Ruthless Roosters
Sam Walker’s much-anticipated return paid immediate dividends for Easts last week but he wasn’t the difference in a big win over Redcliffe.
While Walker’s presence allows the Roosters to ask far more questions on the edges, Easts best work on Friday night came between the tramlines through Reece Robson and Victor Radley.
Three tries straight through the front door – Radley & Lindsay Collins one-off the ruck and then Walker himself straight off the left foot – exposed the Dolphins defensive issues and highlighted a strength for the Chooks heading into this weekend. Their middle forward rotation is flying right now and if they can dominate territory like Penrith did on Sunday, we have to assume this Roosters attack will be more efficient inside-twenty.
While there was plenty to like about what Easts did with the ball last week, the involvements of Robert Toia and Mark Nawaqanitawase in defence have been the difference in this Finals series.
It’s not even close anymore; Toia is far and away the best defensive centre in the game right now.
His movements and positioning in the line – tucking tight next to Daly Cherry-Evans, knees bent & shoulders low ready to jam in on the lead or explode sideways to chase on the jockey – is allowing ‘Marky Mark’ to get in the passing lane and play at the ball. Instead of blindly following in his winger to jam on the centre, Nawaqanitawase can trust Toia to turn and chase which frees him up to go for the intercept.
Newcastle have done some of their best work down the left tram-line this year but may be inclined to look elsewhere on Sunday night.
Defending the Castle
For the third time in as many weeks, the Newcastle Knights have kept their opposition to just two rugby league tries. To do so against Penrith on Sunday – while down to 12 men, with just 46% of the ball and with a -450m differential in yardage – is quite simply absurd.
As Justin Holbrook aptly said in the post-match; that was one of the best wins in rugby league history.
We’ve spent the past month waiting for the Knights middle to collapse but once again they proved the doubters wrong. Since becoming Newcastle’s starting prop pairing, Tyson Frizell & Cody Hopwood have made 174 tackles for just six misses between them.
On the edges, Francis Manuleleua & Jermaine McEwan are living nightmares for opposing halfbacks looking to kick or play at the line, while Bradman Best and Dane Gagai are both doing a tremendous job in the centre channels to protect Newcastle’s edges.
A winning defensive system is putting players into positions to make strong decisions but the effort in the scramble is equally undeniable. Watching Hopwood and Manuleleua cut down Brian To’o a metre short of the line last week was jarring; when’s the last time we saw ‘Bizza’ cut down in those actions?
Like Dane Gagai did to Latrell Mitchell three weeks ago, the Knights are simply outplaying their opposite number across the board right now.
For Best and Fletcher Sharpe to make 59 tackles between them on Sunday afternoon and concede just one try – through a kick, no less – encapsulates this approach from the Knights in their unlikely run to a Grand Final.
Unlikely or not though, there are too many repeatable actions in this Newcastle team to call them a fluke and if they can hold their gloves up for another 80 minutes, they can make this one another contest of moments.
Farewell to…
Penrith Panthers
Ivan Cleary’s explanation around some of his late positional changes says a lot about where Penrith were at coming into the 2026 NRL Preliminary Finals.
Nathan Cleary off the bench, Scott Sorensen starting over Isaiah Papali’i, Blaize Talagi just two games into a new role at right centre; after a blessed run over the past six years, injuries finally caught up to this champion Panthers side.
As far as Sunday’s result goes, it was a bizarre way to see Penrith bow out.
A team typically so good at identifying and punishing cues in the defensive line simply failed to make a target of Newcastle’s leaking ruck once fatigue set in. Cooper Cronk said as much in the commentary: they were ‘one missed tackle away from another Grand Final’ but kept shifting the ball wide whenever they generated some momentum through the middle.
The temptation to strip numbers against a depleted defensive line ultimately proved too great and we saw far too many failed shifts down a reshuffled right edge while Penrith were chasing points.
The Dolphins
A tremendous run of attacking form carried Redcliffe to a maiden NRL Preliminary Finals appearance but in the end, their lack of experience told.
It’s ironic (if not a little unfair) that Max Plath and Kurt Donoghue – two of the Dolphins best in a stellar 2026 NRL campaign – were spotted up for Victor Radley’s try beside the posts in the 23rd minute. The floodgates opened from there and Redcliffe simply had no answer to Easts power game through the middle third; struggling to win the contact and ultimately spending too much time carrying the ball out of their own end.
Whether by design or coincidence, the involvements of Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow on Friday night were perhaps a glimpse into the future for the Dolphins fullback.
With 49 receptions (a season high) for 34 passes (also likely a season high) against the Roosters, ‘The Hammer’ played actively as a ballplayer in the Dolphins backline movements to good effect.
The quick hands and pass out in front for Jamayne Isaako to sneak on the outside of Daniel Tupou was all class and might be the start of a new distributing role for Tabuai-Fidow in the Dolphins attack.