NRL 2023: New Zealand Warriors win 40-10 over Newcastle Knights in semi-final clash
The Warriors have set up a mouth-watering preliminary final matchup against the Broncos, after stunning the Newcastle Knights with a 12 minute try-scoring blitz.
Warriors fans can start packing their bags because their team is heading to Brisbane next week after the feel good team of the season ended Newcastle’s 10-game winning streak with a stunning 40-10 victory in Auckland.
They’ve carried the weight of a nation on their shoulders for the past six months after they spent years living out of suitcases as nomads because of the pandemic, but they’ll gladly fly back to Queensland for the club’s first preliminary final since 2011.
A week after they were taught a finals lesson by the two-time defending premiers, the Warriors flexed their muscles and fired a warning shot to the rested Broncos who will have to contend with a fired-up Shaun Johnson.
The veteran halfback missed last week’s loss with a calf injury but shrugged that off to set up two early tries with the Knights unable to tackle him in the first half.
“He came super close to not playing,” Warriors coach Andrew Webster revealed.
“We literally didn’t know until yesterday. We were confident that yesterday was going to go well, but we weren’t sure.
“Not only did he get himself there, I thought he had a big impact and gave everyone confidence.”
He had plenty of support with skipper Tohu Harris immense in the middle as the hosts piled on the points to have the crowd chanting like an English Premier league fan base about to celebrate a title win on the final day.
“It’s special,” Webster said.
“Winning any finals game is special, but winning it in your backyard with fans like that with an amazing atmosphere was huge.”
It sets up a mouth-watering showdown with the Broncos, with Johnson to go toe-to-toe with Brisbane maestro Adam Reynolds, while Harris and Addin Fonua-Blake will battle Pat Carrigan and Payne Haas in a heavyweight title bout.
And then there’s wunderkind Reece Walsh who debuted with the Warriors but is now the face of the Broncos, ready to end his former side’s fairy tale run.
GONE IN 60 SECONDS
The Knights must have spent all week trying to plan how to silence a wild crowd across the ditch, but all that went out the window in the opening minute.
It was 16-0 when the visitors finally completed their first set after 15 minutes, with the Knights on the back foot from the get go when powerhouse winger Greg Marzhew spilt the Steeden.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad made them pay from the very next set before Fonua-Blake strolled through for his ninth try of the season to continue his best year in the NRL.
Another error – this time it was Dom Young on the other wing – gifted the Warriors field position and had referee Adam Gee pointing to the spot for the third time in 10 minutes when Marcelo Montoya slid in to continue the onslaught.
“I think the way we started brought the crowd into it,” Kalyn Ponga said.
THE STREAK IS OVER
They saved one of their worst performances in months for the biggest stage, but hats off to Newcastle for even being in week two of the finals after they were languishing in the bottom four after 19 rounds.
No one could have predicted what would happen next as the gritty group from the Hunter won their final nine games of the regular season to earn a home final where they edged the Raiders in an extra-time epic.
There are good stories galore with Ponga emerging as one of the game’s current greats after there were fears repeated head knocks could end his career, while Bradman Best is a chance to represent Australia on the back of his Blues debut.
It’s a huge credit to coach Adam O’Brien who conceded he would have been fired if they didn’t turn things around, and suddenly the future looks bright even though they’re losing Englishman Dom Young to the Roosters.
The Knights dearly missed Jackson Hastings and Lachlan Fitzgibbon on the left edge even though their replacements combined for a try after Marzhew earlier got them on the board in the first half.
They flirted with a comeback but Dylan Walker put that to bed when he scored a very soft try under the posts which broke the dam wall and ended their season.
“It’s funny because we didn’t to deserve to end like that, but we deserved to end like that,” O’Brien said.
“The way we started the game applied way too much pressure to ourselves.
“It’s hard at the moment because we’ve set such high standards, so for us to just be OK with that performance given what we’ve done for the last 11 weeks, well that wouldn’t mean progress for the club at all.
“I’m glad it’s hurting all of us.”
WALKING WOUNDED
It’s going to be party time in New Zealand for the next few days, but the locals might want to say a few quiet prayers to ensure a couple of injured stars are fit and firing for the trip to Queensland.
Marata Niukore sent a huge scare through the camp when he went down with what appeared to be a serious left leg injury, but the man who played for Parramatta in last year’s grand final made a miraculous recovery to replace Josh Curran who came off with a gruesome finger injury.
There are also concerns for hooker Wayde Egan who came off late for an HIA.
He’s had concussion issues in the past and the Warriors cannot afford to lose him given his crafty work around the ruck which saw him held up twice on Saturday.
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