Recap | The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup - Round 15

Match Summary 

Warriors Dominate Eels in Try-Fest at Kellyville Park

Ellery Behan

The New Zealand Warriors have executed a convincing 46-22 victory over the Parramatta Eels at Kellyville Park on Saturday afternoon, proving too strong despite a brave Eels comeback.

The home side got off to a horror start, coughing up possession on the opening set and leaking points down their right edge as Warriors five-eighth Luke Hanson sold a dummy to isolate his defender before offloading for Setu Tu who beat the fullback to score. Tanah Boyd slotted the conversion for a 6-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Eels to hit back, advancing upfield off the back of a penalty and a strong run from Alfred Smalley. Picking and probing at the competition’s best defence, Joey Lussick put his experience on display as he burrowed his way over from dummy half. Te Hurinui Twidle added the extras to lock it up at six apiece.

After a physical period of end-to-end football, New Zealand regained their lead with a slick short-side shift as Taine Tuaupiki found Morgan Harper on his outside who fended off his opposite man to dive over against his former club.

With the Warriors forced to shuffle their left edge as try scorer Setu Tu was forced from the field with a concussion, Parramatta worked the ball to their right to take advantage of the disruption. Brendan Hands gave an early ball out the back to Twidle, allowing him ample time to find winger Samuel Loizou who dived over to score. Twidle’s conversion attempt spectacularly deflected off the inside of the right upright before rebounding out off the left post, leaving the game tied at 10-all.

A Parramatta error on the resuming set allowed the pendulum to swing back in the visitors’ favour before the break, as Tuaupiki swept around the right side of the ruck for a short side move, finding Harper who drew in the Eels’ winger and got the ball to Daeon Amituanai on his outside who sailed over the try line, with Boyd converting from out wide to give the competition leaders a 16-10 lead at half-time.

The Warriors extended their lead in extraordinary fashion shortly after the break, as Edward Kosi read an Eels’ scrum play to perfection. The winger flew out of the line, snatched an arching cut-out ball out of thin air and offloaded to substitute centre Geronimo Doyle who traversed 60 metres of open pasture down the south-western touchline to score.

A 40/20 from Boyd on the resuming set put New Zealand in prime attacking territory once more. They didn’t waste the opportunity, executing a shift through the backline as Tuaupiki threw a cut-out ball to Daeon Amituanai who dived over in the corner for his second try of the game. Boyd converted from the sideline to put his side ahead by 18.

Working their way back into the contest through the middle of the park, Parramatta showed great resilience to cut the deficit to six as Te Hurinui Twidle assisted both Alfred Smalley and Liam Scolari to score within minutes of each other. As well as assisting the two tries, the fullback converted both from out wide – much to the delight of the Eels faithful at Kellyville Park.

Despite the valiant efforts of the blue and gold, the Warriors weathered the storm with tries from Kosi, Tuaupiki, and Hanson to close out a dominant 46-22 triumph on the road.

Talking Points

• The Warriors are shaping up as heavy competition favourites, extending their winning streak to 9 and boasting a 7-0 away record this season with only one loss against their name all year.
• Tanah Boyd’s outstanding 2025 form continued as he controlled the game for the visitors with a brilliant performance off the boot. He helped them pile on the points with a timely 40/20 and converted six of his side’s eight tries, with both of his misses bouncing off the uprights.
• Brothers Joey and Freddy Lussick faced off against each other for the first time this season, with the former winning something of a personal battle as he found the white stripe early in the piece, but the latter having the last laugh as New Zealand dominated in the end.
• Alfred Smalley was sent off in the dying stages of the contest for a gruesome high shot on Taine Tuaupiki that completely knocked the fullback out.

Key Moment

Trailing 16-10, the Parramatta Eels were given a golden opportunity to find points early in the second stanza as the Warriors coughed up possession on their own 40-metre line.

Moving the ball to the right off the scrum, the Eels looked to catch defenders napping as they floated a cut-out ball over to Samuel Loizou. But the pass was intercepted with a tremendous leap from Edward Kosi, who was quickly wrapped up by defenders but managed to offload to Geronimo Doyle who sprinted away to score.

Tanah Boyd converted from in front to make it 22-10, effectively opening the floodgates for the Warriors as they went on to score another four tries before full time.

What’s Next?

The Warriors will be back home next week against the Panthers on Saturday afternoon as they look to bring their win streak into double digits, whilst Parramatta will host Newcastle at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.

St George Illawarra Dragons v Penrith Panthers 

Match Summary 

Dragons Dominate In Homecoming

Bailey Whitton

A packed return to the Gong for the Dragons after being away since Round Eight, saw them dominate the Panthers for a decisive 38-6 victory.

Jonah Glover received the ball after a moments hesitation from the hooker. He drew the defence before passing to Lachlan Ilias, who threw a cut out to Sione Finau on the wing to get the Dragons an immediate try, capitalising of a Panthers error and getting on the board before five minutes had passed

The Panthers tried to create holes in the defence by drawing players out but the Dragons refused to bite, snuffing out the Panthers attack.

Both teams began attempting to turn the defence around with lots of big multi man tackles, each keeping them in their respective halves.

Panthers flinched first, jumping offside to give away a penalty followed by an extra 10 for dissent to the referee, breaking the stalemate and getting the Dragons a shot.

Ilias and Glover took full control of the next set, sneaking players through for like breaks with stunning combos, with a line set up by the two of them for Charles Heidke slicing through for a second try. 

The Dragons were quickly gifted another great attacking opportunity thanks to a Penrith penalty, and after peppering the Panthers with a series of longer plays, Connor Muhleisen sneaked Jarrah Gaia Treweek over with a crash play on the short side, getting try number three all within the first 20 minutes.

Dragons tried a tricky chip and chase followed by a grubber by Ramsey to keep it going. Panthers beat the Dragons to the ball and ran through the broken field but again, Ramsey saves it from being a try with a gasp of defence while recovering from being tackled.

The Dragons held over and over, refusing to let the Panthers on the board for the entire half, even when they had multiple penalties on the Dragons try line, they held firm, keeping the 14-0 lead.

The Panthers started the second half with a very solid set, having the Dragons coming out of their 10.

Dragons raided the right side thanks to the extra shots a penalty provided, with Ramsey sweeping and throwing a very short ball to Heidke for his second and the first of the half.

The minutes ticked away along with the Panthers hopes of a comeback until the 55th minute where it looked like they might have finally found their opportunity, giving them a clear run to the try line, but Ramsey refused to let it happen, rocketing over, latching onto the Panthers winger and stripping the ball dead to the raucous cheers of the home ground.

The Panthers forced some more errors from the weary Dragons line and after a few more sets of pressure, eventually the Dragons cracked, with a crash play from Preston Riki in the 61st minute finally getting the Panthers a sniff of the contest, taking the score to 20-6.

That was all they got though, with the Dragons taking offence to the removal of their clean sheet, piling on three more tries in the remaining minutes thanks mostly to the work of Jonah Glover.

First Glover created another opportunity for the Dragons, sending Heidke looking for a hat-trick down the middle before realising he wasn’t going to make it, passing it off to Ilias who strolled over for their fifth try.

Glover and Ilias came back once more, combining down the left edge, sending Finau over a double.

And finally Jonah Glover combined with Ramsey tossing the ball between the two for Glover to finish off the game with a well deserved try of his own, ending the game with by icing it with a conversion, 38-6.

Talking points

• Jonah Glover and Lachlan Ilias were combining like crazy in this match, creating attacking opportunities out of nothing and giving the team a great sense of direction and spark, something that could be helpful to their first grade side.
• Cody Ramsey was all effort all the time. Didn’t matter if he had just been tackled or was half way across the field, he was rushing across to aid in the attack or defend like his life depended on it at all times.
• Sione Finau showed so much confidence under the high ball, when the kicks went up towards him, he didn’t hesitate for a second. Even when the Panthers second phase play suddenly caught him contesting a bomb off his mark. 

Key moment

Ramsey’s defensive effort in the 55th minute of the game speaks to the quality of the dragons performance all game. Panthers got a break down the right side after the Dragons left edge rushed in and failed to shut it down, and they raced down to the goal. Ramsey was not going to let it slide however, rocketing over to the wing and stripping the ball free, doing everything he could to stop them getting on the board.

This happening when the Dragons were leading 20 points to nil. They didn’t get complacent and they kept on throwing everything at the Panthers, refusing to budge an inch.

What’s next?

Dragons look to beat the Magpies and continue their race for first.

Panthers go on to another hard challenge, from second today to the first placed warriors next week in Auckland.

Western Suburbs Magpies v Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 

Match Summary

Magpies extend unbeaten run with convincing victory over Sea Eagles

Anthony Eltarraf

The Western Suburbs Magpies continued their steady rise in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup, notching a convincing 32-10 win over the Manly Sea Eagles this afternoon at Lidcombe Oval.

Off the back of two straight wins and an impressive comeback that saw them draw with the Bulldogs last week, the Magpies looked to continue their form, while the Sea Eagles came in hoping to carry over their form from a strong win against the Knights.

Manly opened the scoring early when a clever grubber down the short side found Brandon Wakeham, who planted the ball in the corner.

From there however, it was all one way traffic. The Magpies responded with two quick tries to swing momentum.

Kit Laulii ran a sharp line to crash over in the middle of the park, before a strong run and offload from Charlie Murray set up Jaxson Rahme, who powered through defenders to score. Wests took a 12-4 lead into the sheds.

The second half saw the Magpies pick up right where they left off. A bomb from Kurt Falls found a leaping Charlie Staines, who rose above the pack to extend the lead. Two penalty goals pushed the margin out to 22-10, giving Wests a comfortable buffer.

The play of the day came soon after when Izaac Tu’itupou burned down the left edge and found Krystian Mapapalangi in support, finishing a slick team try that summed up the Magpies’ afternoon.

Manly crossed for a late consolation try, but the Magpies had done more than enough to seal the deal, walking away 32-10 winners in front of their home crowd.

Talking Points

• A week after making his NRL debut, Charlie Murray played a key role through the middle with strong carries and smart offloads.
• Wests are beginning to string together consistent performances, building nicely into the middle of the season.
• The Magpies held Manly to just two tries, showing improved resilience without the ball.

Key Moment

Charlie Murray’s offload to Jaxson Rahme midway through the first half proved a turning point. It not only gave the Magpies the lead but shifted the momentum firmly in their favour, setting the tone for the rest of the match.

What’s Next?

The Magpies look to continue their run of form as they head to Wollongong next week to face the St George Illawarra Dragons, while Manly are on the road again as they go up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Accor Stadium.

Newcastle Knights v Sydney Roosters

South Sydney Rabbitohs v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 

Match Summary

Souths stun Bulldogs with second half onslaught to climb off the bottom of the ladder

Stewart Moses

The South Sydney Rabbitohs twice overcame first half deficits to put a dent into the Canterbury Bulldogs' finals aspirations with an upset 36-22 win at Accor Stadium this afternoon.

Having trailed 8-0 and then 12-6 at the main break, the Rabbitohs stunned the Bulldogs with a five unanswered tries in the second half to reverse their Round Seven 62-18 trouncing at the hands of their opponents and in the process move off the bottom of The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup ladder.

The loss for the Bulldogs, minus a plethora of NRL experienced personnel, means they drop back to seventh spot on the ladder and are now three points behind top five rivals, the Panthers and Jets.

The Bulldogs started brightly enough, taking advantage of some early HIA issues suffered by the Rabbitohs' Matt French and Fletcher Myers, to open the scoring when winger Jordi Mazzone scored over on the eastern side of the field in the 10th minute, to give the Blue and Whites an early 4-0 advantage.

Off the back of a Souths turnover, the Bulldogs doubled their lead midway through the opening half when quick hands from back rower Logan Spinks and half Joseph Teaupa, resulted to a try to winger Jonathon Sua in the northwest corner, again unconverted by five-eighth Cassius Tua to leave the visitors 8-0 up.

Souths hit back with a try of their own in the 28th minute when a deft grubber into the in-goal was pounced upon by replacement forward Henry O'Kane and with the successful conversion from five-eighth Ashton Ward, the Rabbitohs despite being outplayed for much of the half, suddenly trailed by just the two points. 

The Bulldogs replied with their third unconverted try when a kick ahead into open spaces was regathered by centre Danny Gabriel, who went over in the corner untouched to extend the lead back out to six, with eight minutes remaining to the main break.

Having trailed 12-6 at halftime, Souths turned the game on its head early in the second half, scoring five unanswered tries to take control of the game.

The first of those tries came when quick hands left enabled interchange replacement Leonard Skelton to score in the north west corner and with Ward's conversion, score were level, 12 a piece after 45 minutes.

From the ensuing set, Souths were in again when the Bulldogs defence were unable to stop a strong charge at the line by Ward, with the Rabbitohs crashing over next to the posts to give the Rabbitohs a massive boost in confidence suddenly leading 18-12.

Midway through the second half, Souths stunned the Bulldogs with their third consecutive converted try, after O'Kane was rewarded for a determined effort, with his second try for the afternoon, pushing the home side further in front with the biggest lead of the game, 24-12.

Two more converted tries to the Rabbitohs, through Daniel O'Donnell in the 64th minute and Tim Johannssen in the 68th minute, put the game beyond the Bulldogs' reach trailing 36-12. 

The Bulldogs finally stemmed the flow of points to their opponents when a regather from the kick-off allowed centre Enari Tuala to score untouched in the south west corner in the 71st minute, again unconverted. A late try to Gabriel on the stroke of full-time, his second of the afternoon, converted by Sua, added some respectability to the 36-22 scoreline.  

Talking Points

• Souths came into this clash in last place having won just three games all season prior to today's clash, against their sixth-placed opponents and looking to avenge a heavy 62-18 Round Seven loss at the hands of the Bulldogs.
• The Bulldogs enjoyed 9-1 win-loss advantage over their opponents coming into this game.
  Souths' stunning win came despite early HIA's suffered by Fletcher Myers and Matt French, the latter required to be replaced by 18th man Leonard Skelton.
• The Bulldogs were missing the likes of Blake Taaffe, Blake Wilson, Drew Hutchinson, Jake Turpin and Kurtis Morrin.
• Souths' five-eighth Ashton Ward, had a productive afternoon, scoring 16 points from a try and six conversions from as many attempts.

 Key Moment

The Bulldogs had the better of play in the first half to lead 12-6 at the break. But once Souths got their act together and cut the mistakes from their game, their enthusiasm shined with five unanswered second half tries to stun their more fancied opponents.

The two tries scored off consecutive sets to Skelton and Ward, within the opening ten minutes of the half, put the Rabbitohs into the lead for the first time, and were never headed from there.  

What's Next? 

The seventh-placed Bulldogs will host the Canberra Raiders at Belmore Sports Ground next Saturday while the Rabbitohs will be desperate to record back-to-back wins when they take on the Manly Sea Eagles, later in the day at Accor Stadium.

North Sydney Bears v Canberra Raiders 

Match Summary 

Bears Hang on in Sunday Afternoon Thriller

Mason Cernoy

North Sydney have come away with a tight win against Canberra this afternoon in an absolutely thrilling contest which saw six lead changes and wasn’t over until the final whistle.

It was a tightly contested first half where the two sides were hard to split. The Raiders were winning the field position battle early and found themselves on the attack in their first set of the game. After a contest led to another set for Canberra, and they were awarded with a six again, they found first points early on when Vena Patuki-Case crashed over with ease.

Canberra kept their foot on the gas and were having no trouble getting into attacking territory. Kick contests were leading to more attacking sets for them and they were setting up shop in the Bears 20. It wasn’t until Tuipulotu Katoa came up with a really good defensive read and jammed Canberra’s right edge that they finally had some ball.

As North Sydney tried to fight their way out of their own end, Canberra met them with lots of intensity. Too eager to keep the pressure on the Bears, they were found to be offside and really let them off the hook. Getting to play the ball past halfway for the first time in the Match, the Bears worked their way into good territory and were able to send Matt Stimson over to close the margin off the back of some slick ball playing from Jake Toby and Jesse Marschke.

Jake Toby’s running game continued to cause headaches for Canberra, and when they started to lose their way with discipline and completions, Toby made them pay with his dancing feet when he scurried his way around four defenders to crash over under the sticks.

The Bears now had all the momentum and were looking to apply the blowtorch. It wasn’t until Kain Anderson had the ball stripped from him with three in the tackle that the Raiders were able to escape their own half. They took their opportunity with two hands when Danny Levi put a sneaky grubber through the line and Myles Martin was there to pounce on it and reclaim the lead for Canberra.

Unfortunately Canberra came up with an error in their own end shortly after which led to Toby sending Siulagi Pio over in the corner.

At 14-12, the game was in the balance. It was such an arm wrestle the whole first half, but it was the Bears who went into the sheds with the wind in their sails when Jesse Marshcke scored a beautiful try right before halftime. Toby was probing the left edge until he found a gap to absolutely steam into. He then found Matt Stimson on his inside who was able to keep it alive and find his captain to finish the job.

The Bears may have finished the first half with all the ascendancy but the Raiders found it shortly after play resumed when they were awarded the first penalty of the half. Manaia Waitere took an elusive carry and was struck high after fooling a few defenders. It took a few minutes of attacking the line, but they managed to strike back when Ethan Sanders threw a floater out to Jensen Taumoepeau, who walked the tightrope well enough to get to the corner.

This opened the floodgates for Canberra, who came up with two long range efforts shortly after that were absolute champagne rugby league. The impact of Shaun Packer can not be understated, who finished off a break made by Noah Martin, before returning the favour when he sliced through the Bears line with ease on his 30 and found him in support to barrel over Toby to finish the effort.

All of a sudden after North Sydney’s strong finish to the first half, the Raiders had scored three tries in 10 minutes to claim a 28-20 lead. When Canberra’s hot streak ended with an error near halfway, it felt like it was now do or die for the Bears. They managed to hit back when Compton Fuatimau was able to make something out of nothing and shake and bake his way into the corner.

At 26-28, the match was at its most intense. There were very little stoppages in play, and both teams were making each other work out of their 20 consistently. With both teams attacking, completing, and defending well, it was really becoming a shootout of who would make the next error. Unfortunately, Sanders got his last tackle option wrong and kicked the ball out on the full.

As the first side to start a set anywhere near halfway since the last points, the Bears rallied. They steamed their way upfield, and found a try through unconventional circumstances when Trey Brown pounced on a loose ball in the corner to reclaim the lead for the Bears.

From there, there were a few crucial defensive efforts that resulted in victory for the red and black. Ofahiki Ogden showed plenty of effort and desperation to dive on an Adam Cook grubber that ricocheted off the goalposts, before Katoa came up with another crucial effort to take Taumoepeau into touch off the back of a dangerous looking spread.

Holding onto their four point lead, the game remained in the balance for the Bears. Ethan Sanders sold a dummy to them and sliced straight through the line. His run looked extremely threatening, but unfortunately his offload hit the deck and Coby Thomas out enthused all the Canberra players to get to the ball first and dive on it with less than five to play.

The Bears were conservatively working their way up the field until Toby was collected high and the Bears were awarded a penalty with three minutes left on the clock. Looking to wind down the clock, Brown lined up for the shot at goal. Mayhem broke loose when the ball struck the post, and Jayden Yates ended up getting knocked out in the commotion, leading to an all-in scuffle from both sides, and another Bears penalty to finish the match, where Brown’s second goal attempt flew over the posts after the siren sounded.

Talking Points

• Jake Toby is an absolute live wire for North Sydney and his elusive style results in line breaks, tries, or penalties extremely often. His energy rubs off on the rest of his side and constantly puts the opposition in doubt
• Tuipulotu Katoa came up with some crucial defensive plays throughout the game and his kick chase was a consistent source of pressure for Taumoepeau.
• Shaun Packer’s impact on this game was massive and he orchestrated the Raiders storm from eight points down to an eight point lead in just 10 minutes

Key Moment

Ofahiki Ogden’s clean up work on Cook’s grubber was absolutely crucial to the Bears victory this afternoon. The variable of a goalpost deflection is enough to throw off defenders and result in points extremly often, and if it weren’t for Ogden’s efforts to dive on the ball Canberra would’ve claimed a late lead that they would not have given up easily.

What’s Next?

The Raiders will take on the Bulldogs at Belmore next week as both sides look to avoid going five weeks without a win. The Bears are hosting the Jets in what promises to be another classic NSW Cup blockbuster.