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Updated June 28, 2026 — 6:35pm,first published 5:18pm
It almost did not feel right that one of the most ordinary games of the year featured one of the best long-range tries.
To prove how tough it was to watch the Newcastle Knights and Wests Tigers at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday afternoon, there were more errors (23) than points scored.
Just when the 22,968 fans who braved the rain – and parted with their hard-earned for a beanie in Beanies for Brain Cancer Round – were expecting a field goal to settle the game, the Knights scored a 105-metre try.
The returning Adam Doueihi put through a high kick on the last tackle six minutes before full-time and Jahream Bula leapt high before spilling the ball forward.
Bradman Best picked up the ball in his in-goal, then passed to Dominic Young, who skipped past Heamasi Makasini and Jarome Luai and charged down field. Young reached the halfway line before he threw the ball back in-field for Best, who did well to push up in support.
The Tigers players had run out of gas and were unable to chase.
The Knights triumphed 12-6 as they scraped home for a third successive time at home after similar tight wins over St George Illawarra and Parramatta.
Both teams were entitled to penalties late in the piece, which would have put them in field-goal range. Jeral Skelton whacked Kalyn Ponga, but avoided any sanction, as did Jacob Saifiti despite a high shot on Sunia Turuva.
Tigers coach Benji Marshall will look back on the trip to the Hunter as a missed opportunity. They had enough chances to win the match, including when Starford To’a smashed the ball free from Dane Gagai, and Makasini set sail for the try line before being dragged down by Ponga.
The Tigers got to the end of that set, had a three-on-one overlap, only for Doueihi’s pass to almost hit Turuva around the bootlaces.
“I thought for most of that game we were the better team, and I thought we lost it,” Marshall said.
“There are a couple of key moments that are hurting us at the moment.
“There was a lot that I liked, but the fact we couldn’t ice that game, given the possession we had, and good-ball sets we had ... Heamasi makes that break, we get a six again, but I don’t know how that’s not a sin bin [for Ponga].
“We’ll ask about that because that’s a professional foul every day of the week. But that’s not why we lost. We had moments where we still could have won. The result of that game was very important for us.”
Doueihi was playing his first game in eight weeks and immediately made a difference, kicking to corners, but also giving his teammates enough of a chance to catch the high ball.
He stripped the ball from Gagai in the first half, which helped lead to the only try in the opening stanza, to Tony Sukkar.
Newcastle thought they had scored in the opening minute when they spread the ball right, and Young charged into space before throwing the ball back in-field for Brown.
But the bunker spotted Knights back-rower Jermaine McEwen obstructing Alex Seyfarth up the other end of the field, and the home side was penalised.
While Doueihi was a welcome addition to the Tigers, in the 17th minute they lost Taylan May to a third shoulder dislocation.
May left the field nursing his right shoulder, which he also dislocated in round two, then again in round 11. He had hoped to delay surgery until the end of the season, and remain on the field with strength work, but it appears almost inevitable he will not play again this year.
Makasini was his centre replacement, and while his future is enormous, the teen still needs time to develop his skills. He will regret his missed tackle on Young late in the game.
The Knights scored via Dylan Lucas, then Best took care of the result. They host the Dolphins next Sunday, while the Tigers play the Dragons at Kogarah, which is no easy feat given the spirit the competition’s other joint venture has been showing the past month.
Bunker drama as Dragons defeated
A spirited St George Illawarra lost 24-16 to the Raiders in Canberra on Sunday, but a big talking point will be the decision to award Xavier Savage a try in the 58th minute, when the home side led by only two points.
Dragons co-captain Damien Cook said even Raiders players were not convinced Savage had scored.
Kyle Flanagan passed the ball, Raiders centre Simi Sasagi appeared to knock the ball forward as it sailed over his head, then Savage caught it and raced the length of the field to score.
Sasagi’s touch was clear to see on the replay, which may have explained why players on both teams stayed at one end of the field.
Cooper Cronk said on the Fox commentary: “Yes, he [Sasagi] is facing the other way, but his hand touches the ball and it goes forward; that’s not a try.”
But bunker official Adam Gee did not intervene and the try was confirmed.
“It was pretty disappointing, and if I was to sum it up, even the Canberra Raiders team were pretty shocked by the decision,” Cook said.
“They didn’t even have a kicker down there.
“It’s not just us, the fans [are affected], they deserve better.
“I also thought Val [Holmes] was pushed in the back and that warranted a penalty [in the first half].”
Holmes was denied a try in the eighth minute when he failed to ground the ball, but only after he was shoved in the back by Savage.
That bunker decision frustrated Dragons coach Dean Young even more.
“I’m confused by that one,” he said. “When two people are competing for the ball, that’s when people are side by side. Savage was behind Val and shoves him in the back and the momentum stops Val from putting the ball down.
“I’m very disappointed in a couple of the bunker calls.”
The bunker denied Cook a try during Magic Round when he kicked the ball free from Penrith winger Brian To’o’s grasp, which the NRL later confirmed was the wrong decision.
Although the Dragons continue to fight hard, they remain at the bottom of the ladder. Meanwhile, Young is doing everything in his power to convince club powerbrokers he warrants a permanent appointment as head coach.
