Knights rookie’s day out in win over Tigers; Dolphins outlast Warriors in thriller
By Jasper Bruce
Newcastle have kept their finals hopes alive with a 34-18 defeat of Wests Tigers that featured a four-try haul from rookie winger Fletcher Sharpe.
The Knights’ attack looked as good at home on Sunday as at any point in 2024, with Tyson Gamble’s kicking game effective and Kalyn Ponga lurking in the right place all afternoon.
Sharpe was the major beneficiary, becoming the ninth Knight to score four or more tries in a game when he crossed on the back of a Dane Gagai break midway through the second half.
“He’s a footy player, isn’t he?” Knights coach Adam O’Brien said of Sharpe. “I’m proud of him, he has a bit of pace out wide, can finish off some stuff that these guys are doing. He’s tough, he’s everything that we want to be.”
The 10th-placed Knights are now two points out of the top eight but need towin their four remaining games to finish the regular season with a winning record.
“We needed to win and we won,” O’Brien said. “We’ll enjoy tonight then we’ll start preparing for the Sharks [next Sunday] tomorrow afternoon.”
Fletcher Sharpe crosses for the Knights.Credit: Getty Images
The Tigers moved closer to a third consecutive wooden spoon with their loss and given their own points differential, likely need two wins from their final three games to leapfrog Parramatta. The Tigers meet the Eels and 15th-placed South Sydney during their run home.
It remains to be seen whether Wests Tigers halfback Aidan Sezer will be available though, after the veteran halfback injured his left knee in the second half.
“I don’t think it’s any structural damage but a bit of bone bruising,” Marshall said.
The Tigers went toe-to-toe with Newcastle in the first half but were dealt a major blow when Sharpe scored one of the tries of the season on the stroke of half-time.
Ponga fumbled the ball around the halfway line but managed to avoid a knock-on by flailing a boot out and kicking to Sharpe’s right edge.
Sharpe barely managed to keep the ball in play as he kicked past Jahream Bula oand then chased through to put the Knights in place for a 10-point half-time lead.
A cutout pass from Ponga earlier helped Sharpe to his second try, after a Gamble kick set up his first.
Teenaged five-eighth Lachlan Galvin was the Tigers’ most dangerous player after half-time, helping Bula over the line with a towering bomb. But it was to be the Tigers’ only four-pointer of the second term.
“It’s been the story of our season where we do some good things and then we do other things where we shoot ourselves in the foot,” Marshall said. “Defensively today, we just weren’t good enough.”
Dolphins regain top-eight spot in golden-point thriller
Utility Sean O’Sullivan landed a 41-metre golden-point field goal against his former club to move the Dolphins back into the NRL top eight in a heart-stopping 34-32 win over the Warriors after the hosts almost threw it away.
The Dolphins’ performance at Suncorp Stadium would have aged their 74-year-old coach Wayne Bennett after they almost gave up a 14-point lead for the third time in four games.
The Dolphins celebrate after Sean O’Sullivan’s two-point field goal to win the match in golden-point extra time.Credit: NRL Photos
“There is a football god. We needed a bit of help there in the end,” Bennett said.
O’Sullivan, who came off the bench, kept a cool head when all around him were losing theirs to land the winner in the 83rd minute and take the Dolphins to 26 points and eighth on the ladder.
“He had a lot of time on the interchange bench to think about it. It was a great moment and I’m just pleased I got him on. I knew he’d bring something,” Bennett said. “You’re in that situation where both teams are trying to score in that one set of six, and I thought he could help us.”
Bennett’s men led 20-6 at halftime and the Warriors had Dylan Walker in the sin bin. That 14-point advantage was restored when they led 26-12 in the 55th minute, before the Warriors scored three tries in nine minutes to level.
Centre Jake Averillo scored to get the Dolphins ahead 32-26. Then came a pivotal moment when Dolphins No.6 Kodi Nikorima interfered with Warriors prop Mitch Barnett as he chased a Te Maire Martin grubber.The Bunker awarded a penalty try and it was 32-32.
Dolphins winger Jamayne Isaako missed a field-goal attempt in regular time, as did Chanel Harris-Tavita for the Warriors. Harris-Tavita hit one wide in golden point before O’Sullivan’s heroics.
The Dolphins led Penrith and Gold Coast by 14 points in recent clashes only to lose, and they almost imploded again on Sunday.
The Warriors, on 21 points, will need a miracle to play finals.
AAP
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