Round 11 of The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup kicks off on Saturday afternoon with two games on Saturday, including a blockbuster clash between Western Suburbs Magpies and Canberra Raiders. The round will conclude with two more games on Sunday afternoon, including the Parramatta Eels v Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles clash which will be streamed live on NSWRL TV.
Parramatta Eels v Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles
South Sydney Rabbitohs v Penrith Panthers
Western Suburbs Magpies v Canberra Raiders
Newtown Jets v St George Illawarra Dragons
Match: Jets v Dragons
Round 11 -
home Team
Jets
6th Position
away Team
Dragons
11th Position
Venue: Henson Park, Sydney
Jets thrill at home to soar over Dragons
Gerard Cronin
Newtown Jets snapped their two-game losing streak to thump St George-Illawarra Dragons 44-20 on a balmy Saturday afternoon at Henson Park.
The Dragons came into the match leading the NSW Cup for missed tackles and it would prove to be an issue in this game too, as rampaging Jets prop Franklin Pele crashed over in the first couple of minutes following smart dummy half play from Zac Woolford.
Then, straight from the kickoff, Pele looked more like his Brazilian footballer namesake, as he toyed with the Dragons defenders and raced 60 metres for a sensational individual effort, which the local ground announcer labelled as “the second best try I’ve ever seen”.
High praise indeed.
Trailing 12-0, St. George-Illawarra bounced back quickly though, as right wing Sam McCann grabbed their first try after some sharp work down the short side, then in the 22nd minute, centre James Schiller sliced through the Jets defence to score untouched and close the gap to 12-10.
Dangerous Jets dummy half Woolford then took matters into his own hands in the Dragons red zone - coming agonisingly close to scoring after beating multiple defenders. Then just seconds later, laying on a try for competition line-break leader Bronson Garlick.
The few minutes leading into halftime proved to be exhilarating for the 8,972 strong crowd, as both sides swung attacks from end-to-end – bringing about tries to Charly Runciman from the Dragons and Jets fullback Dylan O’Connor, which would send the teams to the sheds with a 24-16 Newtown lead.
A St George-Illawarra error straight from the second half kickoff saw the Jets swing straight onto attack, with Luke Metcalf sending a magnificent rainbow pass over for left wing Edward Aiono to fly through the air and score in the left-hand corner.
Once again though, the Saints would come marching straight back, as Sam McCann grabbed his second try to keep his side within striking distance at 28-20.
But as the final quarter wore on and the late afternoon shadows stretched across the field, the Dragons defence just couldn’t keep up with the strong finishing home side, as Nene MacDonald, Jonaia Lualua and Garlick all scored, to finish the job 44-20, in front of a bumper crowd.
Luke Metcalf also had a great day out, with two try assists and six conversions.
The Jets now have a bye week to freshen up, while it doesn’t get any easier for St. George-Illawarra, with a tough matchup against Western Suburbs next week.
Match: Magpies v Raiders
Round 11 -
home Team
Magpies
2nd Position
away Team
Raiders
7th Position
Venue: Lidcombe Oval, Sydney
Magpies make it eight in a row
Western Suburbs Magpies have extended their winning run to eight in a row with a 36-22 win over Canberra Raiders at Lidcombe Oval.
With the likes of Shawn Blore, Jock Madden, Michael Chee Kam and Jake Simpkin all backing up from their respective NRL commitments on Friday, coach Ben Gardiner's side proved too good for the visitors despite their continued efforts.
The Magpies grabbed the first three tries of the match to take an early 18-0 lead before the Raiders scored the next two to reduce the deficit to 18-12.
Magpies hooker Jake Simpkin grabbed a crucial try just before half-time to give his team a 22-12 lead at the break.
The Magpies grabbed the next two tries when play resumed to take a commanding 30-16 lead and never looked back from that point on.
Madden had a great day with the boot after landing all six conversions to keep the Magpies in second spot on the ladder.
Match: Rabbitohs v Panthers
Round 11 -
home Team
Rabbitohs
9th Position
away Team
Panthers
1st Position
Venue: Apex Oval, Dubbo
Panthers win Dubbo thriller to stay undefeated
Tom Gibbs
With a Kurt Falls penalty goal after the final whistle, the Penrith Panthers have recorded a 22-20 win against a fast-starting South Sydney Rabbitohs in Dubbo to remain unbeaten in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup.
After having the early share of possession, Rabbitohs halves Troy Dargan and Dean Hawkins took advantage of strong field position.
Dargan put in a pinpoint grubber to earn his side a forced dropout before Hawkins, moments later, handed off to Braidon Burns to score in the seventh minute. Hawkins added the extras for a 6-0 lead.
Hawkins was able to mastermind the second try for South Sydney, taking the ball from dummy half in his own end to nail a 20/40 kick.
The ensuing set saw the Rabbitohs shift to the left edge as Dargan threw a cut-out pass for winger Jacob Gagai to score in the corner. Hawkins’ attempt at goal was waved away, the score remaining 10-0 after 13 minutes.
Just three minutes later, the home side found themselves threatening the Penrith line again. This time Dargan opted for the flat ball on the left channel, laying on a four-pointer for centre Taane Milne.
In the 21st minute, the Panthers would soon reply when Jaemon broke into open pasture 40 metres from the try line. Panthers went to the right on following play and into the hands of fullback Sunia Turuva, powering through the line and fending off Dargan to get his side on the scoresheet.
The two sides traded several try-scoring opportunities for the remainder of the first half as the Rabbitohs took a 14-4 lead into the halftime break, giving the home side plenty of confidence after holding the competition leaders to a solitary try from 40 minutes of play.
Peter Wallace’s men began to hit their straps in the second half and, within a handful of sets, second row forward John Faiumu exploded through the Rabbitohs’ defence on the right edge before offloading just before the line.
Faiumu backed up on the immediate play to muscle his way over in the 43rd minute for Penrith’s second consecutive try of the afternoon. Kurt Falls was able to convert, narrowing the deficit to four.
South Sydney, however, refused to let their opposition get the better of them as they looked to halt Penrith’s momentum. From 30 metres out in the 51st minute, fullback Blake Taaffe burst onto a slick pass from Dean Hawkins behind an effective decoy run before drawing and passing to Dargan for a well-deserved try.
The Rabbitohs received another point-scoring opportunity nine minutes later after the Panthers conceded a high tackle penalty beside the upright. Hawkins had no issues kicking for an additional two points to extend South Sydney’s lead back to ten.
With less than 15 minutes remaining the Panthers weren’t backing down, this time breaking the line on the left side through Izack Tago, who then skipped infield through a handful of defenders to score under the posts for his ninth try of 2021. Falls slotted the conversion, lessening the margin to one converted try.
Not done yet with seven minutes left in the contest, the Panthers went to the air via the boot of Falls and grabbed hold of possession after a dropped catch from the Rabbitohs’ Steven Marsters. As Penrith went out wide the ball found the arms of winger Taylan May, who passed inside for Salmon to cross the stripe. Falls kicked the goal to level the scores at 22-all.
The thrilling match ultimately came down to the final 60 seconds as Penrith were setting up for a field goal attempt. Kurt Falls’ shot from 30 metres appeared to be charged down before receiving an offside penalty, allowing the halfback to comfortably seal the penalty goal and the ninth win on the trot for the ladder-leading Panthers.
Match: Eels v Sea Eagles
Round 11 -
home Team
Eels
4th Position
away Team
Sea Eagles
10th Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Simona soars as Sea Eagles shock Eels at home
Stewart Moses
A hat-trick to former NRL centre, Tim Simona has helped lowly Blacktown to a shock 34-24 win over Parramatta at Bankwest Stadium this afternoon.
In an entertaining contest despite the gap on the ladder between teams three and 11 coming into this round, scores were locked at the main break before Simona imposed himself on the game in the second half to enable the visitors to regain a lead they would never relinquish.
An early try in just the second minute to Parramatta hooker Nathaniel Roache was cancelled out 15 minutes later by a runaway 95-metre try to Blacktown’s Tim Simona. The latter’s try was scored against the run of play after Parramatta centre Michael Oldfield lost possession in a jolting tackle.
Five minutes later, Blacktown hooker Brad Keighran popped a short pass close to the line for backrower Jordan Leiu to reach out and score next to the posts to give the visitors a shock 12-6 lead after 24 minutes.
But just as Blacktown appeared to be getting on top, a charge down and regather by Eels back-rower Ray Stone saw scores level at 12-all on the half-hour mark, which would remain the score until the main break despite the best attempts of both sides to recapture the lead.
It would be Blacktown who would eventually regain the lead off an Eels error early in the second half to lead by six once more, after five-eighth Kauri Aupouri-Puketapu scored from close range.
The visitors extended the lead beyond six for the first time five minutes later with some brilliant backline play inside the Eels' 20 that ended in a second try to Simona and with Keighran having a day out with the boot, Blacktown suddenly led 24-12.
But with a little bit of favourable possession, the home side hit back in the 54th minute with a try out wide to back-rower Elie El-Zakhem, after a quick shift right caught the Blacktown defence napping. With the successful conversion from Jordan Rankin, the Eels were well and truly back in the hunt trailing 24-18.
Tim Simona, however, had other ideas and notched up his hat-trick in the 58th minute when he finished off another slick back-line move, crossing over in the south-west corner to give Blacktown a handy ten-point lead.
Just as the Eels looked certain to score and get back into the contest once more, Blacktown scrambled brilliantly to deny winger Haze Dunster the opportunity to score in the north-east corner.
When it looked like the Eels could score again with another set inside the Sea Eagles’ 20, a lost carry was gratefully received by winger Tolutau Koula to streak away 90m to score under the posts and extend Blacktown’s lead to 34-18 with five minutes remaining.
A converted try in the corner to Oldfield gave the Eels a faint hope in the 77th minute, but the visitors were able to hang on for one of the upset wins of the season despite being reduced to twelve men when Jorge Taufua was sent to the sin-bin.
Parramatta will now to look to bounce back next Saturday when they take on South Sydney, while Blacktown will be looking for their third win in a row when they travel north next Sunday to take on Newcastle.
Match: Bears v Mounties
Round 11 -
home Team
Bears
3rd Position
away Team
Mounties
8th Position
Venue: North Sydney Oval, Sydney
North Sydney Bears have broken a two-match losing streak with a much-needed 20-10 win over Mounties, with hooker/halfback Penioni Tagituimua becoming the first player from the Kaiviti Silktails to play in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup.
The Bears scored first before Mounties locked things up at 6-all but the home team never looked back from that point on after scoring three unanswered tries to take a 20-6 lead. Mounties scored just before full-time to put some respectability back in the scoreline.
Tagituimua entered the match in the 55th minute and was given a rousing celebration by his Silktails team-mates after the match who had come to North Sydney Oval to watch him play. The win sees the Bears in fifth position on the ladder and facing Canberra Raiders on Sunday.