2006 Round 17 vs Manly Warringah Sea Eagles:
Newcastle withstood a barrage of defence to end up with a comprehensive away win over their traditional rivals Manly in Round 17 of the 2006 premiership. Newcastle had the rough end of the stick when it came to penalties, territory and possession in the first half, but showed impressive resolve to keep their nose in front, and eventually run away with the victory.
Brian Carney opened the scoring in the 11th minute, when Newcastle got some rare possession inside the Manly 20. Matthew Gidley played the ball, then Andrew Johns at first receiver threw the ball straight back to him. Matthew Gidley was then able to deliver the pass back from whence it came, to Brian Carney, who crossed from the clever play. Johns was unable to convert, and Newcastle lead 4-0.
Manly dominated play from then on, and finally cracked the Knights in the 27th minute. Inside the Newcastle 10 metre zone, Matt Orford found Glenn Stewart on the inside in space, and Stewart gave the ball to Anthony Watmough, who showed good strength to crash over for a try. Orford converted to give Manly the lead at 6-4.
Johns equaled the scores with a penalty, before Jarrod Mullen put Newcastle with three minutes on the clock before halftime. A long Todd Lowrie run gave the Knights some good field position, and Mullen took a good inside pass from Matthew Gidley, stepped past a Manly defender, and forced the ball. Johns converted, and Newcastle took a 12-6 lead to the sheds.
Two tries in the first ten minutes after the break seemed to assure Newcastle of the two points. Deep inside their own half, Johns ran the ball before finding fill-in fullback Nathan Hinton, who made a long run downfield. The play the ball by Riley Brown took an age, seemingly crying out for a penalty, but from the next play a beautiful Andrew Johns pass put George Carmont in a saloon passage to the tryline.
The second part of the double blow was scored by Hinton, after his key role in the one previous. Inside the 20 again, Johns chip-bombed towards the posts on the last, and Hinton out-jumped the Manly defenders to score under the posts. Johns converted, and Newcastle held a convincing 24-6 lead.
Manly weren't prepared to give up though, and in the 56th minute Brett Stewart scored his obligatory try at Brookvale. Matt Orford kicked from a scrum on his own 40 metre line, and Stewart had too much pace for the unexpecting Knights defence. Orford converted from beside the posts, and reduced the margin to 12.
Manly did have their chances to reduce the deficit further, most notably when George Rose lost the ball when virtually over the line, but the Newcastle defence held solid, and eventually in the 78th minute, Johns kicked a penalty that extinguished their hopes.
Newcastle would have to be over the moon with their performance - after four consecutive losses they looked back to some of their best form. Of particular note was their defence. Andrew Johns - bagged in the media for below-par performances, was instrumental, Matthew Gidley set up several tries, and youngster Jarrod Mullen - filling in for the injured Kurt Gidley - gave the Knights another dimension in attack, especially with his impressive kicking game.
Manly would be left ruing their inability to break the Knights defence - in reality they had enough ball to win two matches.
What they said:
Andrew Johns:
"I think we're back on track. We've still got a way to go but things are looking a little bit better."
"I thought our forwards were tremendous tonight, they really tackled courageously and allowed us to control the ball well."
Michael Hagan:
"It was one of the most satisfying wins we've had this season. Our second-half performance was as good as it has been for a long time. We know we've got a lot of attacking ability in the team and to keep the opposition to 12 was something we've worked really hard on. It was a great defensive effort, right across the board."
Ben Kennedy:
"[On the concentration lapses] I really don't know [why it happens]. At certain times of games we just switch off. We defend well for four tackles and then make a mistake and the other team goes 100 metres. It just continues to happen."
"[On refereeing decisions] I said last week I'm sick of looking at outside things, we need to worry about what we're doing."
Des Hasler:
"It was very disappointing. The lapse just before half-time and another one just after half-time cost us. They were defensive lapses and the opposition capitalised on them. So we have to get our act together, because I can guarantee our next few games won't be easy ones either."
"Even at 24-12 I thought we had opportunities where we could have mounted pressure and didn't."