Newtown Jets move onto the Major Semi-Final with a big win over the Canberra Raiders

The Newtown Jets scored a decisive 38-16 win over the Canberra Raiders in the NSW Cup Qualifying Final played at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday evening.

The win takes Newtown through to the Major Semi-Final against North Sydney, to be played at Leichhardt Oval on the evening of Sunday, 15th September (kicking off at 5.00pm).

Newtown and the Raiders had not played against each other since late April. The Jets and Canberra had played a draw at Henson Park in the fourth round of the NSW Cup, and then the Raiders won 42-12 when the two clubs met again in the eighth round on the 28th April.

The Canberra Raiders had by far the best points for aggregate in the NSW Cup competition and had scored more than 40 points on six occasions over the course of the home and away rounds.

Newtown turned on one of their best performances of the season in this Qualifying Final, running up an 18-0 lead by the 21st minute mark and retaining that lead until halftime.

The Jets first try came from a cross-field high kick into the right-side corner, where centre Chris Vea’ila leapt high to catch the ball and safely ground it. Halfback Niwhai Puru landed the first of what would be six successful try conversions in this match, along with a penalty goal conversion in the second half.

Newtown’s second try featured two players who were two of the Jets best on the night – hooker Jayden Berrell grubber-kicking cleverly into the in-goal and the backrower and team captain Billy Burns who grabbed hold of the bouncing ball and scored to the left of the northern end goal-posts.

The Jets third try came as a result of an excellent kick return by fullback Liam Ison. Newtown then made good ground up the right side through Berrell combining with Tuku Hau Tapuha, Kyle Pickering and the winger Sam Stonestreet. Five-eighth Khaled Rajab read the play astutely and swerved his way to score in the north-eastern corner, going past Raiders defenders who were scrambling to get back on-side.

The Raiders had their moments in the first half but they could not break Newtown’s try-line defence. They made it across the line on three occasions in the first half but were held up each time. The Raiders also tested the catching skills of Newtown’s back three with high kicks into the corners and grubber-kicks into Newtown’s in-goal.

Newtown had a near miss in the 33rd minute when the clever ball-player Billy Magoulias sent Blake Hosking across the line with a sizzling flat pass, only for the touch judge to make the call that the pass was marginally forward. The NSWRL TV commentary team noted that “Newtown had been so dominant in the first half that they probably should have scored more than 18 points.” The commentary team might have added that Newtown’s tight defence had prevented the Raiders from scoring any points in the first half. The two teams had shared possession on a fairly even basis in the first half, but the Raiders had a significantly-better completions rate.

The Raiders looked to be pumped for the second half, opening with a crisply-worked set of possession but Newtown had another try denied when Sam Healey sent Billy Magoulias across the stripe with what seemed to be a legitimate flat pass. The Raiders seemed ”to have dodged two bullets” with the two possible Newtown tries by Hosking and Magoulias being disallowed.

The Raiders mounted an attack at Newtown’s end but the high kick by the Raiders was batted back by a Canberra chaser. The ball fell into the arms of Jets centre Chris Vea’ila who set sail on a 75 metres sprint to the southern-end tryline. The highly-rated Raiders fullback Chevy Stewart gave a gallant chase but he couldn’t quite catch the Newtown flyer.

Niwhai Puru kicked a penalty goal following an incident in which a Raiders forward had been placed on report. The Jets now led 26-0 in the 51st minute, and as one commentator remarked,’the Raiders aren’t quite in miracle territory but they’re getting awfully close!”

One instance of the enthusiasm and vigorous team spirit that characterised the Jets performance was when no fewer than five Newtown tacklers pushed a most indignant Raiders ball carrier across the sideline. Canberra scored their first try after gaining repeat sets at the Jets end, and the poor defensive read that allowed the try pointed to some possible unravelling of Newtown’s defensive performance.

With Newtown in the lead by 26-6, the kick-off that restarted play after the Raiders first try led to a quite extraordinary passage of play. The Jets kick-off failed to be fielded by the Canberra players and the ball went very close to bouncing across the dead-ball line. A Raiders forward grabbed the football and aimed to get back into the field of play, only to be the subject of a crushing tackle by Newtown’s giant forward Tuku Hau Tapuha – the unfortunate Raiders player spilled the football, only to see the Newtown front-rower Braden Hamlin-Uele fall on the ball to score a try. As Hamlin-Uele noted in the dressing room after the game, ”I had literally just come on the field from the interchange bench. I ran fifty metres to get involved in the play – and then ran one extra metre to fall on the ball and score a try!”

The NSWRL TV commentary team’s description of this calamitous event for the Raiders captures the spirit of the moment: ”That was the worst set from a kick-off that you are likely to see”, and: ”This is the sort of tragicomedy that the rugby league game can sometimes provide!” Big Braden’s unlikely try might well have been the psychological blow to the Raiders players that stifled any sustained fightback by the Canberra boys to get back into the game.

The Raiders scored from dummy-half in the 66th minute and no doubt some Canberra fans might have believed that their team still retained some remote chance with fourteen minutes still to play.

The Canberra team continued to have some shocking luck with kick-offs in the second half. With Newtown in front by 32-12, the Jets kick-off found the touchline, putting the Raiders under defensive pressure again. Jayden Berrell put in another well-weighted grubber kick into the Canberra in-goal, where it was promptly scooped up by Billy Burns to score his second try of the match (and his tenth try this season for the Jets).

With about four minutes left to play, there was some confusion in Newtown’s left-side defence as to whether the Raiders playmaker had kicked the ball forward or had he dropped it. The hesitancy among the Newtown defenders allowed the Raiders to score their third and final try. The Raiders conversion attempt hit an upright and bounced away, which to some extent summed up Canberra’s visit to Leichhardt Oval on Saturday evening.

For the Newtown Jets, Jayden Berrell stood out with his ball distribution, grubber kicks and defensive performance. Braden Hamlin-Uele had added a lot of firepower to Newtown’s forwards; Billy Burns was a constant threat to the Raiders defence. Niwhai Puru and Khaled Rajab had been effective in the halves and Liam Ison was safe in fielding high kicks and always made ground with his kick returns.

The Newtown Jets now meet North Sydney in the Major Semi-Final at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday, 15th September at 5.00pm. This match will be livestreamed on NSWRL TV.

Match details:

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Qualifying Final
Saturday, 7th September 2024
Leichhardt Oval
Newtown (2nd place) v Canberra Raiders (3rd place)
Kick-Off: 5.00pm.
The match was livestreamed on NSWRL TV.

Weather: Cloudy, 19 degrees, south-easterly wind.

Playing surface: Excellent.

Finals Week One Wrap: The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup:
https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2024/09/07/live-coverage–the-knock-on-effect-nsw-cup—finals-week-1/

NSWRL TV Highlights || NSW Cup || Newtown Jets v Canberra Raiders || Qualifying Final:

https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2024/09/07/nswrl-tv-highlights–nsw-cup-jets-v-raiders—qualifying-final

Post-match interview with the Newtown Jets head coach, George Ndaira:
https://www.facebook.com/newtownrlfc/videos/3887577391487675

Match Result:

Newtown 38:
Chris Vea’ila 2, Billy Burns 2, Khaled Rajab, Braden Hamlin-Uele tries;
Niwhai Puru 6 conversions, 1 penalty goal
defeated
Canberra Raiders 16:
Mitch Henderson, Owen Pattie, Manaia Waitere tries;
Adam Cook 2 conversions.
Half-Time: Newtown led 18-0.

The teams: –

Newtown:
Fullback: Liam Ison
Wingers: Tom Rodwell, Sam Stonestreet
Centres: Chris Vea’ila, Jordan Swann
Halves: Khaled Rajab, Niwhai Puru
Lock: Blake Hosking
Second-Rowers: Kyle Pickering, Billy Burns (Captain)
Front-Rowers: Braden Hamlin-Uele, Tuku Hau Tapuha
Hooker: Jayden Berrell
Interchange:
Jordin Leiu, Billy Magoulias, Sam Healey, Brad Fearnley
18th Man: Josh Cook
Blue Shirt Trainer: Tom Haberecht
Yellow Shirt Trainer: Fletcher Graham
Orange Shirt trainer: Chris Moubarak
Head Coach: George Ndaira.

Canberra Raiders:
Fullback: Chevy Stewart
Wingers: Nick Cotric, Jed Stuart
Centres: Manaia Waitere, Prinston Esera
Halves: Mitchell Henderson, Adam Cook
Lock: Hohepa Puru (Captain)
Second-Rowers: Noah Martin, Mitchell Spencer
Front-Rowers: Emre Guler, Peter Hola
Hooker: Zac Woolford.
Interchange:
Owen Pattie, Jordan Martin, Peter Taateo, Joe Roddy.
18th Man: Jaxon Lavender.
Blue Shirt Trainer: Corey Harawira
Yellow Shirt Trainer: Mick Howard
Gold Shirt Trainer: Claire Nicholls
Head Coach: Brock Shepperd.

Match Timeline: –

First Half:
Newtown kicked off, running to the northern end.
6m20s: Chris Vea’ila try.
Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 6-0.
12m05s: Billy Burns try.

Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 12-0.
21st min: Khaled Rajab try.

Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 18-0.
Half-Time: Newtown led 18-0.
Second Half:
44m40s: Chris Vea’ila try.
Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 24-0.
50th min: Penalty conversion by Niwhai Puru.

Newtown 26-0.
57th min: Mitch Henderson (Raiders) try.
Converted by Adam Cook (Raiders). Newtown 26-6.
(Braden Hamlin-Uele (Newtown) came on as an interchange forward at the 58m30s mark)
58m45s: Braden Hamlin-Uele try.
Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 32-6.
64th min: Owen Pattie (Raiders) try.
Converted by Adam Cook (Raiders). Newtown 32-12.
67m45s: Billy Burns try.

Converted by Niwhai Puru. Newtown 38-12.
75m50s: Manaia Waitere try.
Not converted. Newtown 38-16.
Full-Time: Newtown 38 defeated Canberra Raiders 16.

Match Statistics: –

Abbreviations: Newtown (N), Canberra Raiders (CR)

Possession: N 51.8%, CR 48.2%
Time IN POSSESSION: N 24M, CR 21M20S
Completion Rate: N 81.6%, CR 83.9%
Good set finish rate: N 71.1%, CR 67.7%
Sets: N 38, CR 31
Complete: N 31, CR 26
Good set finish: N 27, CR 21
Forced drop out: N 2, CR 2
Kicks: N 15, CR 15
Total kicks: N 17, CR 17

Errors: N 1, CR 3
Error in own half: N 3, CR 3
Total errors: N 4, CR 6
Penalties for: N 8, CR 6
Tackle breaks: N 27, CR 49
Set restart for: N 3, CR 2
Plays in possession: N 158, CR 147
Offloads: N 15, CR 3
Total passes: N 196, CR 181
Tries: N 6, CR 3
Average set start: N 40.7, CR 46.2

Average set finish: N 67.00, CR 81.6
Average metres per set: N 30.6, CR 32.7
Metres per set margin: N -2.1, CR 2.1
Total metres gained: N 1161, CR 1012.
Post-contact metres: N 482, CR 434
Interchanges: N 7, CR 7
HIA: CR 1

 On report: CR 1

Newtown players statistics:

Jayden Berrell (N) – 26 tackles
Tom Rodwell (N) – most run metres: 200 metres
Tom Rodwell (N) – most line breaks – 2.

Newtown’s next game details:

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Major Semi-Final
Sunday, 15th September 2024
Leichhardt Oval
North Sydney v Newtown
Kick-Off: 5.00pm. This match will be livestreamed on NSWRL TV.