By Mason Cernoy - NSWRL
The Jets have come away with a close 39-36 win over the Warriors on Saturday at Henson Park to cement them in the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup top three.
In an extremely windy affair at Henson Park, the New Zealand Warriors started incredibly fast, when Edward Kosi scored off a Paul Roache crosskick in their first attacking set of the game (4-0)
The Warriors went back-to-back through centre Setu Tu who jumped out of dummy half to score (8-0).
The Jets found momentum and crossed for their first try of the day through Jayden Berrell who scored off a ricocheted kick (6-0)
Newtown then went on to score another four tries in the opening half – Berrell bagging a double, Billy Burns, Siteni Taukamo and Tom Rodwell all crossing for four pointers (28-8).
Warriors hit back right on half time with five-eighth Luke Hanson passing a short ball to Zyon Maiu'u to score next to the posts (28-14).
Warriors started the second half how they finished the first, a crossfield kick from halfback Paul Roache to Edward Kosi saw the winger score in the opening minutes of the second 40 (28-20).
The Jets went back-to-back through fullback Liam Ison who up set two tries for Taukamo and Jordan Swann with both outside backs crossing for Newtown (38-20).
Despite trailing by 18 points, the Warriors refused to give up and scored three unanswered tries in nine minutes to now only trail by two points with five minutes remaining.
Jets halfback Niwhai Puru took matters into his own hands and iced a one point field goal to bring the score to 39-36 at the full time buzzer.
Talking Points
- Liam Ison had an absolute blinder, setting up three tries for his side, and making plenty of strong kick returns
- The two halfbacks both showed what they could do with the boot, with Paul Roache creating two tries for winger Ed Kosi off the back of his boot, and Niwhai Puru kicking a brilliant 40/20 to keep the Jets' momentum rolling in the first half, as well as the field goal that put them too far out of reach for New Zealand
- This match gave us a taste of semi finals, with a seemingly down and out Warriors side making the Jets play to the final whistle.
Key Moment
As much as it came down to the wire, this match was won in the first half. The most significant period in this game was Newtown's four try haul between the 20th and 33rd minute. What started as an opportunistic play from Liam Ison just became more and more points, with the tackle in the lead up to Berrell’s try, and the 40/20 kick in the lead up to Taukamo's first all being crucial moments in the side's success.
What's Next?
With finals starting next week, New Zealand have held onto their position of fourth by two for-and-against points, whilst the Jets temporarily moved to first but ultimately finished second after North Sydney's win on Sunday.
The Jets will play the Raiders in a qualifying final this Saturday.
Lead image courtesy of MAF Photography
