Jets book historic Grand Final showdown with Bears

Newtown Jets have booked their place in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Grand Final after staging a comeback to score a hard-fought 18-16 win over a gallant Canberra Raiders at Leichhardt Oval today.

The Jets trailed the Raiders 12-0 early in the first half, and were outscored three-tries-to-two by the Raiders, but hung in with the boot of halfback Niwhai Puru proving to be the difference after he landed five goals from as many attempts.

The Jets will now face fellow foundation club (1908) the North Sydney Bears at CommBank Stadium on Sunday 29 September in a decider for the first time in 81 years. The only time the two clubs have met in a Grand Final was in 1943 with the Jets winning 34-7 before 60,992 fans at the SCG.

The Jets suffered a narrow 18-16 loss to the Bears in the Major Semi-final at Leichhardt Oval last Sunday (15 September) and captain Billy Burns said they would need to improve on that to claim the club’s first The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup premiership since 2019.

“We’ll expect a big crowd, there was a big crowd here the last time we played them so hopefully everyone turns up next week and makes a bit of atmosphere at CommBank (Stadium),” Burns said.

“We definitely need to clean up our last plays, we let in three tries off that, but we’ll just enjoy this feeling for now and regroup for next Tuesday.”

With a Grand Final spot on the line, there was plenty of feeling in the match from both sides. The Jets received an early penalty after halfback Niwhai Puru was hit late after a kick prompting a push and shove between the teams.

The Raiders defence was resolute from the outset with centre Manaia Waitere popping up in the nick of time in goal to defuse a kick from Jets hooker Jayden Berrell. Another opportunity where Jets back-rower Billy Burns batted back a kick for fullback Liam Ison close to the line was also denied.

Canberra then wrestled the momentum away when lock Hohepa Puru put back-rower Simi Sasagi through a gap with a well-timed pass to score. Adam Cook added the conversion from right in front to give the Green Machine a 6-0 lead.

Sasagi returned the favour a few minutes later when hooker Zac Woolford dropped him back inside and the Raiders back-rower beat a flimsy tackle to break the line before finding Hohepa Puru in support to dive over the line. Cook converted to extend the Raiders lead to 12-0.

A penalty against the Raiders for a strip presented the Jets with an opportunity and they duly saluted when Berrell darted out of dummy-half to score. Niwhai Puru added the conversion to reduce the deficit to 12-6.

Both sides had their opportunities to score again – Jets centre Chris Vea’ila leapt high to take a bomb but was unable to score after some desperate goal-line defence, while Jets lock Blake Hosking stopped Sasagi in his tracks with a ball-and-all tackle – but couldn’t find a way through.

Canberra fullback Chevy Stewart then stepped up in the final seconds with a couple of huge defensive plays after cutting down a runaway Sam Healey in the last line of defence, before forcing an error from the marker on the next play to leave the half-time score favouring the Raiders 12-6.

Back-to-back penalties when play resumed put the Jets on the front foot and they were quick to capitalise on the situation when five-eighth Khaled Rajab floated a long pass over the top for Vea’ila to cross the line out wide. Niwhai Puru converted to level the scores at 12-all.

A penalty against the Raiders allowed the Jets to hit the front for the first time that afternoon when Puru landed the goal from right in front for a 14-12 lead, but any celebrations were cut-short when Canberra centre James Schiller stretched out to score to put his team back on top at 16-14.

The scores were levelled at 16-all after the Raiders conceded another penalty and Puru made no mistake with the shot from right in front to set up a thrilling finish with just over 10 minutes remaining in the match.

The Jets poked their noses in front 18-16 when Schiller was penalised for a dangerous throw and Niwhai Puru landed his fifth goal for the match. The Raiders threw everything they could at the Jets in the final minutes but their defence held firm to secure their spot in the decider.

“It was a bit of a see-saw affair, they had the lead, we had the lead, but we just came back there, kept the pressure on them and earned some penalties to get us in front,” Burns said.

“That’s a trait of our team all year, just hanging in there. We’ve let teams get out to a few leads throughout the year and hung in there and got some wins.

“We can definitely clean a few things up heading into next week but it was a good audition for a Grand Final, that’s for sure.”