2006 Round 2 vs Canberra Raiders:
Newcastle 70 defeated Canberra 32.
The Knights put years of heartache in Canberra to rest, Andrew Johns racked up 30 points, and 102 points were scored in the highest-scoring, and probably one of the most bizarre, premiership game ever played. Heat-wave conditions in the usually chilly Canberra led to a barrage of points and a 70-32 scoreline.
Newcastle entered the game having only once before beaten Canberra in the national capital - a lucky win in 2001 when Brett Finch kicked out on the full from a 20-metre restart to give Newcastle a winning kick for goal after fulltime. But there was no such fortune needed this time, as the Knights reached 70 for the first time in their 18-season history.
It began in promising enough fashion for the Raiders. A Milton Thaiday knock-on right in front of his posts gave them an early chance in Newcastle territory, and William Zillman, on first-grade debut, took advantage of a nice offload by Phil Graham to go over barely touched. Lincoln Withers, kicking for the first time in first-grade missed a sitter of a goal, and Canberra lead 4-0.
Newcastle quickly replied, however, when a short pass from Andrew Johns at dummy half found George Carmont, who crossed from a few metres out. Good field position again presented itself to the Knights in the 18th minute, and a Johns grubber hit the upright, was juggled and lost by Withers, before Johns trailed through to force the ball adjacent to the posts.
But Canberra crossed again quickly there-after, in what was appearing to become a to-and-fro contest. An overlap close to the Knights line gave Phil Graham the opportunity to dummy to his winger, before diving over himself. Another Withers goal went off target, to leave the score at 12-8 in favour of Newcastle.
With 10 minutes left in the half Canberra would not have been dismayed at a four-point deficit, but when 4 tries followed in the next 7 minutes, they would have cause to leave the field totally dejected. It began when Johns threw a short ball which was missed by Milton Thaiday, bounced into the arms of Carmont who appeared to knock-on, before being regathered by Anthony Quinn who athletically dived for the corner to put the ball down. Video replays were inconclusive, and the benefit of the doubt was awarded to Quinn.
The Knights went 100-metres from the kick off when Johns gave a short inside ball to Todd Lowrie 30 metres from his own line. Lowrie found Riley Brown who in-turn gave it to Kurt Gidley, who sped away over the remaining 40-metres to score.
Again Newcastle worked it 100 metres from the ensuing kick-off. By the 5th tackle they were well inside the 20 with the minimum of ball movement, Canberra tiring dramatically. A Kurt Gidley grubber towards the posts found Todd Lowrie, who was rewarded for his earlier line-break with a try.
The final nail in the coffin was a Canberra kick-off which went dead on the full. After the Knights kicked for touch, Buderus delayed a pass close to the line, the eventual pass hit the ground, and when Johns picked up he found himself in space and ran the try in from 3 metres out. With Johns converting 3 of the 4 tries, Newcastle had gone from 12-8 leaders in the 30th minute, to 34-8 leaders in the 40th - Canberra barely touching the ball in between.
Canberra struck back immediately after half time with two quick tries. Troy Thompson fended off Adam Woolnough to cross underneath the posts, and a Simon Woolford second man pass created a gap for Phil Graham to coast over.
Both tries were converted, reducing the deficit to 14 points, but it still seemed like only a matter of time before the Knights regained their roll. After regaining the ball from a Kurt Gidley chip, Reegan Tanner found space from a quick spread and forced his way through some flimsy defence. Canberra responded by again kicking dead on the full from the kick-off, and although Newcastle couldn’t take advantage of that error, they scored again soon after. Johns found Quinn on a short blindside, and he chipped inside where Kurt Gidley led a long list of expectant Knights chasers.
A play that seems to have found favour at Newcastle is Johns passing second man to Thaiday, who then provides a well-timed pass to a center in space. The man in space in the 61st minute was Matthew Gidley who went over almost untouched. The Johns conversion made it 52-20.
If spectators thought the game was already extremely open, 5 tries in the final 14 minutes would show them it could still be stepped up a notch. Zillman took an inside pass and broke through flimsy Newcastle defence in the 66th, Riley Brown broke through in a regulation hit-up in the 70th, Simpson stormed over from 30 out off a Johns inside flick pass in the 72nd, Alan Tongue raced through non-existent Newcastle defence in the 75th, and the final try, possibly the pick of the match, was scored in the 78th minute.
Starting inside their own 40, the ball was spread from one sideline to the other where Brian Carney made a long run. He found Matthew Gidley on the inside who rocketed a long inside pass back to Johns. Johns kicked towards the in-goal where the ball bounced on its point, perfectly into the arms of Carmont, who scored his second try. The conversion by Johns made the final score of 70-32.
Both sides were disappointed with their poor defence, but the extreme heat and lack of match fitness contributed to this. Newcastle will certainly need to improve for their round 3 match against the Bulldogs, while Canberra (who were rocked by several late withdrawals) faced a week of soul-searching after conceding the most points in their history. It was tough to find a bad player for the Knights, but Andrew Johns was brilliant, scoring his second highest haul of points in a single game. He also overtook Michael Cronin's 1971 points with his first try, to become the 3rd highest pointscorer in premiership history. The forward pack went forward like Energiser bunnies, considering the adverse conditions, with Steve Simpson, Josh Perry and Craig Smith proving particularly strong.
What they said:
Andrew Johns:
"It was an OK win. They [Canberra] were down on personnel, they've got a lot of players out. Their young forwards tried hard and they'll be good in a couple of years. It's a win, it's a win. It's already out of the mind."
Josh Perry:
"It’s a good win especially beating them at home, we’ve only beat them once down here before today and we certainly didn’t think we were going to put that many points on them that’s for sure."
Michael Hagan:
"It’s a bit of a milestone for us and a milestone for the game, I guess we came here with a plan to play well and win the game which we haven’t done too often down here to often, so I’m sure the points will get a fair mention in the post-match reviews but we came here with a job to do to get two points and we’re happy to take them and leave it at that really."
"In fairness to Canberra, they had a wounded team and plenty in the hurt bin."
"[On Johns playing the whole 80 minutes] He choose to stay on there and add to his points tally. He's got Jason Taylor in his sights."
Jason Croker:
"[On Canberra's post-match huddle] It was all about sticking together and not dwelling on it for too long. It's only two [competition] points and it's back on again next week."
Matthew Elliott:
"[Would the word horrible describe the loss?] That will do. I'm not going to under-react to it but I'm not going to over-react, either. There were a lot of contributing factors to what happened, but horrible is a good word. You can put in it capitals and hang it in a frame."
"Our first half was very disappointing because we played some dumb football. Our last-play options were quite costly. We have to look at our mentality when we concede that many points, because we have a reputation for showing up for games. But today we played on one side of the ball and not on the other."
"It was a unique match. I've never been in a match either here or in England as a player or a coach when I've had 70 points scored against us."
"That's what life's about, new experiences being tossed up. [But] I'd rather be sitting in [Hagan's] seat than mine."