Newtown emphatically halted the Vodafone Warriors’ seven-match winning streak with a commanding 38-6 win in Saturday’s 15th-round Intrust Super Premiership encounter at Henson Park in Sydney.
The loss also cost the Vodafone Warriors their week-long hold on top spot on the points table with the Mounties overtaking them on points for and against despite going down 10-22 to Manly.
Coach Stacey Jones went into the contest with a line-up well down on the level of NRL experience he has been able to call on in recent weeks.
Wing Ken Maumalo and prop Toafofoa Sipley were named in the NRL side on Tuesday while John Palavi, Ligi Sao and Jonathan Wright were also missing today along with the in-form Ata Hingano.
The reshuffled side struggled from the outset with errors and penalties conceded giving Newtown a huge advantage in terms of both possession and field position.
With the Vodafone Warriors truning the ball over too often the Jets quickly imposed themselves on the scoreboard via two early converted tries.
The 12-0 lead was doubled to 24-0 close to halftime before the Vodafone Warriors troubled the scoreboard attendants for the first and only time, playmaker Mason Lino crossing for a try he converted.
At 6-24 the Vodafone Warriors had a mission in front of them to find a way back into the battle in the second half. They began the second 40 minutes well by building pressure but just couldn’t find a way of scoring points.
The frustration eventually showed with Newtown coming up with the only points of the second half.
Match details | Henson Park, Sydney
Newtown Jets 38 (Anthony Moraitis, Travis Robinson, Matt Evans, Malakai Houma, Kurt Capewell, Kenny Niko tries; Fa'amanu Brown 5 conversions, 2 penalties).
Vodafone Warriors 6 (Mason Lino try; Mason Lino conversion).
Halftime: 24-6 Jets.
Referee: Daniel Olford.
Vodafone Warriors | Henare Wells; Tomas Aoake, Matt Allwood, Marata Niukore, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad; Mason Lino (c), Jeff Robson; James Gavet, Jazz Tevaga, Bunty Afoa; Ali Lauitiiti, Shaun Lane; Upu Poching. Interchange: Ofahiki Ogden, James Bell, Patrick Sipley, Viliami Kaveinga.
