3 hours ago
3
Newcastle have pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season, with $2.7 million of their salary cap sitting on the sideline, after a Dom Young hat-trick inspired a 24-16 victory over the Bulldogs.
Canterbury had the second-best defensive record in the competition behind Penrith heading into Saturday’s contest but were outplayed in their first home game of the season, as the Knights, missing fullback Kalyn Ponga and halfback Dylan Brown, chalked up their third win from four games.
After the Knights went to the break with a 16-point lead, Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton moved to the inside of five-eighth Matt Burton in the second half in an attempt to get his hands on the ball more and create opportunities.
“We need ‘Critta’ [Crichton] getting the ball in his hands, so we needed him to get a bit closer to the action, and try to manage the energy of both ‘Burto’ and Critta,” coach Cameron Ciraldo said after the match.
“And I thought he showed some great signs when he got closer to the action and he got the ball in his hands, we looked a bit more dangerous.”
It worked a treat, with Viliame Kikau, Burton and Crichton teaming up on the left edge to put Burton across for two tries in six minutes and drag the Bulldogs back into the contest.
Ciraldo said the positional switch had been a snap decision to shift momentum in their favour, and being able to have Burton and Crichton interchangeable on the left edge was part of the reason for Crichton and Bronson Xerri switching sides this season.
“Today, it was just like, ‘What can we do to change the course of the game right now?’” Ciraldo said.
“He’s trained in that position a lot over the last two pre-seasons and those guys are pretty interchangeable. But obviously Burto was our five-eighth and Critta was our centre today, but we needed to do something to change the energy of the game, and I thought both those guys that moved, actually helped us get some more energy and get a bit more footy in our play.”
With the Knights on the ropes early in the second half, an error from Lachlan Galvin let them off the hook and stalled the Bulldogs’ momentum.
Knights halfback Sandon Smith then made a break down the right edge to put Young across for his second try of the afternoon, extending Newcastle’s lead.
”We knew they were going to come back at us hard, and they did,” Knights coach Justin Holbrook said. “It was a great little play from Sandon to break that momentum to put Jermaine [McEwan] away and Dom to score, which swung it a little bit back our way.
“I thought there were so many good plays from us, which we knew we needed, and we got the win.”
The Knights lacked discipline in the second half, with repeat ruck infringements giving the Bulldogs easy field position. But with the contest in the balance, Young snuck between Connor Tracey and Jacob Kiraz to snaffle an intercept, racing away for yet another long-range try to put Newcastle up 24-12 with 11 minutes to go.
Bulldogs winger Kiraz went over to cut the margin to eight with as many minutes to go.
The home side refused to give up the fight, with Sitili Tupouniua and Jacob Preston continuing to punch through the Newcastle defensive line, but could not catch the Knights, who handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.
The visitors showed toughness in defence to kept the Bulldogs out when Dylan Lucas was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul in the first half, and their quick attack proved the difference.
Unfancied before the start of the season, Newcastle are thriving under new coach Justin Holbrook has this season – while the man he replaced, Adam O’Brien, watched on from the Bulldogs coaches box after taking a role as attack coach under Cameron Ciraldo this season.
Ironically, Canterbury’s attack was clunky in the first half compared to that of Newcastle, with the visitors quicker and more creative than their opponents.
Besides the defeat, there are also injury concerns for the Bulldogs, with Josh Curran leaving the field in the first half following a bone-rattling tackle from Pasami Saulo. Curran attempted to play on, but was taken from the field soon after and failed to return for the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, Galvin and Kikau were both put on report for hip-drop tackles, while Max King was also put on report for a crusher tackle on Young.
