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Newcastle took a big step towards locking up a playoff spot by thrashing Canterbury 42-6 but their finals chances could be hobbled after Jackson Hastings suffered a suspected serious ankle injury.
The seventh-placed Knights walloped the inept Bulldogs for the second time this season to sit just one competition point behind Cronulla and Canberra in fifth but they could be without their chief playmaker for the rest of the season.
In a similar tackle to the one from Patrick Carrigan which broke his leg late last season, Hastings limped off in the 23rd minute after Canterbury forward Jacob Preston swung his body weight around to the back of the Newcastle playmaker’s heels as he came to ground.
He will have scans on Monday to determine the extent of the damage and after being sin-binned for the incident, Preston may not play again this season once the match review committee hands down their charges.
“It’s not looking good,” coach Adam O’Brien said. “They (the medical staff) are talking syndesmosis. Fingers crossed on that one, he’ll get scans tomorrow.
Jackson Hastings. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)
“He’s done a helluva job for us, Jacko. He’s allowed this guy (Kalyn Ponga) to do what he’s been doing for us. We’ll come up with a plan. Adam Clune’s played well, he’s back from injury, in NSW Cup.
“You’re never going to replace like for like but I think it was reported this week we’ve had the second-most injuries in the last three years. You’ve just got to find a way to get on with it. We’ve done that in the past so we’ll do it again.”
Expectations have been low at Newcastle all season and they’ve been underestimated as a finals contender.
Perhaps it’s time to take notice that they can not only make the playoffs but keep punching above their weight.
There’s little flashy about the Knights apart from the playmaking class of Kalyn Ponga and the finishing capability of Dominic Young out wide, but they have morphed into an effective unit which has now won six straight.
They are seventh, just a point behind Cronulla and Canberra, heading into the final three rounds.
The Knights have fellow top-eight contenders South Sydney and Cronulla as their next two opponents so they can not only seal a playoff berth but rise as high as fifth if they keep surging and the sixth-placed Raiders continue being late-season faders.
“I was really happy with our defence, especially on our goal line. Our resilience there. I don’t think it was a particularly great game of footy, especially the second half. I think the players understand we need to be better next week,” O’Brien said.
“It was only six or seven weeks ago I was under a bit of pressure and there was speculation but I don’t think I’m any different but you’ve got these Ws stacked up in the wins column and it changes the narrative.”
The Knights thrashed Canterbury 66-0 at the start of last month in Sydney which triggered their five-game winning streak leading into the return bout at Newcastle.
They extended their season tally to 80-0 inside the first 10 minutes of Sunday’s stoush after Dane Gagai and Tyson Gamble strolled through some toothless Bulldogs defence.
The pain of conceding those two converted tries was exacerbated by Harrison Graham being sin-binned for a professional foul to prevent a third try.
After taking the penalty goal option, the Knights then went close to making it three unanswered tries when Dominic Young careened to the cornerpost but the bunker ruled Matt Burton was obstructed by Tyson Frizell even though he was little chance of reeling in the English winger.
The Dogs were down to 11 players when Jacob Preston was binned after a hip-drop tackle on Hastings and with Phoenix Crossland switching to the halves when their chief playmaker limped off, Kurt Mann slotted in at hooker and scored a try within a minute of entering the fray.
Tyson Gamble touched down after an attacking raid which looked little more than a training drill and Enari Tuala raced the length of the field after Preston fumbled a touchdown after a bomb to make it 30-0 at the break and 96 unanswered points for Newcastle in three halves of football against the Dogs this season.
It took him 37 matches to score a try but Knights prop Leo Thompson crashed over midway through the second half to spark jubilation among his teammates and continue Canterbury’s misery.
Thompson breaking his duck enabled Newcastle to bring up their century against the Dogs with Ponga’s conversion making it a combined 102-0.
Mahoney finally made a dent in the Knights when he scurried over from dummy-half with 15 minutes remaining.
It turned out to be the briefest of respites with Jack Hetherington winning the race to a grubber to swing the momentum back to the home side and the scoreboard to a 42-6 advantage.
Canine training is all about reward for doing well and punishment for misbehaviour.
If that’s the case then these Bulldogs get no treats for their efforts on Sunday and should be doing laps of Belmore all week at training.
They look like they skipped puppy pre-school because they lacked discipline in all facets of the game on Sunday.
They were not committed to doing the hard work in attack or defence and they were constantly earning the ire of referee Peter Gough.
“Ill-discipline killed us, like it has a number of times this year,” coach Cameron Ciraldo conceded. “Penalties, missed tackles, errors, around hitting and sticking in tackles and covering each other’s missed tackles.
“We actually defended with our most energy when we were down to 11.
“The second half ended up 12-6 and I thought we did a lot better.”
Graham’s sin-binning was not the worst indiscretion but warranted while Preston thoroughly “deserved” his 10-minute sabbatical in the first half with a nasty hip-drop tackle on Hastings which should result in a ban of a few weeks from the match review committee.
Canterbury co-captain Reed Mahoney was lucky not to concede an eight-point try when he tackled Tyson Gamble late after he’d scored, sparking a scuffle which nearly spilled into the crowd.
It wasn’t the worst “dog act” but typical of this team which barked like mongrels but showed as much bite as a toothless chihuahua.
Typical of Canterbury’s complaining, Josh Addo-Carr was arguing with the officials instead of playing the whistle late in the first half when he could have tracked down Tuala, who only just outlasted the cover defence who bothered to chase him.
“We turned the ball over too many times and gave them easy field position. It’s a hard game to play at the best of times and when you don’t hold the ball and make more tackles than them, it’s as simple as that,” said Mahoney.
“Too many times we weren’t vicious enough with our defence. Games just can’t keep blowing out to 40 points, it’s not enjoyable.”