2006 Round 21 vs Cronulla Sutherland Sharks:
Newcastle 22 defeated Cronulla Sutherland 18
In a crucial match for both clubs finals hopes, Newcastle scored an important 22-18 away victory over Cronulla Sutherland in round 21 of the NRL premiership. A loss to either side could see them drop out of the top 8, while a win would see them much improve their chances of progressing up the ladder. And both sides gave their fans cause for optimism as the lead changed hands seven times throughout the match.
Cronulla opened the scoring in the 4th minute when Luke Covell piloted a simple penalty kick between the posts, courtesy of a dubious stripping decision against Josh Perry. But Newcastle opened the try-scoring books four minute later when George Carmont crossed, to an equally dubious call.
Andrew Johns put up a bomb towards Darren Albert's corner, and Albert obligingly dropped the kick. George Carmont regathered, but appeared to knock on as he forced the ball. Video referee Graeme West must have ruled that Carmont had just kept a thumb on the ball as he fell over the line, however, and gave the green light to the Knights.
Cronulla were quick to respond through Paul Gallen in the 14th minute. Trying the same bomb that had reaped Newcastle their first four-pointer, a miss by the Knights this time saw Darren Albert streak away downfield. He was seemingly set for the try-line, but Jarrod Mullen, still on his own 20-metre line receiving attention for a head-cut, was able to somehow make the tackle. Cronulla weren't fazed by the bad luck, however, and spread the ball wide, before Paul Gallen showed good elusiveness to shuffle back infield and evade several Knights defenders to score. Covell, shooting for the record of 30 successful shots at goal, and currently on 28, missed the simple conversion to leave the scores tied at 6 all.
It wasn't long before the Sharks did hit the lead though. In the 28th minute another good Paul Gallen run inside the Knights 20 ended with him offloading to Lance Thompson, who was able to crash over for a try next to the posts. This time Covell made no mistake with the conversion, and Cronulla looked set to go to the break at 12-6.
Newcastle did strike back just before halftime though, through perennial tryscorer Brian Carney. Following a George Carmont break downfield, Matthew Gidley did extremely well to suck in two Cronulla defenders and offload to Carney, who crossed easily. The play could have come from any match Gidley has played in in his long career, his uncanny ability to put his outside man in space once again paying dividends for the Knights. Johns missed with the conversion, handing Cronulla a two-point lead after 40 minutes.
Newcastle scored first in the second half, when Adam Woolnough crossed in the 51st minute. Taking advantage of a set in the Sharks 20, Danny Buderus darted out of dummy half, and gave the ball to Woolnough, who appeared to be running a decoy for Andrew Johns. Woolnough still had a couple of Cronulla defenders to beat, but managed to muscle past them to score a good try.
No sooner had Newcastle regained the lead than Cronulla snatched it right back. Some offloading by Cronulla had the Knights defence at sixes and sevens, and eventually Todd Lowrie slipped over in the greasy conditions, providing the gap for Reece Williams to slice through. Covell once again converted, and Cronulla lead by two points, 18-16.
The final scoring play of the night came 6 minutes later, an hour into the game. Matthew Gidley punched into the Sharks 10 metre zone, then Andrew Johns dummied his way across from the quick play the ball, using good decoy runs by his team-mates to keep the Cronulla defenders holding off. Johns converted his own try from besides the posts, to hand Newcastle a 22-18 lead.
Cronulla had plenty of ball and chances in the final 20 minutes to win the game, but Newcastle's defence did exceptionally to hold solid. Although often looking far from convincing, preferring to slide on their own line rather than rush up, Cronulla could not find a way through some very tough defence, and Newcastle defended their way to two points. Newcastle also had to make do with 16 men for most of the match, after Jarrod Mullen went off with an injury in the first half, and then defend with Todd Lowrie having pulled his hamstring for the final 10 minutes, having run out of replacements.
Cronulla would be very disappointed with the loss, failing to arrest a four match losing streak. At home, it was a crucial loss for their season, and they now find themselves with the prospect of being outside the top eight, from a top four position a month ago.
Newcastle will be happy with the win, but the real challenge for them is how they back it up. With four matches remaining before the finals, they realistically still need to win all four to give themselves a crack at the premiership. Injuries to Todd Lowrie and Jarrod Mullen (who had been in exceptional form) will not help, but with players like Kirk Reynoldson and Adam Woolnough really beginning to hit form, they will feel a winning streak is on the cards.
What they said:
Andrew Johns:
"Once we're in the semis, I think we've got the big-name players, I think we're a chance."
Michael Hagan:
"[On Andrew Johns] I thought one of his outstanding games as captain. He was extremely positive in his performance ... his vision and his awareness was again extremely good, his kicking game was of the highest order, I couldn't rap him enough."
Stuart Raper:
"We're playing at a certain level but it's not getting us a victory. This game's all about winning and we're not doing that at the moment. We've got to realise that, the players have got to realise that, sometimes doing so much is good but it's not good enough."