Western Suburbs Magpies flew high in 2021 after grabbing second place on The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup ladder before the competition was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fast forward to 2022 and the Magpies dropped to 11th place to cap a difficult season.
Wayne Lambkin was promoted from coaching Jersey Flegg Cup to NSW Cup but had to work with a completely new roster after Zac Cini, Reece Hoffman, Kiah Cooper, Zach Dockar-Clay, Billy Walters, Michael Chee Kam all moved on to other clubs. He was also without Jock Madden, who found himself on regular NRL duties for Wests Tigers.
The Magpies recorded five wins and 16 losses, and were 10th for points scored (417) and 11th for points against (722). Their five wins came against the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles in Round Nine and Round 14, Newcastle Knights in Round 16, Penrith Panthers in Round 18 and St George Illawarra Dragons in Round 24.
Read more: Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles season review
Season highlight
The Magpies faced off against a depleted Penrith outfit in Round 18, with Panthers playmakers Sean O’Sullivan, Kurt Falls and Soni Luke all being called up to the NRL to cover for the players on representative duty for the Origin team.
The Panthers still boasted a side which was stacked with talent and had won three consecutive matches to take their number of wins for the season to 12. The Magpies were too good however with Tyrone Peachey and Jacob Liddle proving to be two of their best on the day. Alex Seyfarth was even more impressive after finishing the day with 153 metres, four tackle busts and 34 tackles.
NSW Cup Highlights | Magpies v Panthers - Round 18
Simply the best
Ever-reliable veteran Tom Freebairn had a year to remember after making his NRL debut at 27 and a NSW Cup career which started in 2017 and included a total of 68 games for both the North Sydney Bears and Magpies.
He fulfilled a lifelong dream in Round 21 when the Tigers took on the Knights. Despite going down 14-10, Freebairn was one of the Tigers best, playing a 53-minute stint off the bench and finishing with 159 run metres, 55 post-contact metres, two tackle busts a offload and 28 tackles.
Kimmorley was so impressed by Freebairn’s performance, that he played the remaining five games of the season which included a double against the Dragons in Round 24.
Freebairn finished The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup season with 17 games, three tries, 21 tackle busts, 15 offloads, 94 running metres per game and a massive 37.4 tackles per game at an efficiency of 95%.
By the numbers
The Magpies finished with the worst defensive record in the competition, conceding 722 points at an average of 36.1 points per game. This is in stark contrast to their 2021 campaign, where they conceded 22.6 points per game before the competition was abandoned.
On the other side of the ball, the Magpies often failed to convert opportunities into points. They finished the season 11th in try assists (2.2 per game) and linebreaks (3.8 per game) and 9th in tackle busts (26 per game).
