The Newtown Jets edged closer to a place in the 2024 semi-finals after defeating South Sydney 38-16 in the 22nd round fixture played at Henson Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Jets are now in fourth place after the weekend's round of matches but they have the New Zealand Warriors, Penrith and St George-Illawarra close behind them on the competition table.
There were a number of changes to Newtown's playing line-up against South Sydney. Liam Ison and Jayden Berrell both played for the Jets on Saturday after having made their NRL debuts with the Cronulla Sharks on the previous weekend. The young Sharks front-rower Lachlan Jake Crouch made his NSW Cup competition match debut on Saturday after having played with the Jets in a trial match back in February. The big front-rower Salesi Ataata was also back with Newtown for Saturday's assignment. The multi-skilled Jayden Berrell played at five-eighth with Siteni Taukamo moving back to the wing.
The Rabbitohs belied their position on the competition table with two early tries, taking advantage of some bewildered Newtown Jets defence as they ran up a 10-0 lead in as many minutes. In fact Newtown did not get down to South Sydney's end of the field until the Rabbitohs made a handling error in the 19th minute inside their own twenty metre zone.
The Jets quickly took advantage of this favourable field position as Niwhai Puru and Liam Ison put on a rapid left side manoeuvre, with a well-judged cut-out pass from Ison sending Siteni Taukamo over in the south-east corner. Puru continued his good goal-kicking form and converted from the sideline for Newtown to trail by 10-6.
Souths continued to threaten the Jets and were held up by desperate defence close to the Newtown tryline on at least three more occasions. The Jets had made their defensive task harder by conceding several penalties, including being marched back an extra ten metres for back-chatting the referee's decision.
Newtown took their chance following Souths turning over the ball. The Jets made ground downfield and scored a classy try in the 35th minute, with Berrell and Billy Magoulias combining to send Puru racing over to score near the Sydenham Road end goal posts. Magoulias's back of hand pass to put Puru through a defensive gap was a sight to behold. Puru converted his own try to put Newtown ahead 12-10, the first time they had led in the match.
The Jets were in the ascendancy and made further good ground into Souths territory, and a six again call from the referee gave Newtown more attacking opportunity. Right in the shadow of halftime Puru, Jordan Swann (who off-loaded a deft pass) and Berrell combined to send Kristian Dixon across to score in the south-west corner. Puru converted again from the sideline, sending Newtown into the halftime break with an 18-10 lead. The hard-working Jets middle forward Brad Fearnley had left the field midway through the first half for a HIA assessment and didn't return to the playing field for the rest of the game. Newtown's two tries in quick succession close to halftime had really changed the outlook of the game.
Newtown began the second half with a barrage of points that almost certainly put the Rabbitohs out of contention in this match. Souths had a shocker of a start to the second half by knocking on the kick-off, with the Jets scoring from a set play from the scrum. The ball moved through quick hands to the left-side and Ison positioned Taukamo to score his second try. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
Another burst of fast supporting play saw the impressive Jordin Leiu, Sam Healey, Salesi Ataata and Liam Ison carry the ball right to the South Sydney tryline. From a quick play the ball Niwhai Puru threw a soaring cut-out pass to Kristian Dixon who scored his second try (with Puru's spiralling pass immediately drawing comparisons to the superb Sam Healey-Kristian Dixon try against Parramatta on the previous Saturday).
The Jets points-scoring onslaught continued, with the livewire Liam Ison dummying his way past the Rabbitohs outside backs to score near the posts. Newtown had now scored five tries in the space of five minutes before and nine minutes after the halftime break.
With Newtown now in the lead 32-10, the match looked like developing into a rout. The Jets nearly scored again soon after Ison's try, with the ball being thrown about (along with a couple of adventurous grubber-kicks) in a style that led one Newtown old-timer in the crowd to observe that "the Jets were playing like the 1951 Frenchmen!"
South Sydney's defence tightened up considerably and Newtown's points-scoring blitz was slowed down. Midway through the second half Puru directed a grubber-kick towards the left-hand upright that was snapped by the ever-alert Blake Hosking who scored Newtown's seventh try. Puru's conversion took Newtown's lead out to 38-10, which proved to be the Jets' last points for the game.
Souths scored in the 67th minute, their first points since the tenth minute of the first half. Newtown had a couple of more scoring chances late in the game but Souths improved defence and some erratic ball-handling by the Jets saw the score remain at 38-16 in Newtown's favour.
The Jets will take on some tough opposition when they meet the competition leaders North Sydney on Sunday, 11th August at North Sydney Oval, with this much-anticipated match kicking off at 3.00pm. This game is also the deciding leg of the 2024 Frank Hyde Shield series.
Match Details
NSWRL Knock-on Effect NSW Cup
Round 22
Saturday, 3rd August 2024
Henson Park
Newtown (in 4th place) v South Sydney (in 11th place)
Kick-Off: 3.00pm.
This match was livestreamed on NSWRL TV.
Weather: Sunny, 18 degrees, very little breeze.
Playing Surface: Excellent.
Referee: Martin Jones
Touch Judges: Mitchell Stone and Luke Heckendorf
Referees Coordinator: Matt Treneman
