2006 Round 3 vs Bulldogs:
Newcastle 46 defeated Bulldogs 22.
It was billed as the battle of the two form sides in the competition, but the result was decided by halftime, as the Bulldogs became the latest side to discover Newcastle was a much-improved proposition in 2006 from the 2005 model. Newcastle skipped away to a 46-6 lead midway through the second half, before the Bulldogs hit back with a flurry of late points to make the final score 46-22.
The game began with a controversial decision by referee Steven Clark. Pinned on his own line, David Seage appeared to lose the ball, which Bulldogs stalwart Tony Grimaldi then regathered and raced away to the try-line. Clark opted not to use the video referee, however replays indicated the try should have been awarded.
Andrew Johns made the Bulldogs pay with consecutive penalties, the first of which made him only the third player to register 2000 individual points, and the first man to achieve this feat with a single club. The Bulldogs quickly replied however, when the kick-off after the second Johns-penalty found Josh Perry. Perry offloaded a pass into open territory, George Carmont missed the attempted pick-up, and El Masri regathered, then stepped through a few attempted tackles to score. The conversion made it 6-4 to the Bulldogs.
It was the last time the Bulldogs were in the game, however, as the Knights stepped into overdrive. Newcastle found field position, and a simple second-man play by Johns for Steve Simpson, who in-turn found Brian Carney with a multitude of space, provided the next try. Johns missed with the conversion, but was soon back at the kicking tee again, when Brent Sherwin attempted to find touch (and a scrum-feed) from a 20-metre tap restart - the kick went out on the full, and Johns added his third successful penalty of the night to make it 10-6 after 17 minutes.
The next scoring play could only be described as sensational. Kurt Gidley found Milton Thaiday on the inside, and he proceeded to carve through the Bulldogs defence. From 40 metres out he burst through the Bulldogs initial line of defence, changed direction to step past the fullback and a chaser, before stepping again back towards the posts and easily out-sprinting Bulldogs skipper Andrew Ryan to force the ball under the black dot.
The Bulldogs responded by kicking out on the full, giving the Knights a penalty on halfway and more premium field position. A quick play the ball after an incisive run by George Carmont gave Danny Buderus an almost straight run to the tryline as the markers over-read the play. The Johns conversion made the score 22-6 after half an hour.
The Bulldogs must have been desperate to keep Newcastle scoreless from that point until halftime, and hopefully add a try of their own to reduce the lead, but two more tries to the Knights left the Bulldogs camp in disarray. In the 36th minute a well-timed Kurt Gidley pass put Matthew Gidley on the outside of Willie Tonga, and Tonga couldn’t effect the tackle from 10 metres out. Then in the 40th minute, with more good field position, Kurt Gidley threw a pass that went to ground, and Milton Thaiday was there to pick up on the bounce and step around Tonga to score. The sideline Andrew Johns conversion made the halftime score 34-6, and it would have been a brave call to say the Bulldogs were still in with a chance.
Any lingering doubt over the result was crushed 12 minutes into the second-half, when Tolar took an intercept and ran 35 metres. Eventually a line dropout was forced, and from the subsequent set Andrew Johns gave an inside ball to Todd Lowrie, who showed excellent footwork to cross from 10 metres out.
The Knights scoring concluded when Thaiday completed his hat-trick with 22 minutes left on the clock. He was the recipient of a beautiful Andrew Johns pass down the short-side from about 10 metres out, and crossed untouched. Johns had no trouble converting from the sideline, making the score 46-6.
The Bulldogs did eventually strike back with three tries in 8 minutes, starting in the 66th. From short-range, the Bulldogs spread the ball from one sideline to the other, and Tonga found an unmarked Andrew Emelio who crossed for his debut try in first-grade.
At this point, Michael Hagan acted on a pre-season promise to rest the injury-prone Johns when a result was already beyond doubt. This seemed to have an impact on both sides, as firstly Danny Buderus found himself sin-binned for batting the ball away from a tackled player, then Willie Mason crossed untouched from a simple hit-up right on the Knights line.
Scoring was concluded 2 minutes later when Chris Armit found a big hole from the kick-off. He found Corey Hughes on his inside, who gave the pass to Luke Patten. Patten was caught on the 10-metre line, but not held, so he regained his feet to pass back to Hughes, who crossed for a fine try. It was an entertaining way to finish the night, but not entirely the entertaining finish the 25,000 strong crowd was hoping for.
Newcastle would certainly have taken a 46-22 win at the start of the night, but they would be disappointed with the final 15 minutes, especially their performance once Johns was replaced and Buderus sin-binned. If the subbing of Johns is to become a regular occurrence, then a much-improved game plan is required for when he departs, as the Knights looked rudderless without him on the park.
However, the first hour was as good as Newcastle have played for several years. The side looked extremely fit and ran all over the top of the Bulldogs. The forward pack was outstanding in neutralising the much-vaunted Bulldog six, with Josh Perry in particular enjoying one of his finest matches for a long time. Kurt Gidley continues to improve as an alternate option in attack to Andrew Johns, and Milton Thaiday was exceptional in collecting a hat-trick, earning rave-reviews and talk of a representative call-up in the not too distant future.
The Bulldogs were out-muscled and out-blasted all over the park, and could take little solace from their late flurry. After winning their first two games, it was a return to the mistake-riddled conclusion to their disappointing 2005 season.
What they said:
Danny Buderus:
"[On Thaiday looking to break into rep football] I'm sure he is and I wouldn't be surprised if he bobbed up in the Queensland team. Even if he didn't get the fullback spot, they could look at him for a bench spot. He'd be pretty dangerous."
Milton Thaiday:
"I just listen for Joey to tell me where to go. That's the only thing I can do. Wherever he wants me to be, I try to be there. I'm trying to get more and more involved in the game. There's still some work to do, but I'm trying hard."
"I'm looking for a Maroon jersey, that's for sure. I've got those representative ambitions, just like anybody else. I try not to think about it too much, because I don't want it to put me off my game, but I'm from Townsville and I'd love to play for Queensland."
Michael Hagan:
"[On Milton Thaiday] I don't know if there's a more exciting player in the game at the moment. He won our players' player award in the first and second rounds and he's won it again tonight - and there are obviously some pretty good players in this side."
"He's getting better with each game of football he plays and his understanding with our best players is getting better as well."
Steve Folkes:
"We just didn't have our heads on."