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Bishop Neal’s extraordinary man-of-the-match performance powered the One New Zealand Warriors to a repeat premiership when they beat Newcastle 30-16 in Saturday’s Harold Matthews Cup (under-17) grand final at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney.
After finishing the regular season in third place, the Warriors marched forward in the playoffs dismissing the Sydney Roosters, South Sydney and finally the Knights to claim the title again in just their second year in the competition.
They didn’t want for impressive contributors but Neal was unquestionably the standout.
The 16-year-old St Thomas of Canterbury College student operated on an almost celestial level as he scored two barnstorming tries, made big metres with numerous aggressive runs and pulled off try-saving plays at the other end of the field as well as putting on some punishing hits.
Match: Warriors v Knights
Grand Final -
home Team
Warriors
away Team
Knights
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
It was Neal who single-handedly pulled the Warriors back into the contest after they had conceded a 0-12 deficit inside the opening 13 minutes.
A 20-metre defender-skittling carry in the opening set had provided a hint of what was to come.
It was followed later by a scarcely believable try-stopping tackle on Newcastle centre Chip Valentish over the line.
Then he made two huge plays.
The first came 16 minutes in, the Warriors heading left through loose forward Ronan Byford and onto halfback Alapati Soagia, who dropped Bishop underneath. Then it was a case of sit back and admire as the big man, receiving the ball 30 metres out, surged past two would-be defenders, bounced off his right foot and took off on an arcing run, giving Newcastle fullback Riley Rostron a vicious facial fend on the way to scoring a superb try.
Minutes later he jumped into dummy half close to the line and took four tacklers with him to get the ball down, as only he could. With Soagia converting both tries the Warriors were back to 12-12 and they ought to have had at least another before the break.
Close to halftime Neal produced another save, covering in-goal to grab a dangerous grubber kick just when it seemed likely the Knights might score.
The Knights stalled the Warriors' momentum in the opening minutes of the second half with a try to second rower Curtis Mulherin but it didn’t ruffle the Warriors.
Just seven minutes later they uncorked a wonderful try from a set starting near their own line when they exploited an injury to Newcastle winger Jett McKay, heading down his under-manned edge. With some slick ball work between standoff Hinckley Ioka, winger Kaian Olsen and centre Parekaahu Keepa, Ioka finished it off after handling three times. Soagia converted to have his side in front for the first time in the match.
The battle ebbed and flowed for a period afterwards but the Warriors finished the encounter impressively with front rowers Krushil Koteka and Lucian Mikaele scoring in the 50th and 58th minutes for a convincing 30-16 margin, one they certainly deserved.
The Warriors had overcome adversity during the week, losing two of their key players in back-up dummy half Amasio Tiatia and captain Tyson Hansen. That caused a reshuffle in the halves with Ioka brought in from the wing to take Hansen’s place at standoff and Kaian Olsen coming in on the wing.
Fullback Jeremiah Lemana, who had another wonderful game, led the side in Hansen’s absence so becoming the only player to feature in both of the Warriors' grand final triumphs.
