2006 Round 24 vs North Queensland Cowboys:
Newcastle 19 defeated North Queensland 12.
Newcastle broke a 10-match losing sequence without Andrew Johns that stretched all the way back to Round 26, 2003, when they overcame a North Queensland side desperate to keep their finals hopes alive.
It was always going to be a tough match for both sides - North Queensland needed a win to stay within contention of making the top-8, whilst Newcastle needed to win to stay within striking distance of the top four and a home semi final. In the end it was youngster Jarrod Mullen who again stole the show, coming up with several key plays, and guiding Newcastle around the field. Anthony Quinn also celebrated becoming the 21st Newcastle player to chalk up 100 first grade matches for the club, by scoring a brace of tries.
North Queensland opened the scoring in the 16th minute, when halfback Brent McConnell cut out three players on Newcastle's line and found Neil Sweeney in space down the flank. Former Knight Sweeney converted his own try, and it seemed to be all North Queensland in the opening half.
Newcastle came back against the run of play in the last 6 minute of the half though, through an Anthony Quinn double, to go to the break with an unexpected lead. First Quinn crossed after Jarrod Mullen offloaded from under the Cowboys posts, and consecutive long passes from Reegan Tanner, then the money ball from Daniel Abraham, found him with an open run to the line. Then from their own 40 metre line, with just 1:20 left on the clock, George Carmont found Jarrod Mullen with a nice offload. Mullen was able to outpace Cowboys captain Aaron Payne to really get into space, before passing on the inside to Quinn, who again had an unopposed 10 metre run to the line. Daniel Abraham converted the second try, and Newcastle hit the sheds leading 10-6.
If the Cowboys dominated general play in the first half, then it was all Newcastle in the second 40 minutes. Daniel Abraham kicked a penalty to make the lead 6 points in the 53rd minute, and Newcastle added another try three minutes later. From a scrum-feed on North Queensland's 10 metre line, Jarrod Mullen found a big hole running from first receiver, and crossed under the posts. Abraham converted, and Newcastle lead 18-6.
To North Queensland's credit, they did not give up, and did well to prevent Newcastle posting any further tries. They pegged back 6 points in the 67th minute, to give themselves a sniff of victory. Justin Smith, the man who missed the tackle on Mullen for him to post a try, muscled his way over from short range to redeem himself.
From that point on, Newcastle seemed to dominate play, but could not land the final knock-out punch. Eventually in the 78th minute, with it almost impossible for the Cowboys anyway, Jarrod Mullen added a one-pointer to end the Cowboys hopes for 2006.
Given the personnel missing for North Queensland, they put up a good battle. Newcastle would be over the moon with their win, but a just as difficult challenge loomed large next week against Penrith, with Andrew Johns again to be missing through suspension.
What they said:
Jarrod Mullen:
"It was a great challenge to drive the team around the park."
"[On the needles for his sternum injury] I think I got six before the game and then after half-time I got another six in the same spot. I thought I was going to be right, but just after half-time it was creeping back in a bit so I had to come off for a bit and get it needled again. It felt all right for the rest of the game."
"[On being texted by Johns after the match] It's hard to get the stamp of approval off him, but I got it tonight."
Dann Buderus:
"[On a high tackle] I haven't seen it but I thought it came off the ball. I wasn't going in there intentionally."
"[On not being captain] I had no problems - it's all for the team and the balance of the team. It's not a problem for me. don't have to deal with it and obviously the referees have made it clear that we're serial offenders and whatever. We've got to clean up our image."
Michael Hagan:
"[On Buderus' high tackle] I was a bit disappointed it got penalised, to be brutally honest."
"[On winning without Johns] We came here as a group pretty confident and determined we could get it done."