobe Rugless tries;

Brandon Wakeham 1 conversion
defeated
Newtown 10:
Daniel Atkinson, Jordin Leiu tries;

Mawene Hiroti 1 conversion.

Half-Time: BWSE 10 v Newtown 6.

Match Officials:
Referee: Daniel Luttringer
Touch Judges: Nick Beashel and Kieren Irons

Weather (at the beginning of the game):
19 degrees; windy, overcast.
Light rain had fallen earlier in the day. Wind: 26km/hr.

Steady rain fell from late in the first half for the remainder of the match.


Match Timeline:
BWSE kicked off, running to the Sydenham Road end.

15th minute: Daniel Atkinson try
Converted by Mawene Hiroti. Newtown 6-0.
26th minute: Clayton Faualo try
Not Converted. Newtown 6-4
36th minute: Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega try
Converted by Brandon Wakeham BWSE 10-6

Half-Time: BWSE led 10-6
55th minute: Addison Demetriou was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle
57th minute: Kobe Rugless try
(BWSE had received a set restart just prior to this try).
Not converted BWSE 14-6

65th minute: Addison Demetriou returned from the sin-bin
68th minute: Jordin Leiu try
Not converted BWSE 14-10

75th minute: Tuku Hau Tapuha sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.

Full-Time: BWSE 14 defeated Newtown 10.


Selected Match Statistics:
Possession: BWSE 54%, Newtown 46%
Time in possession: BWSE 31 minutes, Newtown 26 minutes
Completions: BWSE 77%, Newtown 71%
All runs: BWSE 229, Newtown 190
Line breaks: BWSE 4, Newtown 2
Effective tackles: BWSE 90%, Newtown 86%
Missed tackles: Newtown 36, BWSE 20
Errors: Newtown 13, BWSE 11
Penalties: Newtown received 7 penalties, BWSE 5.


NSWRL TV Highlights – NSW Cup – Newtown v Sea Eagles – Round Seven:
https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2024/04/22/nswrl-tv-highlights–nsw-cup-jets-v-sea-eagles—round-seven/

Post-match interview with Newtown’s head coach George Ndaira:
https://twitter.com/newtownrlfc/status/1781960702540103717
(Hear what coach George Ndaira had to say after Newtown’s narrow loss to the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles on Saturday afternoon.)

The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup competition table after seven rounds:
https://www.nswrl.com.au/ladder/?competition=113&round=7&season=2024


Next week’s game:
NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round Eight
Sunday, 28th April 2024

GIO Stadium, Canberra
Canberra Raiders v Newtown Jets
Kick-Off: 1.40pm.