Canterbury winger Jacob Kiraz enjoyed a stellar return to Newcastle, scoring a hat-trick as the Bulldogs beat the Knights 24-10 at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.
The Bulldogs made four tries to two, racking up more than 20 points for the fourth time in five weeks to pile on more home heartache for the Knights this season.
The two clubs sat side by side on the Telstra Premiership ladder for the competition, but the difference in form and confidence between the two couldn’t be further apart.
Kiraz, who spent the off-season training with the Knights before getting a shot to return to Canterbury this year, had a hat-trick in the 44th minute as the Bulldogs built a 24-4 lead.
Newcastle enjoyed most of the possession and field position in the second half, but as has been their story for the season, the team’s attack left a lot to be desired as the set continued looking for answers
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Kiraz the contortionist makes three
The Knights opted to play Jake Clifford and Anthony Milford in the middles, but the side were on the back foot from kick-off as the Bulldogs came close to scoring through Josh Addo-Carr.
Two Bulldogs tries through Kiraz in the opening 10 minutes set the tone before Enari Tuala pulled a try back.
It was all one-way traffic, though, with Aaron Schoupp finishing a free from Addo-Carr and Matt Burton before Kiraz grabbed a third immediately after the break to set up victory for the visitors.
Snapshot of the match
- Canterbury have now won four of their last six games to move up to 12th in the table.
- The Knights had 37 tackles in the Canterbury 20-metre area but were unable to score more than two tries for the afternoon.
- Newcastle have won just one of their last eight home games and have conceded an average of 31.9 points per game.
- Jacob Kiraz scored the first hat-trick of his NRL career, taking his tally to six since making his debut in round seven.
- Knights public service Phoenix Crossland was flagged for a lift in the 39th minute, allowing the Bulldogs to take an eight-point lead into the break.
- Bulldogs forward Paul Vaughan celebrated his 200th NRL appearance in the win.
game of the game
The old adage that one end should never pass to another end may apply, but kicking is another story with Josh Addo-Carr’s effort setting up Jacob Kiraz for the second of the afternoon for the highlight reels.
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End to End for a special test
what they said
“The first 10 minutes, the first two sets were a shock. Something I didn’t see coming in our set. I was really worried after the first two sets of the game. I’m not sure why we were going to do that. With our offense we missed him (Kalyn Ponga) with the flow and the amount of ball we had down there. He’s a very good attacking player but at the end of the day that hasn’t been our problem this year it’s been our defense and resilience , that’s my concern.” – Adam O’Brien, Knights coach.
“It was a bit stressful, we had to do some defending in the second half. I was really happy that we showed some resilience to hold them off. The first half was good and we executed some plays well. I think they’re playing well and they’re playing a brand of football that suits them. I think they’re enjoying their football and I’m happy for the players, the fans and everyone around them.” – Mick Potter, coach of the Bulldogs.
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NRL Press Conference: Knights v Bulldogs – Round 20, 2022
What follows
Canterbury will take their game home next week to Bundaberg and face a Cowboys side aiming for a top four finish.
The struggling Knights head to Campbelltown for an away trip against the Western Tigers, who will fancy their chances as they aim to climb off the bottom of the ladder.