Rugby League: New Zealand Warriors lose to Newcastle Knights in the NRL after one last attempt

Knights 20
Warriors 16

The defense itself may not win games, but it helps a lot in deciding how the story unfolds.

The Newcastle Knights beat the New Zealand Warriors 20-16 on Friday night, despite spending much of the game defending their own line and being forced to make more than 100 more tackles than the Warriors.

It was a tight encounter throughout the contest, but the Warriors were left with one that got away when Newcastle center Bradman Best tore through the Warriors’ right-side defense like a knife through butter and drove their end away. Hymel Hunt for the decisive attempt. The Warriors had the best of possession and territory, but couldn’t turn it into a win.

The night did not start well for the Warriors, as left center Adam Pompey sent the full kickoff, but the Knights were unable to capitalize on the field position they were awarded.

It was soon a similar story for the Warriors, who went straight on the attack with three straight sets within the Knights half, but after winning two set restarts via dropouts at the goal line, their third attempt to open the marker died when winger David Fusitu. ‘a was moved down the sideline.

Instead, it was the Knights who got things going on the scoreboard through hooker Jayden Brailey, who caught the Warriors’ defensive line taking a nap and ran from close range after 20 minutes.

While they were impressive at first, the Warriors’ defensive line was lethargic in the middle of the first half, and the team lacked intensity, which appeared to be a sinister sign.

Bench forwards Ben Murdoch-Masila, Bunty Afoa and Leeson Ah Mau made sure that wasn’t the case, instantly lifting the team’s energy when they were introduced. Murdoch-Masila was rewarded for his effort with a try in the 30th minute.

After a Mitchell Barnett penalty put the Knights ahead once more at halftime and Hunt scored his first of two attempts shortly after the restart, the Warriors again had to play from behind.

However, when fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck finally found a way to plug into the attack line, it paid off instantly with the captain assisting in two attempts down the left edge to give the Warriors the lead.

It looked like they could hold the victory with just five minutes to go, before Best ignored his counterpart Peta Hiku and prepared the last attempt.

Knights 20 (Hymel Hunt 2, Jayden Brailey tries; Mitchell Barnett 3 cons, pen)
Warriors 16 (Ben Murdoch-Masila, Adam Pompey, Ken Maumalo tries; Kodi Nikorima 2 cons)
HT: 8-6