By Patrick Staveley (NSW Rugby League)
The Newtown Jets secured a 28-16 win over Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in a blockbuster top four clash, living up to expectations in heavy rain at CommBank Stadium on Saturday.
The contest was evenly poised throughout the opening half, with first points coming in the 12th minute when Matt Dufty found some space on the short side to put the Bulldogs 4-0 ahead.
The Jets responded when a late Billy Magoulias offload created an overlap for Kayal Iro to score his ninth try of the season.
Caleb Uele extended the visitors’ lead when he was simply too strong to be stopped close to the line.
The Bulldogs responded in gritty fashion when hooker Josh Cook burrowed his way to the stripe from dummy-half to reduce the deficit to 12-10.
Canterbury-Bankstown hit the front for the second time after Bailey Biondi-Odo was awarded a try with a miraculous putdown from a Braidon Burns grubber.
Newtown came out firing in the second half and didn’t take long to score next – Braydon Trindall the beneficiary of Jayden Berrell’s second try assist.
Tyla Tamou scored four minutes later to re-establish the lead for Newtown as the backline outnumbered the home side’s defence.
Trindall was in the action again when he delivered a short ball to a charging Mawene Hiroti, who made an angling run through a gaping to score the sealing try in the 58th minute. With the rain coming down harder the errors were bound to pile up, so the team who came out best in the second half was going to have the advantage. The Jets set the tone for the second half with first points through Trindall, and Newtown went on a roll from that moment.
Talking points
The handling was brilliant from both sides for the first hour, defying the slipperiness of the ball and keeping the entertainment value up.
What’s next?
The Jets travel to face Mounties next Saturday, while the Bulldogs have another tough match when they head to Windsor to meet the high-flying Panthers.
Newtown 28
Kayal Iro, Caleb Uele, Braydon Trindall, Tyla Tamou, Mawene Hiroti tries:
Braydon Trindall 3 conversions, 1 penalty goal
defeated
Canterbury-Bankstown 16
Matt Dufty, Joshua Cook, Bailey Biondi-Odo tries;
Bailey Hayward 2 conversions.
Half-Time: Canterbury-Bankstown led 16-12.
Referee: Cameron Paddy.
Touch Judges: Jake Sutherland and Benjamin Teague.
Newtown’s team was:
Fullback: Lachlan Miller
Wingers: Matt Ikuvalu, Tyla Tamou
Centres: Kayal Iro, Mawene Hiroti
Five-Eighth: Kade Dykes
Halfback: Braydon Trindall (Captain)
Lock: Billy Magoulias
Second-Rowers: Myles Lee-Taueli, Kayne Kalache
Front-Rowers: Thomas Hazelton, Jesse Colquhoun
Hooker: Jayden Berrell.
Interchange: Rhys Davies, Tyler Slade, Caleb Uele, Liam Harris.
Reserve: Jensen Taumoepeau.
Coach: Greg Matterson.
Canterbury-Bankstown:
Fullback: Matt Dufty
Wingers: Isaac Lumelume, Jayden Okunbor
Centres: Braidon Burns, Creedence Toia
Five-Eighth: Bailey Hayward
Halfback: Bailey Biondi-Odo (Captain)
Lock: Lipoi Hopoi
Second-Rowers: Reece Hoffman, Jackson Topine
Front-Rowers: Samuel Hughes, Phillip Makatoa
Hooker: Joshua Cook.
Interchange: Ryan Gray, Matt Doorey, Harrison Edwards, Epeli Sukanaivalu
Reserve: Khaled Rajab
Coach: David Tangata-Toa.
Match Timeline:
Newtown Jets kicked off to the southern end of CommBank Stadium.
Braydon Trindall kicks a 40/20 in the 6th minute
13th minute: Matt Dufty scores wide out to the right
Not converted, Bulldogs 4-0 (!4 minutes)
17th minute: Coming off a Billy Magoulias off-load, Kayal Iro scores near the left-side corner
19th minute: Braydon Trindall converts from wide out; Newtown 6-4
26th minute: Bulldogs lose the ball at their end; Caleb Uele crashes over to the left of the goal-posts in the next set
27th minute: Braydon Trindall converts; Newtown 12-4.
29th minute: Bulldogs gain possession at Newtown’s end.
30th minute: Joshua Cook scores under the posts for Canterbury.
31st minute: Try converted by Bailey Hayward; Newtown 12-10.
Fox League Commentators make note of the expansive ball-play by both teams despite the wet conditions.
35th minute: Bailey Biondi-Odo scores a rather dubious try wide out
36th minute: Try converted by Bailey Hayward. Bulldogs 16-12.
39th minute: Bailey Biondi-Odo misses a two-point field goal attempt.
Tyler Slade left the field for a HIA. Ended up staying off the field with a knee injury.
Half-Time: Canterbury-Bankstown 16 led Newtown 12.
TV commentary team noted that this was a high-quality NSW Cup match despite the difficult conditions.
Both teams had scored from errors made by their opponents at their own end of the field.
45th minute: Good ball-play by Newtown in Bulldogs 20 metre zone.
The ball was kept alive. Great dummy-half dash by Jayden Berrell puts Trindall over to score near the southern-end goal posts.
Bulldogs had originally lost the ball from a high kick.
Try was not converted. 16-all after 48 minutes.
51st minute: Jets move the ball through several pairs of hands for Tyla Tamou to score in the south-eastern corner.
Commentators praise the Wanganui-born Tamou for his versatility and great service to the Newtown club.
Try not converted by Trindall. Newtown leads 20-16 in the 52nd minute.
Rain continued to fall heavily in the second half.
53rd minute: Great chase by Kade Dykes to run down Bulldogs winger Jayden Okunbor.
Bulldogs defence holds solid despite repeated handling errors by Canterbury.
58th minute: Mawene Hiroti steps past defenders to score to the right of the posts.
Try converted by Trindall. Newtown 26-16. 61st minute.
Jets make a handling error at their own end in the pouring rain.
Tremendous defensive effort by several Jets tacklers to take Bulldogs winger Isaac Lumelume out at the corner.
Trindall forces an in-goal drop-out (64th minute).
Bulldogs drop-kick doesn’t go the required ten metres
Trindall kicks the penalty goal. Newtown 28-16 (66th minute).
Dogs get the ball back from the kick-off from another doubtful refereeing decision.
Commentators note that there have been only four penalties awarded in the game (at the 72nd minute mark).
Commentators note that Lachlan Miller has made 17 carries and has run 145 metres.
The work-rate and metres gained by Jesse Colquhoun are commented by Fox League’s Mark Carroll.
Bulldogs have been held scoreless in the second half; Newtown has pinned them in their own half for much of the second half.
Mark Carroll rates Braydon Trindall as the man of the match and also praises Lachlan Miller, Thomas Hazelton, Jesse Colquhoun, Jayden Berrell and Kayal Iro.
Full-Time: Newtown 28 defeated Canterbury-Bankstown 16.
The win puts Newtown back into second place on the competition table. (The competition table top four is now: Penrith 24; Newtown 23; Canterbury 22; North Sydney 22.)
Match Statistics: -Completions::
1st half: Newtown 14/19 (74%) Canterbury 14/18 (78%)
2nd half: Newtown 14/22 (64%) Canterbury 7/15 (47%)
Full-Time: Newtown 28/41 (68%) Canterbury 21/33 (64%)
Possession:
1st half: Newtown 64 tackles (46%) Canterbury 75 tackles (54%)
2nd half: Newtown 75 tackles (64%) Canterbury 43 tackles (36%)
Full-Time: Newtown 139 tackles (54%) Canterbury 118 tackles (46%)
Penalties:
1st half: Newtown 1 Canterbury 1
2nd half: Newtown 1 Canterbury 1
Full-Time: Newtown 2 Canterbury 2.
Newtown’s next game details:
NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup – 17th Round
Saturday, 9th July 2022
Aubrey Keech Reserve, Hinchinbrook
Mounties v Newtown
Kick-Off: 3.00pm.
