The Minor Premiers, Newcastle Knights, showed why they are the team to beat in this year's Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership, overcoming a spirited Illawarra Steelers 34-22 at Jubilee Stadium this afternoon.
The win was set up off the back of a dominant first half performance, especially from hooker Leah Ollerton, who scored two and set up another as the Knights led 26-6.
A second half revival looked in the offing when Steelers centre Jessica Patea scored a hat-trick to reduce the gap to 28-18 with plenty of time remaining, before a second try to prop Grace Kukutai sealed the Minor Premiers a spot in next Sunday's Grand Final against Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
Newcastle opened the scoring in the ninth minute when a quick shift left allowed Ollerton to score from close range, and with the easy conversion the Knights led 6-0.
The Steelers, for the only time in the game, drew level with one of the tries of the match, when a midfield kick was allowed to bounce and was regathered by centre Jessica Patea, whose flick pass inside to Tayleah Handcock allowed the fullback to find halfback Maddie Studdon in support to score out wide, converted by Handcock after 10 minutes.
Concerted pressure on the Dragons' line eventually proved telling when the Knights scored through dummy-half Ollerton, the team's second try of the afternoon. Another simple conversion put Newcastle in front 12-6 after 18 minutes.
Newcastle then scored off consecutive sets with Ollerton turning provider, bursting through the line from halfway before finding prop Grace Kukutai in support, who somehow travelled the remaining 20 metres to score next to the posts and give the Knights and 18-6 lead after 20 minutes.
The Knights continued to pile on the pressure, maintaining possession inside Steelers territory, before a quick shift right inside the Illawarra 20 allowed centre Saxbii Shaw to crash over out wide. Despite Ashlee Harvey missing her first conversion attempt for the afternoon, Newcastle now held a commanding 22-6 lead with less than 25 minutes to play.
Another Steelers error allowed the Knights to go on the attack, with fullback Kayla Henderson bursting down the left edge from 35 metres out before finding centre Lucy Spain in support, who was too big and strong for the cover defence to deny from scoring out wide. Despite Harvey's conversion attempt hitting the posts, Newcastle went into half-time with a strong 26-6 lead.
The Steelers were first to score in the second half when a left-field shift, directed by Studdon, allowed Patea to score out wide, reducing the gap to 16 with 29 minutes remaining. A penalty goal to Harvey restored an 18-point lead for the Knights two minutes later.
But tries to Patea in the 49th and 55th minute off quick shifts inside the Knights’ 20, to bring up her hat-trick for the afternoon, brought the Steelers back to within 10 points with 15 minutes remaining.
However, the comeback was cut short when Kukutai scored her second for the afternoon with less than nine minutes to go, backing up a last-tackle line-break from lock forward Leilani Ahsam that ultimately secured Newcastle's spot in next Sunday's Grand Final against Cronulla.
With two minutes remaining, a barnstorming try in the southwest corner to Steelers winger Kiara Kostovski added some respectability to the final score-line, 34-22 in favour of the Knights.
Talking points
- This 1-v-4 Semi-final featured the Newcastle Knights, who had won 10 and lost one (to the Eels in Round Four), and had the best for and against in the competition.
- The Illawarra Steelers, who had won eight from 11 matches including their last two games played to finish in fourth position, were not only looking to avenge their 28-10 Round Eight loss to the Knights, but also put Newcastle's seven-game winning streak to an end.
- The Steelers were bolstered by the inclusion of former NSW captain and Australian halfback Maddie Studdon.
- With the win the Knights booked a spot in the Grand Final on 28 September against the third-placed Sharks, who had qualified with a 30-26 upset win over second-placed Mounties, earlier in the day.
- Newcastle scored six tries to five, but the kicking boot of Ashley Hunter also proved to be a key difference between the two teams.
Key moment
With the match evenly poised at 6-6, Knights hooker Ollerton stood up in consecutive sets, firstly scoring before turning provider for an incredible try scored by prop forward Grace Kukutai, that gave Newcastle its biggest lead of the afternoon at that point, 18-6. The Knights were never headed from that moment despite an improved performance from the Steelers in the second half.
What’s next?
Newcastle march into next Sunday's Grand Final at CommBank Stadium against Cronulla-Sutherland, having beaten the Sharks earlier in the season 28-16. Conversely for the Steelers it’s the end of their season, one they can look back at with pride having scored five tries against arguably the best team in the competition.
