Source : the age
There you have it.
Dom Young comes up with the error and the Roosters strike.
Billy Smith is almost taken over the touchline, but not before he gets the ball down to score.
Sam Walker nails the conversion, and we’re all square at Accor Stadium.
Roosters 12, Knights 12 with 30 minutes to go
Spencer Leniu didn’t get game time in the preliminary final, but he’s been called in for the biggest stage, and he’s fired up.
Moments after Dane Gagai and Kalyn Ponga make a try-saving tackle on Salesi Foketi, Leniu draws the error from Dom Young to put the Knights goal line under pressure once more.
It’s a real shame after Fletcher Sharpe made try-saving tackles on both James Tedesco and Daly Cherry-Evans a set earlier.
Knights 12, Roosters 6 with 33 minutes to go
It’s tense at half-time here in Newcastle, with Knights fans we spoke to reluctant to count their chickens or count the Roosters out.
“It’s the Roosters – they’re a team that can punish us,” said Sue Lyons, a born-and-bred Novocastrian who is at the McDonald Jones Stadium live site in Newcastle only because she couldn’t get tickets to the big game.
“I’m so proud of the boys, they brought it, they’re taking it to them. But yeah, long way to go, long road home. Go, boys!”
Mark Nawaqanitawase wanted the ball on the final tackle, but Sam Walker decides to go himself.
He runs into Newcastle defenders and that set fizzles out.
We’re looking for something a little more creative from Walker there – Nawaqanitawase had his hand in the air, indicating he wanted the ball and had space.
However, the Roosters have continued to send the ball up as their end-of-set plays, and they haven’t had too much luck with them so far. Perhaps Walker saw something we didn’t.
Knights 12, Roosters 6 with 38 minutes to go
Here we go.
Deep breaths – we have 40 minutes of footy left for the 2026 NRL season (let’s not think about World Cup footy just yet).
Who wins it from here? Can the Knights get it done? Or do the Roosters overpower them in the second half?
The Roosters have the ascendancy in the middle, and they know it. But they’re not using their edges at all. Daniel Tupou is catching a cold out on his left wing. Salesi Foketi is going unused. Siua Wong, likewise.
So far, 84 per cent of this game has been played in Newcastle’s half and the Roosters have had all the running, but their attack – and this is strange to say, given they’ve got Sam Walker and Daly Cherry-Evans calling the shots – has been too safe, too conservative.
It can all change on a dime, of course. But if the Knights can hold them at bay for another 20 minutes, this crowd and Kalyn Ponga will get them home.
There goes the half-time siren, and it’s the Knights who lead 12-6 at the break.
Kalyn Ponga gathers his players in a huddle before they leave the pitch and then the team walk off.
Brilliant stuff from Newcastle, but the Roosters found momentum as half-time neared.
Half-time: Knights 12, Roosters 6
