ROUND 15 MATCH REPORT | Newcastle Knights 12-0 North Queensland Cowboys

Julian Vella reviews a dour Sunday afternoon clash between the Newcastle Knights and North Queensland Cowboys. Here’s how the game went.

MATCH TIMELINE

MATCH SUMMARY

1st Half

Newcastle started fast out of the blocks with a strong first half breeze behind their backs, but despite an early 40/20 by captain Mitchell Pearce, the Knights’ attack lacked cohesion and was repelled by a resolute Cowboys defence. But, with the weight of possession and a string of offloads, the Knights finally crossed the line first through winger Hymel Hunt after Pearce and Kalyn Ponga combined to put him over.

Newcastle’s season has been cruelled by injuries throughout the campaign, so when new recruit Blake Green went down with a knee injury in the 18th minute, coach Adam O’Brien must have been thinking who he had wronged to endure such a bad run of luck. Green was brought into the squad as injury replacement for Andrew McCullough, who was himself brought into the squad to cover the injury of Jayden Brailey.

Whilst Newcastle continued to dominate proceedings, the Cowboys’ defence held on bravely under heavy pressure; Newcastle looked like scoring on a few occasions, but they couldn’t find the last pass. The tables turned in the final stages of the first half as North Queensland were on the attack and received a penalty: Coen Hess took a quick tap before being tackled by an offside Pearce. This left the referee Adam Gee with no choice but to send the Knights’ captain to the sin bin.

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2nd Half

After having all the running in the first half, Newcastle started the second half under the pump: Green was gone with an ACL injury, Starford Toa was ruled out by HIA, and they were down to 12 men with Pearce in the bin. But the Cowboys weren’t able to take advantage of the Knights’ misfortune, after having an attacking scrum on the Knights’ 20 metre line, they turned the ball over as Ponga ran down to the Cowboys’ danger end.

This time it was a Cowboys’ player that was sent to the sin bin, as Mitchell Dunn committed the same crime as Pearce had in the first half. Just as the Cowboys had failed to take advantage of the extra man, Newcastle also failed to put points on the board with Dunn in the sin bin. Newcastle had two tries by Hermen Ese’ese and Lachlan Fitzgibbon disallowed, whilst the Cowboys lost their talisman Jason Taumalolo, who hobbled off with what looked like a serious leg injury.

Newcastle again went close as Aiden Guerra caught a cross-field kick from Pearce, but the Cowboys got players underneath the ball to again deny the Knights. Although they failed to score a try, the Knights were awarded a penalty for offside on the same play; Ponga converted this attempt at penalty goal after missing his previous attempt. As the game looked like it was heading to an exciting finish, the opposite happened as the Cowboys ran out of gas and the game fizzled out.

Newcastle did finish the game on a bright note as Ponga supplied a delightful cut-out pass to winger Enari Tuala, who crossed in the corner for the final act of the match. A game that lacked any real spark turned out to be a costly match for both sides, with serious injuries to key players. For the Cowboys, this loss continued their eight-game losing streak, whilst for the Knights they’re one win closer to clinching their first finals berth since 2013.

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GAME HIGHLIGHT

In what was a dour affair, it was hard to find many highlights – if any – but for the Knights to keep their opponents to zero will have pleased their coach Adam O’Brien. But the most exciting play in the match was when the Cowboys had an attacking scrum on the Knights’ 20 metre line; with Pearce still in the bin it looked as though this was the Cowboys’ chance to strike back.

But a foot race was on as a loose pass from Jake Granville was pounced upon by Kalyn Ponga; Ponga was able to beat a couple of chasing defenders, but was finally brought down at the 10-metre line. The Knights continued their attack before Dunn was sin binned; this was not only the highlight of the match, it was the most crucial play as the Cowboys never looked likely again.

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SQUADS

Knights: 1. Kalyn Ponga, 2. Starford To’a, 3. Enari Tuala, 4. Gehamat Shibasaki, 5. Hymel Hunt, 6. Blake Green, 7. Mitchell Pearce (c), 8. David Klemmer, 9. Kurt Mann, 10. Jacob Saifiti, 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12. Aidan Guerra, 13. Mitchell Barnett. Interchange: 14. Phoenix Crossland, 15. Herman Ese’ese, 16. Josh King, 17. Pasami Saulo.

Cowboys: 1. Scott Drinkwater, 2. Kyle Feldt, 3. Tom Opacic, 22. Justin O’Neill, 5. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, 6. Ben Hampton, 7. Michael Morgan (c), 8. Josh McGuire, 14. Reuben Cotter, 10. Jordan McLean 11. Mitchell Dunn, 12. Coen Hess, 13. Jason Taumalolo. Interchange: 15. John Asiata, 17. Francis Molo, 20. Corey Jensen, 21 Jake Granville.