2007 Round 3 vs Canberra Raiders:
Canberra 48 defeated Newcastle 18.
Canberra tore the Knights apart on Monday night in Canberra Stadium, continuing their imposing record in the ACT against Newcastle. Newcastle competed for 50 minutes, until the Raiders pulled away with five unanswered tries.
Things started promisingly when Adam MacDougall crossed for his first try in Newcastle colours since 2003, in the 8th minute, thanks to a classy tip on from Cory Paterson. Canberra quickly hit back with a try to Marshall Chalk in the 14th minute, after a line break found Newcastle short of numbers on the sideline. Canberra scored the next two tries to leap to a 16-6 lead, through Lincoln Withers in the 20th minute and William Zillman in the 29th minute (despite Alan Tongue being well offside and encroaching inside the 10 metre zone in the tryscoring movement).
Newcastle struck back to go to halftime trailing 16-12 at halftime when Milton Thaiday hit an Andrew Johns pass at high speed to reach the line from ten metres out.
Michael Dobson added a penalty goal early in the second half, but Newcastle drew level two minutes later, when Cory Paterson crossed after an Andrew Johns cross-field kick found space.
That was to be the end of Newcastle's challenge however, as the Raider's put on five unanswered tries to end the contest. William Zillman, Scott Logan, Colin Best and Phil Graham all crossed in a 15 minute period to put the game beyond doubt, before William Zillman completed the rout and scored his hat-trick in the 79th minute. The final score was 48-18.
Newcastle looked lackluster in attack and defence. Against a side fancied by many to win the wooden spoon, their forwards were terrible, with the exception of youngster Cory Paterson. Canberra made 400 more metres than Newcastle throughout the game. Andrew Johns disappointed in his first game back from concussion, and the backline offered little penetration as a whole. The promise to concentrate on improving the side's defence during the season looked hollow, with the Knights defending as badly as they ever have.
What they said:
Brian Smith:
"It wasn't his best game, but we were all on the back foot. Andrew will play better next week and I'm sure other guys will, too."
[Is Origin distracting Johns?] "That's not a decision for me."
"They were more hungry and more intense. It's very disappointing."
Alan Tongue:
"The sky's the limit, I think. But we've already talked about not getting carried away. One day at a time, one week at a time."
William Zillman:
"We're not worried about what other people say. We've got to take it one game at a time, but at the same time we're not going to put any limits on ourselves. Wests Tigers were in a similar position a couple of years ago."