The Newcastle Knights keep their 2023 NRL finals hopes alive on the back of a sparkling Kalyn Ponga performance to beat the Wests Tigers 34-18 on Friday night in Newcastle.
Result
Newcastle Knights 34
Tries: (7) Dom Young 12th, 55th; Greg Marzhew 3rd; Bradman Best 6th; Daniel Saifiti 25th; Kalyn Ponga 43rd; Tyson Gamble 73rd
Goals: (3) Kalyn Ponga 27th, 57th, 74th
Wests Tigers 18
Tries: (3) Jahream Bula 29th, 51st; Apisai Koroisau 37th
Goals: (3) Brandon Wakeham 31st, 38th, 52nd
Report
It started off so well for the Tigers, with what looked a try in the opening minute, but the potential try which came from a kick was ruled out by the joy-killing Bunker. And before the Tigers knew it, they were down by 12-0 after 12 minutes.
This came in the form of three tries – two down the left and the last of the trio on the right through barnstorming winger Dom Young. The first try of the evening went to Knights winger Greg Marzhew who benefited from a great final ball from Kalyn Ponga (playing his 100th NRL game) in the third minute; and three minutes later Bradman Best went through untouched with the final pass coming from Ponga again. Best was involved in the lead up to the third try with a line-break, and a few tackles later Newcastle went left and Dom Young did the rest. Poor goalkicking was keeping Newcastle in the game, with Ponga landing none of his first three attempts.
The Knights edged further ahead in the 25th minute, when hard-charging prop Daniel Saifiti did just that to score besides the posts, and Ponga kicked his first conversion of the night for a 18-0 lead.
But the Tigers hung in there: when they weren’t missing simple tackles, they looked good in patches with the ball, and they did hit back twice before half-time. The first saw a determined Jahream Bula muscle his way to the line, and muscle was involved in the next big play when the Tigers defence somehow held up a certain Knights try. They then turned that try save into six points of their own when Api Koroisau benefited from a rare Ponga mishap at the back, when he failed to catch a bomb close to the line. The ball bounced favourably for the Tigers hooker, the score narrowed to 18-12, and Koroisau had something good from his return from a broken jaw.
The second half opened up with plenty of action as a scuffle broke out after a high shot from Will Smith. Jack Hetherington took exception and provided an open-handed slap, which saw him sent to the sin bin and put on report. Newcastle still got the penalty and they scored with a player down in the 43rd minute, and it was a moment of magic from Ponga. He jinked, swerved, and broke through the Tigers’ line to extend the half-time lead. Although he missed another conversion.
But the Wests Tigers fullback Bula had plenty to offer too, and he brought the Tigers back into the game 10 minutes later when he followed up an Isaiah Papali’i line-break to score. But the joy didn’t last too long as Young scored his second of the night, with Tyson Gamble and Ponga again involved in the lead up. Ponga also kicked one from the sideline against the overall form of the evening. Both sides had chances to extend or reduce the gap, most notably Young who was denied a hat-trick by the Bunker.
Newcastle had one more try in them to wrap up the game, and this one came in the 73rd minute when Gamble was in support of Young line-break down the wing from halfway; coincidentally the line-break was set up by Gamble himself with a cut-out pass.
It was a good win for Newcastle to keep just two points behind the seventh-placed Eels, and it was their first ever win over the Wests Tigers on a Friday.
The Wests Tigers were as bad as the scoreline made out: they were quite good in patches with the ball, but their defence was not up to scratch at times, and it cost them this match. On the other hand, poor goalkicking also flattered the scoreline for the Tigers. It’s now six straight losses for the Tigers since their 66-18 win over the Cowboys, and they have only scored 67 points in those six losses.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Kalyn Ponga (Knights)
2 – Jahream Bula (Tigers)
1 – Dom Young (Knights)
