2006 Round 20 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs:
Newcastle 24 defeated South Sydney 18
Newcastle defeated South Sydney by 24 points to 18 for the second time in 2006, in a round 20 clash they were realistically always in control of, if mostly unconvincing in. The Knights shot out to a 24-0 lead at halftime, but could not add to that score in the second half, while conceding 18 points to the Rabbitohs.
It looked like being a profitable night for the home side (who desperately needed to improve their for and against) in the opening three minutes, when Brian Carney scored in the corner. An Andrew Johns break from an attempted tackle by John Sutton 40 metres out split the Souths defence, and Johns was able to find Carney who scored his 14th try of 2006.
It took until the 18th minute for the Knights to add to that score, but utilising good territory, Steve Simpson ran off a short Andrew Johns pass to muscle his way over. Johns added his second conversion, and Newcastle lead 12-0.
Newcastle scored quick back-to-back tries in the 31st and 35th minutes. First Andrew Johns took advantage of a Brian Carney bomb, after some haphazard attack by the Knights. The bomb was spilled by Todd Polglase in the Souths in-goal, and Andrew Johns caught the scraps to dive over. After numerous replays, the video referee correctly awarded the try. The final try of the half was simply a case of Kirk Reynoldson doing very well to charge across from a good Jarrod Mullen pass. Both tries were converted, and Newcastle would have been happy heading to the break 24-0 up.
South Sydney struck straight back though, when Paul Mellor scored after 4 minutes of the second half. Mellor was on the end of some good attack by South Sydney inside the Knights 20, in particular a flick pass given by Polglase to Mellor running inside was well done.
There was cause for concern eight minutes later when Souths crossed again, this time through hooker Stuart Webb. John Sutton made a half-break within the Knights 20 metre line, and with the Newcastle defence retreating, Sutton found Webb who was able to cross very easily. Newcastle paid for dropping their intensity thinking the ball was wrapped up, and of course, not wrapping the ball up.
The score remained 24-12 until three minutes were left on the clock, with Johns missing a penalty goal attempt to make the buffer 14 in that interval. It was Nathan Merritt who crossed for the final try of the match (for the seventh time in 2006). First of all Todd Polglase got the Rabbitohs moving forward with a successful chip and chase, then John Sutton put captain Peter Cusack into a half-gap, and in-turn Cusack found Merritt who raced 15 metres to score besides the posts. The conversion left Souths with the six point deficit, but it was always unlikely they would manage to score the neccessary points in the time left.
Souths were gutted at again just falling short. Newcastle were disappointed with an effort that saw them well in control at the break, only to fall apart in the second half. Large question marks still hang over the Knights season, some of which will be answered in the round 21 clash with Cronulla next Friday.
What they said:
Andrew Johns:
"[On being knocked out early in the second half] I don't remember anything. Just as well by the sound of things."
Michael Hagan:
"If you had of reviewed the game after 40 minutes you would have been pretty happy with that The second half wasn't as good, but they were very good in getting through their sets and making us work off their line."
"I don't know if we're talking about premierships at the moment. I saw enough against Melbourne to show that we're not too far off the pace. We won a game of football tonight and we can continue on. It's about being good enough in the coming weeks and being good enough in the end."
"Souths have got as many points in them as anyone.We have just got to accept the two points and improve again on that next week."
Shaun McRae:
"We showed a lot of courage (in the second half) which was really important."
"Six weeks ago we were in a game against the Warriors where we were down 32-0 at halftime and of course capitulated. That was a very humiliating, embarrassing day, and the way we played that first half tonight we were looking down the barrel of that again. So to come back and win the second half 18-0 is a terrific effort."