Newton's law: win at the third attempt

A handful of the side had played in the 2012 grand final loss to Pirates and last year’s loss to Scone in the maiden Tier 2 decider.

Their luck finally changed on Sunday with a 34-3 win over Inverell to claim the Tier 2 Plate.

“It was nice to win one,” Newton said.

He played a big role in the win, both on the scoreboard and at inside centre, instigating a lot of their attack, which was brilliant at times.

Not always for reward on the scoreboard.

“We probably played 60 minutes,” Newton said.

“There were still some frustrating parts.”

“We didn’t complete everything.”

At least twice inside the first 10 minutes they cut the Highlanders’ defence apart only for that final pass to just go astray.

Newton said it was tougher than the scoreline indicated and praised their defence.

“Full credit to our blokes. No tries scored – that was good,” he said.

So too were their forwards.

“Our forwards led the way with the scrum,” he said.

“It was the best scrum they’ve had in a long time.”

They completely monstered the Highlanders.

“It allowed us to attack on the front foot and put a few plays on,” he said.

He said they were “quite confident” at half-time, leading 17-3 at the break.

“We still came out in the second half and lapsed for 10-15 minutes,” he said.

It took them until 20 minutes into the half  to score again.

It – if not already – sealed it for them. There was no way back for the Highlanders from there.

Co-coach Barry Hoy was pretty confident their fitness would tell in the end, 

“They’ve worked pretty hard,” he said, noting that a few of the bigger boys had trimmed down a bit.

“We probably haven’t got the size but we’ve got a bit more mobility.”

He felt they were guilty of being a bit standoffish at the tackle contest in the first half.

“Everyone was wanting to score,” he said.

“We weren’t getting in to clean out and got a few turnovers against us.”

They also needed to tweak their kicking game a bit.

“We had to kick long and chase, not just go in between,” he said.

The Highlanders were winning that when they did.

He thought Sam Martin and Ross Fletcher were great for them up front and Newton and Ed Churchill in the backs.