The Sydney Roosters have jagged a 12-8 win over a depleted Newcastle outfit, however the victory didn’t come without its controversy at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Despite missing four stars to Origin duty on top of losing Egan Butchr and Victor Radley to head knocks, the tricolours held firm in a dour affair in the Hunter.
Both sides sizzled during the last Origin-affected round, Newcastle dismantling Penrith just hours before the Roosters put 40 on Cronulla at Central Coast Stadium.
However it was a tale of two halves for Newcastle last weekend against Manly, booed off after trailing 16-0, only to snare a thrilling 26-22 victory in golden point.
Despite only losing one player to Origin duties compared to the Roosters’ four, the Knights lost Fletcher Sharpe to a calf niggle the day before the game, a monster blow on the eve of such an integral clash.
But even if the bookmakers had them installed as massive underdogs, they certainly didn’t know it, crossing for the opener just three minutes into the contest.
A break from Dylan Lucas down the middle left the Chooks scrambling, a quick play-the-ball swinging the ball out left to Jack Cogger, before finding rookie centre Kyle McCarthy to dive over for his first NRL try.
Headliners were writing themselves as game geared up, Jackson Hastings recalled for his first game in the top grade since Round 20 last season, while Dom Young ran out in Roosters’ colours for potentially the last time.
After some back and forth between the clubs, Young is expected to rejoin Newcastle on Monday after a subpar 18 months in Bondi, with head coach Trent Robinson confirming the move post-match.
I think that’ll all be cleared up tomorrow (Sunday). I don’t know if it’s for me to say, but it’s pretty clear he’ll be up here from Monday.
The lanky Englishman wasn’t a Knight yet though, continually threatening down the right edge outside a dynamic Mark Nawaqanitawase.
The tricolours couldn’t hold the footy early in the piece, dropping a number of offloads to keep Newcastle on the prowl for points.
They would’ve found them immediately if it wasn’t for a few insane efforts from skipper James Tedesco, the former Blues’ fullback saving three tries in two minutes to keep the Chooks in the contest.
Tedesco stopped Brodie Jones and Kai Pearce-Paul just metres out from the line in consecutive sets, before scooping up a grubber just moments before McCarthy to deny the centre an early double.
While the defence stopped the scoreboard ticking over, it didn’t help the Roosters get on it – recalled half Sandon Smith struggling to find any cohesion in the first-half.
Smith was set to be dropped to the bench for the returning Sam Walker when teams were named earlier in the week, only for the halfback to break his thumb at training, and open the door for Sandon’s recall.
Just nine days after being booed off at half-time, Newcastle fans rewarded their side with a standing ovation at the break, just the third time this season the club has held an opposition scoreless in the first-half, and the fifth time they’ve led after 40 minutes.
Despite only leading 6-0 at the break, it was an incredible effort from a side fielding just 26 NRL games across their entire bench.
Egan Butcher found himself in the limelight for all the wrong reasons early in the second stanza, firstly bundled into touch by Hastings and Pearce-Paul before being pinged for taking out a chaser minutes later.
The back-rower nudged fill-in fullback Fletcher Hunt, extending Newcastle’s lead to eight on the back of a penalty goal.
James Schiller looked to have pulled his side further in front after an acrobatic effort in corner, however replays found the winger had clearly dropped the footy whilst leaping through the air.
It proved to be a massive momentum swing for the Chooks, finding their first points just seconds later through a rookie of their own.
A Tedesco offload on halfway saw young prop Salesi Foketi steam roll onto the ball, stepping past Hunt at fullback to barge over for his own first try in the NRL.
The heavens opened up on McDonald Jones Stadium as the Bunker delivered the most controversial decision of the evening, handing a try to Siua Wong.
Tedesco was again involved, this time via his boot, grubbering through the line for Wong to dot down in the corner, only for replays to suggest otherwise.
The Fijian international looked certain to have knocked the ball on in the process of grounding it, only for the Bunker to confirm the edge forward had grounded the footy with his forearm, handing the Chooks their first lead of the match.
It left home fans dumbfounded, with fill-in captain Dane Gagai confused by the Bunker’s decision.
It’s a tough one to swallow, everyone saw it.
I know when I’m going for a try, I try to grab the ball, no one attempts to ground it with their forearm.
I know they said no separation, but I’ve never seen anyone control a footy with their forearm.
Some late scramble handed Newcastle back-to-back sets on the Chook’s line, but couldn’t find the killer blow without the likes of Sharpe and Ponga in their line-up.
The 12-8 win pushes the Roosters back into the top eight for the time being, while Newcastle seem destined to fight it out with the Gold Coast and Parramatta for the dreaded wooden spoon.
Despite the loss, O’Brien was happy with his team’s performance after fielding such an inexperienced squad.
Super proud. Young footy team, a lot of them locals, we debuted our eighth guy for the year. Really, really proud.”
Newcastle are expected to welcome back the likes of Bradman Best, Jacob Saifiti, Fletcher Sharpe, Tyson Frizell and possibly Dom Young next week ahead of their must-win clash against the Dolphins in Perth.
