Key events
62 mins: Something has got to change, and fast, if the Knights are going to get back into this. Right now they are drowning, not waving.
TRY! Roosters 18-12 Knights (Nawaqanitawase, 60)
The Roosters are coming alright. This is irresistible. Time and again tonight they have wasted red zone possession and this time they get the rub of the green. DCE grubbers through the line, it ricochets off the upright to Tedesco, he sees a glimmer of space on the right, and that’s all Mark Nawaqanitawase needs to dash around the outside of Marzhew and dive over in the right corner.
Walker drags his touchline conversion across the face.
58 mins: Whyte stomps through the middle of Accor Stadium like Godzilla trampling a small central business district. The send ends with a forced dropout, which of course is followed by Daniel Tupou taking a speccy on the left wing. The Roosters are coming.
56 mins: If Newcastle thought their task couldn’t get any harder, on comes Whyte for his second stint to hammer the defensive line from the restart. The Knights hold out but how do they turn the tide their way? With ball in hand they are so slow to get back onside it’s almost impossible to offer anything creative. If the Roosters avoid errors it’s hard to see this lead doing anything but growing.
PENALTY! Roosters 14-12 Knights (Walker, 55)
The retreating Knights defence infringes off the ball and Walker is invited to kick his side in front for the first time this grand final. 30m out, just to the left of the uprights, and he makes no mistake.
Finally Sydney have control of the scoreboard to reflect their dominance of the football.
54 mins: At half-time Sydney were clearly instructed to run and offload more, and it is paying dividends. Walker in particular has impacted the game more, Tedesco and Nawaqanitawase are running the Knights ragged, and it only seems like a matter of time before Newcastle are unable to keep their guard up.
53 mins: This is an absolute pummelling from the Roosters. Another blistering set ends with a towering bomb that’s fumbled backwards by Marzhew and gathered on the ground by a white jersey. Nonetheless Sharpe still has to kick from downtown and Tedesco can run the kick return to halfway.
Sydney are going to blow this wide open very very soon.
51 mins: Magnificent restart set from the Roosters, led by Leniu, then cemented by the kick chase that pounds into Ponga on his own 10m line. In reply the Knights go through hands to the right and Ponga thinks he deserves a penalty for a late shot, but there’s nothing doing.
Halves touches in the opposition red zone: Sydney 38-1 Newcastle.
50 mins: Half-an-hour to go, scores level, the game on Sydney’s terms, can Newcastle find something?
CONVERTED TRY! Roosters 12-12 Knights (B Smith, 47)
Finally! Finally! The dam had to break eventually. There’s space on the left for Sydney as they evade the rush defence. Leniu starts it with his grunt. Walker shapes it with the tap pass. Foketi is strong to hold possession and offload to Smith on his outside and the centre does superbly to hold off McEwen and fall over the line with the pill tucked under his left arm.
Walker adds a left touchline conversion to his one from the right earlier, and the scores are level.
46 mins: How are Newcastle doing this!? Time after time Sydney hammer the defensive line threatening to pierce it but somehow the Knights keep laying tackles, putting bodies on the line. Foketi is hauled down inches from a score but the Roosters are denied yet again! But they get the ball back almost immediately as the exhausted Knights cough up cheap ball in theor own red zone.
45 mins: Tedesco, Butcher, DCE – Sydney trying to do it one-out. Newcastle keep standing up though, forcing the Roosters into a long pass out wide to Nawaqanitawase, who kicks ahead and forces the drop-out. Tupou again climbs highest to mark the restart and it’s another siege on the Knights’ line.
44 mins: Another solid but unspectacular drive from the Knights established field position but Nawaqanitawase and Tedesco soon have Easts over halfway and Leniu almost busts into the red zone. This time there is a kick – to the right corner, as you’d expect – and it’s knocked on in the air by Newcastle! Time for more defensive rope-a-dope.
42 mins: The Knights make 40m from the restart set, one that ends with Butcher collecting Ponga during his kicking motion but avoiding a penalty. The Roosters get straight back into their work with Tedesco and Walker both busy, until the latter rejects the kicking opportunity in favour of a snipe before being hauled down 10m out.
The teams are back out for the final half of the NRL season.
Evening Phil Withall: “As the sound of the most involved grand final sweeps across the hill behind my house, I can’t help but wonder how such a simple thing as sport (not just this match) can make no sense. Football’s offside rule confused me as a five year old, this match is doing the same. More of it please.”
The half-time stats only confirm Sydney’s incredible dominance.
Newcastle attempted zero attacking kicks in the opening half, missed 30 tackles, and completed just one offload. How are they ahead?
Jonathon, “an interested Pom watching from the UK”, emails in: “apart from the obvious fairytale narrative surrounding Newcastle, this is a great performance thus far – standing up and being counted when needed (and absorbing some big hits). What a weekend for the game – Super League grand final last night and the NRL this morning. Wonderful.”
That’s right, and with Wakefield triumphing at Old Trafford, could we be in for the second outsider success of the weekend? Just imagine Wakefield v Newcastle in the rugby league World Club Challenge …
Half-time: Roosters 6-12 Knights
Sydney dominated that half from go to woah but somehow it’s Newcastle who lead at the break.
38 mins: Sydney reach halfway with the restart set and Toia is up in a flash to haul down Ponga before he can stretch his legs. Newcastle make 40 in response before Sharpe hammers a kick towards Tedesco. Half-time is imminent.
CONVERTED TRY! Roosters 6-12 Knights (Nawaqanitawase, 35)
The exhausted Knights are barely playing with ball in hand any more but Smith buys his defence a breather with a massive boot. Sydney ghost downfield regardless. Cherry-Evans launches a bomb to the right wing. Toia claims it. He offloads in the direction of Nawaqanitawase but the Steeden bobbles – no bother – the dual code megastar dabs it forward with his right boot, then his left, in behind the Newcastle defence, perfectly weighted to pounce for a long overdue try.
Walker strokes over a vital two points from the right touchline.
34 mins: Tupou marks the drop-out and drives 5m out. Surely Sydney make this opportunity count. No! On tackle three the ball from Robson out of dummy-half is hammered straight into the oblivious Crichton who makes a far better door than window – and Newcastle are let off the hook yet again!
32 mins: For the second time tonight Newcastle make a restart error. Then there’s an early six again allowing Sydney a full set inside 20m. Four tackles come and go without firing a shot until Tedesco tries to chase his own grubber but Marzhew is alert to the danger and pushes the ball dead.
CONVERTED TRY! Roosters 0-12 Knights (Ponga, 31)
One of the all-time grand final tries! The kick to the right corner is spoiled in the air, it bounces at right angles, and into the waiting arms of … Kalyn Ponga! The Knights skipper is 90m from the opposing line, he’s just taken part in the previous tackle on Smith, and he tears off into the wide open spaces of Accor Stadium. Halfway comes and goes with only DCE in pursuit. Still he goes, towards the left corner, KALYN PONGA! Incredible!
Sandon Smith makes it two from two off the boot and unbelievably Newcastle are up by 12.
30 mins: Another Newcastle drive goes nowhere as Crichton and Leniu come off the bench to add some mongrel to the Sydney pack. They create the ground that invites Tedesco to feed Smith into space on the left. Gagai somehow executes a legs tackle so the Roosters kick on the last again, obviously to Nawaqanitawase in the right corner…
28 mins: Newcastle are treading water, barely making halfway then watching Tupou steam into the defensive line fully 30m from his own line. Sydney reload in midfield. DCE kicks from 30m. Ponga fails to hold on. The ball somehow bounces kindly for the team in white. If the Knights were a cat they would have used up most of their nine lives by now.
27 mins: The Sydney tsunami continues to pour over the Newcastle defence. So much possession, so little penetration. They get to the last again, 10m out. Can they finally find a target? YES THEY CAN! Walker jabs a wedge to the right corner for Nawaqanitawase to demonstrate his spring heels. Not only does he time his jump to perfection, he marks, contorts his body, and somehow puts the ball down under immense pressure from the cruise missile formerly known as Kalyn Ponga.
Hang on. The TMO is getting involved. Knock-on! There was separation between fingertip and ball thanks to Ponga’s flying tackle. So so so close. How have Sydney not scored yet!?
26 mins: Newcastle are not helping themselves. They go too tight coming out of defence and Marzhew runs out of space on the left and there’s a soft turnover near halfway. Sydney come back at warp speed. Surely the dam breaks soon. Or Victor Radley’s nose!? Bosh! Falling from a legs tackle the loose forward is collected by Ponga’s shoulder! Is that more than a penalty? No, just a report.
24 mins: Another Newcastle set goes nowhere. Sydney get a full set from close on halfway. Tedesco knows this is the moment to strike as fatigue sets in to the Knights defence. But yet again, on the last, the bomb is knocked on in the air by a Rooster! This is incredible. How have Easts not capitalised yet?
22 mins: The Knights make a meal coming out of defence with Sharpe missing his target and Best having to backtrack. Sharpe makes amends – and how! He belts the kick on the last fully 60m, with topspin, forcing Nawaqanitawase to run the ball back from his in-goal. Nonetheless the magnificent Whyte still shunts his team over halfway allowing DCE another opportunity to bomb. As is now customary, Ponga is beaten in the air but Sydney can’t make anything of the crumbs. The Knights continue to live dangerously.
20 mins: Sydney play at tempo to get within ten of the line then Walker kicks to the left corner on the last but Tupou can’t haul it in and Newcastle survive again.
18 mins: This time Whyte gets his just rewards, pounding Croker in the restart set, dislodging the bal and gifting his side a full set 35m out.
Sidenote: Tones and I’s Dance Monkey was played over the PA following Newcastle’s try. Salty, very very salty.
CONVERTED TRY! Roosters 0-6 Knights (Manuleleua, 16)
It’s been all Sydney so far in this grand final but it is Newcastle that open the scoring! Following the penalty the Knights set up camp 30m out and tease the Roosters that Ponga is going to run the show but they execute a sumptuous dummy play that instead sees Manuleleua hit the line at breakneck speed, cutting in from the left edge and scorching an unstoppable line under the crossbar. That was brilliant combination play from the underdogs.
Manuleleua has only played a handful of games, and he dislocated his elbow a month ago!
16 mins: Bosh! Is that the circuit breaker? Frizell is ironed out by a combination of Whyte and Collins – and Gee blows his whistle for the first time all night for a high shot. Whyte nailed his effort, taking man and ball, forcing a loose carry, but the second man in induced a clash of heads which prompted the penalty. Can NEwcastle capitalise?
15 mins: The game is all on Sydney’s racket. Newcastle are making no ground coming out defence and the Roosters are punching holes repeatedly in the defensive line. Walker shimmies through one tackle, Robson backs him up, another kick goes to a contest and again it comes down in blue hands – but again there’s no opening. The Knights are just about hanging on here, they need a circuit breaker before their pack runs out of puff…
13 mins: Newcastle gain good ground down the right with Gagai and Young busy. Smith then kicks crossfield on the last but it’s poor and shallow and Nawaqanitawase resumes on the 20. This has been a lightning quick start with no stoppages and both teams looking to play on quickly. Already some forwards look gassed. Sydney rumble to attacking 30 as per usual and Walker’s kick on the last is testing. Tedesco beats Ponga in the air, offloads to his right, but the ball goes to ground and the Knights have numbers to clear.
