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Newcastle 25 defeated Parramatta 6.

Newcastle put a season of woe behind them to kick-off 2006 with a commanding 25-6 victory over the last year's minor premiers, Parramatta. A huge crowd of over 26,000 watched the game, providing a premium atmosphere to begin 2006.

There was plenty of intrigue heading into the game, with the respective coaches already signed up to swap clubs in 2007. Michael Hagan would have been ecstatic with his sides start as they burst out the blocks to score in their first set of six. Milton Thaiday regathered a loose ball before sprinting into space. He passed to Matthew Gidley, who was tackled, but a quick spread on the subsequent play saw Thaiday start what he finished and register the Knights first points of the year.

After the initial flurry, however, it was Parramatta who quickly got into a routine and began to dominate proceedings. For the next half hour they barely allowed Newcastle out of their own half. Parramatta's defence caused errors (particularly on final tackles, with Andrew Johns looking rushed on several occasions), and Tim Smith's kicking game saw the Knights frequently returning the ball from their own 20 metre zone.

This pressure had to tell on the scoreboard, and it was Michael Vella who converted the pressure into points. In the end it was a simple hit-out by the bench front-rower that saw the four-pointer registered underneath the posts, with Burt converting to give Parramatta a 6-4 lead.

The scoring for the first half was rounded out when Newcastle struck back with 5 minutes remaining before halftime. A Parramatta error, followed by a Newcastle penalty, allowed the Knights to set themselves inside the Eel's 20, and a simple overlap saw Brain Carney celebrate his first game for the club with a try. Kurt Gidley (handed the kicking duties due to a Johns groin strain) again missed with the conversion, leaving the score 8-6 at halftime.

Parramatta would have been disappointed to be behind at the break, having dominated territory for the majority of the game. Several times they had ideal scoring chances, only to lose the ball or throw a pressure pass. Any disappointment would have been intensified when Newcastle crossed minutes after halftime. After a string of offloads, Kurt Gidley stepped into space up the middle of the Parramatta defence from 40 metres out. He offloaded to Danny Buderus, who found Riley Brown with an open run to the line. The conversion from in front by a recovered Andrew Johns made the score 14-6.

8 minutes later the Knights capitalised on more good field position. 20 metres out Matt Gidley was able to target Tim Smith and virtually carried him 10 metres to dot down. Newcastle now led 18-6, and Parramatta must have felt the game slipping away from them.

More good field position by the Knights gave Johns the chance to add a field goal with 20 minutes left on the clock. Some may have questioned the wisdom of adding a one-pointer so far from fulltime, but the extra hurdle seemed to sap the Eels enthusiasm, and they were subsequently bereft of ideas to crack the Knights defence. Eventually the issue was put beyond even the bounds of a miracle when Adam Woolnough crashed through some tired Parramatta defence with 8 minutes remaining. The conversion gave the final score of 25-6.

Newcastle would be well pleased with their defence, holding on through waves of Parramatta attack in the first half, before the Knights forwards got a roll on and finished all over the top of the Eels in the second half. The Knights backs were always dangerous, especially Thaiday, who was electric with the ball in hand, if a little suspect under the bomb; and Carney, who got though a tremendous amount of work taking the ball out of dummy-half in his NRL debut. Johns appeared rushed at times in the first half, but shook off the rust and took control in the second 40 minutes. He was assisted by Kurt Gidley, who gave better help with general kicking after halftime.

Parramatta suffered for not converting their first-half dominance into points. However, they will not be too despondent, as their forwards showed that they are more than capable of laying the platform - this is exactly the same squad that finished with the minor premiership last year, and there is no reason to doubt that they will again feature in the top 4 in 2006.

What they said:

Andrew Johns:
"Our defence tonight was phenomenal, we just kept scrambling."
"We played, I suppose, a bit boring in attack, but we still scored 25 points. It's a good start."
"Brian [Carney] is going to be sensational for us."

Brian Carney:
"It was every bit as tough as I thought it would be."
"The crowds over in England have a reputation, and rightly so, for being very vocal. I'll say tonight, that was every bit as vocal. A full house in Newcastle, that's sensational."
"I'd heard a lot about it before the game. A couple of old women grabbed me yesterday and said they'd be roaring and shouting. I think I could hear them. It was every bit as good as I thought it would be."

Michael Hagan:
"It's an outstanding start for us. It was not only the winning of the game but the way we won. We toughed it out and weren't too flamboyant. We ground out a win. We're not going to be at our best for a couple of weeks but it's just nice to tough a win out."
"[On the coaching situation] The situation for me has been resolved for a long while and everyone knows what's going on. Whatever has been said needs to be left at that and we can get on with the rest of the year and just work with the players and enjoy it as much as I can and see what we can sort out. I don't think we need to go there, we'll just get on with it."

Brian Smith:
"We started poorly and didn't get much better. Some of our defensive sets were as good and strong as I've seen from a Parramatta team. But you can't keep asking that many questions of your defence by loading up so much pressure with poor handling."
"A few boys were off their game. A few boys were underdone."
"[On the coaching situation] It's weird, but none of that has been a distraction for the players. I'm sure they wouldn't try to use that as some sort of reason for the loss. It's been somewhat of a distraction for me this week, but I handled most of it on my day off. I wouldn't like to have a week like that every week. Maybe I just need to have a better day off next week and we'll be OK. I wish that was the answer."