2007 Round 12 vs Sydney Roosters:
Newcastle 22 defeated Sydney 18.
Newcastle rebounded from their record loss to Brisbane the week before with a performance full of heart against the Sydney Roosters. Behind by eight points with 18 minutes remaining, they scored two late tries, and held out a desperate Roosters side in the dying moments of the match.
As seems to be the Knights style, they conceded an early try - this time to Anthony Minichiello in the 3rd minute. Minichiello chased down a grubber to score an easy try that gave the Roosters a six-nil lead. Newcastle played their way into the match though, and lead at halftime. Firstly, James McManus scored in the 16th minute, after a Luke Walsh grubber was charged down back into Walsh's arms - leading to an overlap out wide. Then Cory Paterson leapt high to take a bomb from the boot of Walsh in the 37th minute, right before the break.
The Roosters took charge after halftime, with a couple of long-range tries. Firstly Braith Anasta finished off a break from the Roosters own half to hand Sydney the lead in the 48th minute, then Mitchell Pearce intercepted a Luke Walsh pass from well within his own half. A diabolical penalty was awarded to the Roosters in the 58th minute, leaving the deficit 18-10 to Sydney.
And then the comeback began, right on schedule - first Brad Tighe scored from an overlap after great work down the middle of the pitch by Cory Paterson and Danny Buderus, and then Nathan Hinton scored off a brilliant flick pass by Adam Woolnough with 11 minutes left on the clock. The conversion by Cory Paterson left the final score 22-18 to Newcastle.
Newcastle showed passion across the park (particularly considering five players were on their debut in red and blue for 2007), but Danny Buderus was outstanding, followed closely by Cory Paterson and Adam Woolnough. Young halfback Luke Walsh made a very promising debut, hinting at a big future in the NRL.
What they said:
Danny Buderus:
"The players just want to be judged on what happens once they cross that white stripe. We want to be a club full of spirit. That's what we're all about and the coach is putting that into us, that it's all for the players. I said during the week it's a young team, you've got to shake a game like that off and move on because the games are coming think and fast. If we're united, hopefully our fans can get behind us and come along for the ride."
"I didn't play last week but sitting at home, it's such a hard thing watching your team-mates go through a thing like that. And obviously the well-publicised player leaving the club in Clint ... that's going to shake any place."
Brian Smith:
"It was a tremendous effort. It was a trip to the penthouse from the other house. It's a cliche that a week in football can certainly see quick changes, it's amazing. This week it was down to the bloke beside me (Buderus) and the playing group as a whole. The way they pulled together, the way they addressed issues that were important and needed to be addressed was fantastic and it showed in the way they played tonight."
"I used to sit and watch Nathan Hindmarsh in the cold dead of night, when I felt like watching a video on how and why a player performs. Now I sit and watch the No9 at Newcastle. And while he's not the same stature, he's got a heart and mental picture of what it takes to be a winner. Some of the kick-chases he came up with, it was one hell of a performance. And that was only what he did on the field."
Chris Anderson:
"It's a disappointing result. We did enough to win the game and we came up with too many mistakes."