2007 Round 25 vs Wests Tigers:
Newcastle 26 defeated Wests 24.
Newcastle ended 2007 in the best possible fashion in round 25. After yet another turbulent week - Andrew Johns confessing he used recreational drugs throughout his career and the ongoing Kirk Reynoldson drama - the Knights emerged with one of their finest performances of the year to end Wests’ season.
With several poor performances from referee Paul Simpkins dogging the Knights, as well as the come from behind nature of the game, it was also a gutsy win. It took until after fulltime for Newcastle to lead for the first time in the match.
Wests opened the scoring with two tries - first after a frantic opening John Morris scored in the 16th minute, off a well placed Robbie Farah grubber. Benji Marshall crossed not long after in the 23rd, despite protestations. Kicking ahead for himself, the kick appeared too long until it hit the upright and stopped dead. Referee Paul Simpkins appeared to significantly interfere with Kurt Gidley’s efforts to get to the ball, but the try was awarded without reference to the video referee.
Newcastle got into the match to trail by six at the break, when Cory Paterson jumped right over Brett Hodgson to take a Luke Walsh bomb, then run 20 metres to score.
Benji Marshall added a penalty to take the lead to eight soon after halftime, but Newcastle scored the first try of the second stanza. Jesse Royal and Cory Paterson produced great offloads to open up space for George Carmont 40 metres out, and he spun away from tackles and put Cooper Vuna away for a a 20 metre run to the line.
Wests looked to have wrapped up the match when they scored the next two tries, however. First Benji Marshall put Ben Te’o into a gap from 40 metres out, and backed up on the inside to score next to the posts, then some brilliant offloads close to the line saw Chris Lawrence cross with 15 minutes left. Marshall missed the conversion, meaning Newcastle had a glimmer of hope, trailing by 12.
That glimmer was all they needed, as they stormed back into the match in the final ten minutes. First Adam Woolnough offloaded for Steve Simpson, who juggled the ball before giving it to Kurt Gidley to score under the posts. Gidley got close again moments later, but was pulled up for a double movement. Newcastle didn’t concede however, and with two minutes remaining George Carmont flicked a pass for Cooper Vuna to find space. Vuna grubbered ahead from 40 metres out, got a perfect bounce and raced around to score under the posts. It was undoubtedly the try of the match, and reminiscent of Jarryd Hayne’s famous effort in Origin 1 this year.
Then, with seconds remaining, Cory Paterson stripped the ball from Wests, and from the confusion from the play the ball, Danny Buderus found three markers, ran at them and got a penalty from 30 metres out. Kurt Gidley showed nerves of steel to steer the goal right down the middle, and Newcastle had their first win in eight matches - leading to exuberant celebrations on the field.
The whole team played really well, but Kurt Gidley, Cooper Vuna, Danny Buderus and Cory Paterson stood out, while Jesse Royal had a blinder of a game, being presented man of the match for his brilliant offloads and bullocking charges. Penrith lost to the Warriors 24-20 on Saturday night, meaning that Newcastle's 14 points in the final seven minutes had seen them avoid the wooden spoon for 2007 in fairytale style.
What they said:
Danny Buderus:
[Is he relieved the season is over?] "Without a doubt. I can't wait to get home, drop the bag and put the boots down. I think I'll throw them in the bin."
Brian Smith:
"It's been a tough slog for us in the back third of the season. The pressure that has been generated from a couple of sections of the Sydney media has really added to the pressure on us. If they were trying to make sure we came last, they couldn't have done a better job. The season that we've endured has been one that very few other clubs would have been able to survive like we have."
"They showed a lot of guts to fight back like they did, and some of the young boys were at the heart of it. They're good signs for us for next year."
[On how Wests would be feeling] "It ain't no different to finishing last, I'll tell you. If anything, the further you go and the bigger the loss, the more the hurt."
[On Andrew Johns' drug confession the night before] "It was one of the most courageous things I've ever seen. The man himself as a footballer, he did things like playing with busted ribs, or whatever the situation was in '97 when they won a grand final. You can't play and do all those things he did on the field and not be an enormous performer. But to expose your inner feelings like Andrew did … so many of us, particularly us male people, tend to lock up everything that goes wrong in our lives. I think Andrew did something that was particularly special, pretty courageous."
Brett Hodgson:
"We're just shattered. The disappointing thing for us is the incentive to make the finals was not as big as for them to avoid the wooden spoon."
Tim Sheens:
"Let's try and not make this too painful, shall we. It's over now, so it's not much use whingeing about anything. We've come up short and it's been our season most of the year."